Last week was a full scale exhibition in the reality that snowboarding has now hit its mid-life crisis. While this identity issue has been forthcoming for a long while all it took was one anonymous letter sent to the hate filled bowels of the snowboarding Internet to fuel yet another dramatic rampage of keyboard heroism. Which with all the talks of snowboarding being dead should show that the passion that keeps snowboarding alive, is well… still alive.
Regardless of your thoughts on Burton Gate (why is it called Burton Gate?) and the subsequent responses there are some bigger issues that need to be highlighted.
Snowboarding has changed, it’s a little older, the hair’s a little grayer, and yesterdays radical might just be today’s conservative. Change can be scary, especially when an industry is run by people that aren’t prepared for it. This is where the identity crisis has come in.
These guys got older, why can’t the industry they created do the same?
The largest group of snowboarders are on the tail end of the Millennial generation as well as the last of Generation X. They’ve got careers, families, and well you know adult responsibilities. Yet snowboarding, which statistically can look back and say that those ages 27 to 37 and up were the biggest group of snowboarders to date still tries to push the youth focus down everyone’s throat. That’s not to say that there shouldn’t be a youth focus, but lets be honest here the largest participation group is over the age of 25.
This is the group that constantly has to say to themselves, “Am I relevant to snowboarding?”. Which has a legitimate basis with the current state of snowboarding. It has spent so much time building this culture and lifestyle that is so youth focused it’s forgotten that one of the inevitability of life is that we’re all going to get old and then die. But snowboarding keeps us young, even if it is only at heart.
So here we sit in a time when the industry is lost and looking for guidance. This is also why Burton Snowboards received so much flack from that anonymous letter, they have been the industry leader to so many people for so long. They are the biggest company and have undoubtedly done so much (not without their fair share of what the fuck moments either). This makes them a beacon or target depending on who you ask as the times change, and believe me the times are changing.
In Vice Sports article regarding the whole Burton Gate meltdown there is a quote from Donna Carpenter the president of Burton Snowboards, that very much showcases the realities of the current state of snowboarding. One that not everyone seemed to pick up on.
“We have revamped how we’re looking at innovation,” Donna continued. “We have a focused trail map that includes things people don’t like, such as focusing on our biggest accounts. The reality has changed.”
That sentence; The reality has changed, that’s the sentence that everyone should be paying attention to. Snowboarding has hit a point where the participation numbers are down, interest has waned, and the industry isn’t supporting itself like it used to.
Thanks TWBiz for the Photo.
This is why you’re seeing companies making longboard skateboards in the off season. This is why other companies have ventured off into SUP (stand up paddle boards). This is also why brands are into camping and weird collaborations. It’s a way to draw attention to the brand past the supposed “core” demographic. A demographic that realistically is such a minority of snowboarding that it isn’t supporting snowboarding. This is also why more companies are making rental boards and investing in better technologies to get first timers and ultra part-time recreational riders stoked to ride.
The animus and vitriol we saw is part of this identity crisis we’re seeing in snowboarding. It’s time to realize that to sustain a healthy industry we have to look past what has worked, we have to think outside the box, and we have to be willing to leave our comfort zones.
Sure there will be ebb and flow with participation, that is a given. But to stave off those severe dips we need to do a little re-tooling to the branding of this great thing we call snowboarding. Is it a lifestyle? Sure. Is it a sport? Definitely. Is it also a multi-generational social/cultural activity that is fun and enjoyable? Oh, wait we’re not supposed to talk about it that way. Well, it’s time to rethink that approach.
To do this it would have to be a multi-pronged attack. A way of keeping the current generation interested and promote their youth focus, looking at ways to bring back those that were the biggest generation of riders, and as always how to have people forget the entry barrier that is a result of the higher costs associated with it.
It’s time to look past the old arguments that have gotten this industry no where, which I pointed out in the first article of this column series and start fixing the problem. Now that we know it’s a midlife crisis, lets stop with the emotional crying and finger pointing and fix this shit so we can get back to what really matters which is riding more and having fun.
Questions, comments, concerns let us know in the comments section below. Have an idea or want to contribute to this column feel free to email me directly Avran @angrysnowboarder.com
9 Comments
Yep, and now I have kids. I want board bigger than a fucking skateboard, boots and bindings made in Italy and quality that will last. Shits intentionally made cheap and weak to force new sales. Fuck that. If you forget about us, you just forgot about the parents who pay for the kids gear. Tom Sims was never a sellout. Burton was a fucking phony from the start.
Think quality when it comes to the manufacture of our bindings, boots, boards, etc. Remind people that snowboarding is fun…..there is more to riding a snowboard than people tend to think. Mountains maintain a diversity of terrain that allow you to explore novel paths of danger and beauty and excitement. Patience friends. Take time to learn about your mountain. Make love to it. It has more to offer than you think when it comes to snowboarding. This industry is not dead or dying. It’s just evolving; adapting to the ever changing desires and economy of the people; and of course we fail to realize the fact because we are all in such a damn hurry to get things done. Slow down, let it happen because we all know what happens when the industry is rushed and pressured to “make better” and “improve”; the quality diminishes and we are left with a quantity of ideas and products that quite frankly, suck. Identity crisis? Give me a break. We all know what we’re here for; people only complain and for the sake of bitching about the inventions of a bored mind.
So did you align your chakras and pray to the moon goddess before you wrote this? You clearly don’t know anything about the current state of the snowboard industry.
Angry, you said it correctly. The only thing that will fix the industry is the industry–and as riders, we should all consider ourselves part of it. I’m in the demographic you mention–I started riding in 1989. Now I’m 41. I’ve matured, but I don’t think the industry has. I’ll give you a specific example. I was waiting in line at the Source Blowout sale, waiting in line for impressive deals on hard goods. The weather was shit, pouring rain, and I got there early. But there were hundreds of people in line already. I hung out with a couple of twentysomethings, and they were good fellas. But in the course of talking I noticed that they were trying to impress on me how “core” they were–they watch the videos, drop the names from Blauvelt to Rice, wear DC clothing, and want to perfect their cab 540s. I think this essential search for “core”-ness might be part of the malaise (although there are many other things wrong with the industry as well, such as perceived barriers to entry). I don’t know what “core” is, anymore. I’m not sure I care. I’m fortunate to enough to be very healthy and have a job that allows me to ride 70+ times a year. Great. But who cares? Just me. I just want to ride. Maybe being “core” is just the guy who rides as much as he or she can, within reason. After bills are paid, they ride. We all have to work; we all have responsibilities. I don’t care what brands I rock. I just want to be comfortable and improve my riding. But the industry as a whole has a perception problem, and I think it starts with us. So what can we as riders do? Well, before I answer that, let’s go back to that lineup I was in. The fellas I was talking to were concerned about what brands they were getting. They weren’t assholes and they weren’t judgmental–they just wanted LibTech. Okay, cool. But what if they didn’t care at all? What if they just wanted a board that suited the type of riding they were doing? What if they went back to a mentality where it was more important to learn to ride switch than anything else? What if all the videos didn’t have T. Rice and Jackson et al pulling double corks on Alaskan ridges? Don’t get me wrong, Brain Farm is entertaining as hell. But I watched Bones Brigade, a documentary on Powell Peralta and their team with Hawk and Mullen and Cab and Mountain and the boys. And Lance Mountain was an integral part of the team, even though he was easily the worst skater. Why? Because he showed in the first videos that you can just skate and try stuff and not be awesome. Imagine a movie where they go back and forth between the jaw-dropping skill of a Rice or De La Rue, and then cut back to something a little more normal, a little more accessible. Maybe show the pros interacting with regular resort riders, giving a clinic. Show regular folks progressing. Maybe we can all do that to a small extent. Be nice on the lift. Smile at skiers. Be polite. Invite friends to come ride and offer to teach them and be patient. Hell, I am doing this now, and I already have two friends who want to come try and ride this season. What if we all made an effort to get ONE person out to the hill this season who wouldn’t normally go? The industry needs to mature–it’s still among the youngest of sports. I don’t see the same need to be “core” in hockey or tennis or football or soccer. People just play to play. When folks play softball, I don’t know anyone who shits on them because they don’t play baseball. Lots of old fucks with pot bellies go out and play beer league. And that’s fantastic. Better than sitting at home. And more specifically, young riders, let’s not worry about so much about being Travis Rice or Shaun White–two riders diametrically opposed in style and substance. Snowboarding is a legitimate sport. X-games is entertaining. The Olympics is entertaining. But even if I had the skill of a Blauvelt I wouldn’t compete; it’s not for me. That ‘s not what snowboarding is for me. But that doesn’t make me right, or better, or more enlightened. Just different, perhaps, than the next guy. We don’t need the conflict that is perhaps best epitomised between Rice and White. I prefer Rice. White isn’t my guy. He isn’t for a lot of people who think they are core. But that doesn’t automatically make him an asshole. He’s an Olympic gold medallist and a lot of young riders idolize him. If we can all come to terms with the necessity of the sport as being conventionally marketed, but do our best to make it accessible within our own sphere of influences, and help promote a gentler side of it, we can help the industry. It is now, as you said, a multi-generational sport. And goddamn is it fun. You know what I should have said to the fellas I was with in line at the sale? When they were talking about LibTech and 540s? Instead of just nodding, I should have said, “Let’s all get some people out, and go ride. Who cares how good they are? We’ll figure it out on the hill.”
I dont know how to think about the Industry to be honest. I dont know if i really care. I started snowboarding in 1989. I’m 37 and have 2 kinds now. If i’m lucky i get 10-20 days a year on the mountain. I really dont have the feeling that the industry cares about me. But is that important?! To me its not. I mean i wanted to have a cool board some cool clothes do some cool tricks and have some fun on the mountain with friends back then… And i still kind of wanna do the same thing now. There are still cool decks avaliable even if companies dont maket them to me or my generation directly. I didnt need advertising back then and i dont need it now. The only thing that was relevant back then to us were videos. And this might be a thing now… Back then U liked a certain rider u bought his deck or a deck from that company because you liked his style or whatever… Easy as that. Now when i watch videos… is it impressive?! Hell yes! But can i relate to that?! Hell no! Watching mayor film releases or a travis rice movie theres like not one trick i could do without probably dying. i mean thats really impressive stuff and i really like to see snowboarding progress. But Basketball still looks like Basketball but if you look at Snowboarding it sometimes looks more like advanced gymnastics to me. And that´s maybe where companies could pay more attention. Keep the old guys in your team. Like Trev said in an earlier post… Keep the Lance Mountains on the Team. Give my generation something or somebody i can relate to. I have a lot of respect for the stuff that Travis Rice and many others are doing but to me its sometimes more fun watching a Lungieland Video because from time to time i can say. Oh well i could do this or i could land that trick…
Still… i that all really relevant? I dont know. I dont know anybody that quit snowboarding because of industry politics. i never would start to ski just because i dont feel the love of the industry.
But thats just me. And it would be a good thing if comanies started caring more about people of my age… cheers, q.
You can still buy by pro. I got a burton process off axis last year which is what mcmorris rides even though they dress his like the normal process. I got a DC media blitz this year super cheap $214, supposedly the exact same specs as the horgmo rides in competition. I like the smaller brands but dont wanna dump 400 bucks into a board and not know what to expect.
As an aged snowboarder going on 15 years of riding, 10 or so were 100+ days, living in a resort town I find the youth focus necessary. The graph in this article clearly shows just how fast people are losing interest in winter sports. If snowboarding doesn’t have its youthful superstars making us question whether we are relevant or not snowboarding will turn into an old man sport in 20 years. It truly is a mid-life crisis but one that can lead to a youthful future unlike our own mid life crisis we are all about to go through. Dont get me wrong i think the creative director at burton is a fat fraud, I think 70% of boards put out are total crap, I look at double, triple and now quad corks and sometimes and say “this is gymnastics, not snowboarding”. However the riders that achieved that are the real core riders, they understand the sport more than we can, and guys like mcmorris, sanbech, kadono and torstein are the only thing keeping your snowboards in your garage from looking like a shuffle board set to your kids. You can show the youth Yawgoon edits but until they reach a certain level of snowboarding they wont respect it, whereas flipping and spinning over a 70 footer is hard to not be impressed with.
Oh and the term “core” is a joke, it means something different to everybody. Watching Jake Blauvelt videos is core to some, living a maturity stunted existence just to ride more to others, calling in sick for a powder day at kirkwood and getting a 60 day season with a full time job and supporting a family is mine. “core” rapidly changes and all your favorite “core” brands do too. They leave the terje and the guch on the team for us emotional sentimental old guys and honestly thats enough.
[…] difficult it is to survive in the industry. With articles circulating around with titles like ‘The Only Thing Killing the Snowboard Industry is the Snowboard Identity Crisis’ and ‘Can Snowboarding be Saved’, we wanted to see what it takes to really thrive and survive in […]
I’m 42 now and hardly snowboard at all anymore. I started in 1995 as a late bloomer but those times were great. Even lived in Killington for a couple of years. Tricks back then were 360’s and Methods. Sure in the pipe it was a Mctwist or a Todd Richards’ wet cat but none of this triple cork stuff that looks like competion freestyle skiing acrobatics. Snowboarding was powder slashes, hanging with the bro’s and catching air. I stopped my subscription to Snowboarding when in the back there was a section on “steeze” where kids would say what they’re “rocking”. I rock Capita, I rock Burton, on the street I rock…Abercrombie. Oh my god what happened to just feeling a nice carve or turning around your first spin in the park. I don’t mind marketing as I loved old skateboarding ads but when the magazines became more about steeze and clothing and less about trick tips or travel I stopped getting stoked from them. I agree the industry killed itself. They took something pure and whored it out. Now the whore is all used up. I didn’t quit because of all this and the “industry” but more from being just satisfied where I left it and moved on to other sports. I can’t help feel a little sad though when I think about the good ol days of just being on the hill.