uncharted waters

The Snowboard Project

What’s to say really? We love snowboarding. From the moment we all saw snowboarding for the first time, maybe on the hill, or in a shop, or in a magazine, or film, there has been this odd love affair with all things snowboarding. We aren’t really sure why we remember lusting after boards as kids – the summer job that bought that first snowboard – the first method – the wins and the losses – the first time someone gave us a pair of goggles or a snowboard saying, “here have these” – that one pow day that just sticks out – the drop we did – and the broken bone that took away our season. We remember the day we decided to make snowboarding our lives, and what that really meant. The sacrifices of living a “real life” to live a real life. The car we lived in and the floors we mopped to snowboard in the morning – The day we built a business in snowboarding and the day it transformed as we matured – and the day it went away only to be born again years later. The things we valued and the things we suddenly didn’t. Questioning “Was it all worth it?”… “of course… of course it was”. The things that were only clear in hindsight years later – how stupid it all was. What we gained and what we squandered, and took for granted in our youth – yet we wouldn’t change a thing. The day we found that first board in a bin at the thrift store and bought it again – with all its ware and gashes in the base – this one could actually be mine – “did I have that sticker?”… “maybe?” We still think about what it’s like to stand on top of that one peak and the significance of feeling so insignificant . How important that moment was – Knowing the world was so much larger than we had ever thought, and knowing those feelings will be coming again in the spring or the next time it snows. We remember the turns on the way down and tomahawking through the powder above the bergschrund and finally stopping as the sluff pushed around us. We remember the thrill of grabbing the throttle pointing at a ridge and going to that point with a friend on the side… and the agony of melting an engine 8 miles deep – the hours towing it back and the defeat. The sound hunching over as the heli takes off, and the slap of the snow on our faces burning as the sound fades away… and the realization we now have to go down – get to go down. And the sound of silence and the snow in the alpenglow of evening – the sound of your friends in the distance hooting, taking it all in with you. These are those stories, and this is a show about snowboarding, by snowboarders, for snowboarders. We hope you enjoy.

5/5

Mark Sullivan has had a career in snowboarding media that has spanned more than 30 years. From starting zines, to running Snowboarder Magazine and starting SNOWBOARD Magazine. As Olympic announcer and television host, Mark has also worked on his oratory skills for more than two decades. With 300+ episodes and counting, The Snowboard Project has approached the sport from all angles – giving a comprehensive look at the sport. 

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