The Next…

For some reason every year someone is being touted as “The Next (insert pro name here)”. It seems to be a ever present part of snowboarding culture. For some reason people want someone to slide in and replace an existing top rider. It’s almost as if someones achievements are never great enough, or perhaps it sticks to the theory that snowboarding is for the young.

I was reading one of the many issues of Transworld Snowboarding that sits in my luxurious reading room, when I noticed a caption about Jaime Anderson accepting the Rider Of The Year award from Tara Dakides, and it had a caption that said something along the lines of Tara had won it 4 times in a row a Jaime could be the next Tara.

Have we reached the point in snowboarding that when someone younger usurps a title from the older generation, this means they in turn are the next? Why is it that every generation can’t be recognized for their contribution to snowboarding? Instead of up and comers being the next _______ and having to fill certain shoes can’t they just be part of the next generation and set their own legacy.

Every generation has contributed something to snowboarding. Damian Sanders and that crew helped open doors for us so that everyone can ride 98% of the worlds resorts. Shaun Palmer and Sean Johnson gave us Boozy the Clown and the hard partying punk rock in your face we do what we want so go fuck yourself attitude. Peter Line, Mikey Leblanc, Jeremy Jones, and that crew gave us the basis for what we call technical freestyle snowboarding. Now we have Travis Rice, Sebastian Toutan, and those guys moving it even farther forward with double and triple corks.

The funny thing is next year someone else will move up in the ranks and be the next. The media will hype them up and either they will progress to the point we see more of them, or they’ll burn out and fade away. Maybe the cause of this is more from the mainstream need to make snowboarding more relatable to team sports. Or perhaps it’s just that we as riders are fickle and want a current flavor of the season to look up to.

Now if a rider was smart they would be like the Dread Pirate Roberts from The Princess Bride. A masked crusader of the slopes, killing it in all aspects, and when their prime is starting to pass find an up and comer no one has heard of and give them their mask. Thus prolonging their namesake. Could be a highly amusing idea and lead to a sort of mythic following.

Although a downside of this could be people noticing the changes in riding style or questioning how someone could remain pro for like 50 years. This also poses issues with the whole goofy verses regular stance.

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