What Is Snow Dice?

It’s not uncommon now to see people using their smart phones while out riding. There’s apps for everything and Snow Dice is one of those. So what is Snow Dice you ask? Well inventor Ted Bendixson gave us a little interview on what it’s all about.

Angry Snowboarder: For anyone that doesn’t know what this App is about could you describe it for them?

Ted Bendixson: Sure thing. Snow Dice randomly generates a trick for you to try while you’re out snowboarding in the terrain park with your friends. You pick a mode, shake your phone, and then it comes up with a trick. We’ve built a lot of features and gameplay modes into the app. You can do jump tricks, rail tricks, halfpipe tricks, or an entire slopestyle line of tricks. Our goal is for the app encompass any possible trick you could ever imagine trying while you’re out on the slopes.

We also saw a unique opportunity for snowboarding education with the Snow Dice App. This isn’t just some digital re-creation of the plastic Sno Dice. If you hold your finger down on the dice, the app will give a description of what you need to do. So let’s say you don’t know what a “stalefish grab” is. Press your finger down on “stalefish,” and the app will tell you. It also includes trick tip videos. If you roll a trick, and there’s a trick tip video for that trick, just press the button, watch a video, and you’ll know exactly what to do.

AS: What’s the main difference between the Android and Iphone versions of this app?

TB: Right now, there is a pretty big difference between the iPhone and Android versions of the app, but that gap is closing quickly. In the iPhone version, you’ve got all the normal tricks, slopestyle mode, halfpipe mode, Tricktionary, and trick tip videos. In the Android version, you’ve got something that’s a lot closer to what we originally launched with -no trick tip videos, no slopestyle mode, no halfpipe mode. Just jumps, rails, and some difficulty settings.

Having said that, our Android developer is mere inches away from releasing a much more updated version for the Android platform. We already did that with Ski Dice (mainly because it’s our most popular product), so we’re very close to getting at least slopestyle mode and tricktionary into the Android version of Snow Dice.

AS: You’re continually progressing the offerings in this program, do you feel that one day you’ll have it completely well rounded to cover every aspect of snowboarding?

TB: I personally hope so, and with everyone’s feedback on the product, that will soon become a reality. However, I don’t think it will ever cover every aspect of snowboarding precisely because we have defined it not to do so. Let’s face it, this is a game you play when you’re mostly riding park. I could see some daring folks using in the backcountry, but park is the main scope.

I like to see it this way. The day I am no longer excited about implementing some new feature is the day I put the project to the side and start working on something else. I’m my own best customer in that regard.

AS:We talked about this being more than just a game app for friends but also a learning tool. How important is it to educate people on everything freestyle snowboarding has to offer?

TB: I’d say it’s critical. I think people look at kids hitting the park, and frankly, most of them don’t know where to start. They probably want to get in on the action, but as you know from being a part of the “bro flow” at Breckenridge and Keystone, it can be very intimidating. I think we’re doing a huge service to the beginner crowd by breaking down the lingo and showing them what they actually need to do.

I got into this sport because I love how many possibilities for progression there are. I’m 28 years old, and I’m still getting better at the sport because there are so many different things to try. Snow Dice puts ideas into peoples’ heads. It shows them what’s possible, oftentimes suggesting tricks they’d never think up on their own. When you try stuff that’s outside of your comfort zone, you progress. That’s just how it works.