Hmm, TWSnow magazine page 58, Sept. 2006

[LeeW]

check it out. bummer, bomber wasn't mentioned. oh well.

[nekdut]

Can someone post a scan perhaps? I don't have regular access to TWS.

[LeeW]

free-reading 'em at the store will do the trick, hence my pointing to page 58. i just happen to "borrow" my buddy's TWS magazine. :D

[Tommy D]

Can someone post a scan perhaps? I don't have regular access to TWS.

If not a scan, how about a summary of what this is all about? :freak3:

[LeeW]

well it talked about alpine snowboards as well as the bronze olympician of recent games at torino (a female). one page, tho.

[boostertwo]

Can someone post a scan perhaps? I don't have regular access to TWS.Here you go:
<img src="http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m80/boostertwo/TWS-article.jpg" border="0" alt="TWS: not just for wankers anymore?">

[boostertwo]

And a few other items of alpine interest from the Sept. TWS:

<img src="http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m80/boostertwo/TWS-note.jpg" border="0" alt="Alpine GS images in TWS: Long time, no see">

[boostertwo]

Some correspondence:

<img src="http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m80/boostertwo/wE-sUCK.jpg" border="0" alt="...Deal with it!">

[lonerider]

check it out. bummer, bomber wasn't mentioned. oh well. Yea, that is weird. They mention Coiler, Donek, Prior and Catek, but not Bomber. Maybe they are trying to give East Coast-based Catek a boost.

As for the Q&A, why bother arguing with someone from TWSnow? True, GS and SBX are a minority (1%), but I like how he implicitly includes "cruising" (89%) as part of freestyle (10%).

Fine by me... it's just saves alpine riders the pain of having to deal with punks. Again if GS and/or SBX were to go mainstream, the punks would just switchover (that is to say punks are punks... regardless of whether they do park or race).

[LeeW]

the way i see it... real snowboarders have respects for alpine riders. there are some pro's who used to be an alpine rider, like craig kelley, tina basich, jeremy jones, etc. so i could care less of what people say about alpine riders. i just agree with them to the point that its not the majority of the riders. fine by me, less competition to race against. -smirk-

EDIT: How could I forget my "gaa-gaa" chick, Victoria Jealouse as one of former alpine rider ?

[LeeW]

Im dead sure 1998 wasn't the last time TWS publish a photo of an alpine rider. the last one was last year with jeff greenwood poppin' the halfpipe in full race attire/equipment.

[philw]

Thanks for the scans - saves me scrabbiling amongst the teen mags to check that.

But really I think we're in danger of suffering from some kind of time-lag here... TWS may have been "it" back in the day, but it's not been much more than a fanzine for years.

Most of the punters who buy that are more interested in the colour of their board than how it rides... the editor's very diplomatic in what sounds like an imitation-teenage style, but I think he's trying to say that spending a lot of time learning how to do the sport isn't on most of his readers' agendas.

Bomber? I think they listed just board manufacturers, no?

[lonerider]

Im dead sure 1998 wasn't the last time TWS publish a photo of an alpine rider. the last one was last year with jeff greenwood poppin' the halfpipe in full race attire/equipment.Technicality, he's a SBX rider not a GS racer.

Craig Kelly is two generations removed. Even Jeremy Jones and Tina Bastich are not very well known today. Real snowboarders *should* have respect for alpine riders, but many don't - that's how it is, not really a big deal. I do freestyle probably more than I ride alpine... but I'm not going to listen to Scotty Arnold who's tuning technique is (and I quote (http://www.transworldsnowboarding.com/snow/magazine/article/0,14304,1117249,00.html) ):


Tuning techniques: On my rail board, I use a grinder I bought at the hardware store to pretty much grind the edges completely round, tip to tail. For my bigger board, I grind the tip and tail completely round and take a little off the edges on the rest of the board. People like him are not worth my time.

[FTA2R]

people fear or dislike what they don't understand or feel threatens them. good riders will likely garner respect, even from park monkeys that would otherwise rag alpine. being social on the lift can really help to break barriers, but aren't we riding for ourselves (at least most of us)...just not worth my time /energy anymore to dislike tws b/c no alpine.

[outsider]

Most of the punters who buy that are more interested in the colour of their board than how it rides... the editor's very diplomatic in what sounds like an imitation-teenage style, but I think he's trying to say that spending a lot of time learning how to do the sport isn't on most of his readers' agendas.


true, but you may be forgetting the 18,066 USASA members recieving TWS out there focused on the compeditive aspects of snowboarding rather than the feestyle vs hardboot argument that is at the moment so heated. I was surpprised when i read the first tidbit in the letter section, but even more so when i saw the full page devoted to alpine, and i believe that the only reason for this being there is the growing number of hardbooters now involved in USASA competition. TWS is one of the key USASA sponsors and has been for many years, and i dont think that the folks in the editing and marketing dept can easitly neglect the influence of such a readership in terms of the magaizines continued success. me being an optimist, i took the full page of alpine as a preview of what may be to come in the next few years, and there is no doubt that when the 2010 olympics roll around, we wil be seeing a huge ammount of prime time coverage for snowboarding, maybe even prime time alpine coverage, leavign me to wonder where this sport will be 8-10 years from now

[LeeW]

me being an optimist, i took the full page of alpine as a preview of what may be to come in the next few years, and there is no doubt that when the 2010 olympics roll around, we wil be seeing a huge ammount of prime time coverage for snowboarding, maybe even prime time alpine coverage, leavign me to wonder where this sport will be 8-10 years from now

Im kinda grimacing that prospect considering USSA's current standing with the alpine racers.

[Pow]

Most of the true fans of this magazine are very diplomatic guys... then of course youve got the punks and posers following the hype buying the magazine because they sell it in the skate shop where the cool kids hang out. Im relieved to see such apathy towards alpine in this magazine.


also:
the transworldsnowboarding.com "set up selector" has "alpine" as one of the 5 dicipline choices for finding gear. However, they have no alpine gear in their database yet. They dont have wide boards and other things such as burton gear yet either, so im thinking they probably just need some time to complete their board list. transworld might be the only part of pop culture snowboarding that still recognizes alpine.

[skatha]

TWS is a big clothing ad, as far as I'm concerned...

I think there is a huge potential market for alpine....I took my boots in to show the guys at the local ski shop and the snowboarding guys LOVED the boots....

You get these teenaged park rats a little older and a little more discriminating....

[Kirk]

Technicality, he's a SBX rider not a GS racer.


Who are you referring to?

[LeeW]

Who are you referring to?

Jeff Greenwood.

[lonerider]

I think there is a huge potential market for alpine....I took my boots in to show the guys at the local ski shop and the snowboarding guys LOVED the boots.... Are you sure that wasn't because YOU were wearing them? :D

[Scorpio]

I had the opportunity to chat with Jason Ford (Snowboard Journal founder). He mentioned a few things that I found to be helpful in trying to understand why snowboard mag publishers don't publish alpine/carving related material. We all know that the main reason is that the mags cater to the general audience of snowboarding (read: money) hence you have all those ads in the mag which may diminish content. From a publisher's point of view, if these advertisers don't buy ad space, they go out of business. I find it hard to believe that the whole staff of TWS has a vendetta against carvers. They just have their hands tied and are doing the balancing act between satisfying readers and satisfying their advertisers.

For example, Jason and I spoke briefly about that carving article he published last season in his magazine. He told me that he received some negative responses for even publishing it. A few advertisers weren't down with it. One unnamed company in particular threatened to stop advertising. Honestly, it was 7 pages of story that they complained about versus the hundreds of pages that were published prior. Goes to show you how opinionated and influential advertisers (snowboard companies, apparel cos, all things related) are. I doubt the mag regretted publishing the article. Jason seems to be a pretty stand up guy. He caters to the core snowboarder, one who isn't caught up in the hype, one who just wants to ride for the love of it. You can see it in the mag's content. He does though manage a magazine that still needs to stay afloat. Whether another hardboot-related mention gets published in the SJ or TWS or any other pub, who knows. Just understand, its not necessarily because the editors of TWS hate hardbooters.

I suggest we continue to support those publications like the Snowboard Journal that strive to "keep it real". They love snowboarding and they want to show that love in articles and photos and other content that will make the snowboard loyalist happy.

On a separate note, I caught a glimpse of the first issue of the Snowboard Journal for the upcoming season. IT LOOKS AWESOME. It'll probably hit the shelves next month.

[Kirk]

Jeff Greenwood.

Yeah, I understand that he's been pushing toward sbx as of late and that he signed on w/Donek in '04 (sbx), but to say he's not a GS racer isn't entirely accurate. In fact I believe he was training in both disciplines this past season. Maybe those that have trained with him recently could comment (uh, Billy...) And yeah I dig that photo of him in the pipe in full GS gear :biggthump


Ooops! Didn't mean to hijack the thread :nono:

[lonerider]

blah blah blah...
Ooops! Didn't mean to hijack the thread :nono:

Hehe... whatevers. Another possibility could be they meant 1998 was the last time they had a photo of a hardbooter actually racing. I would worry less about the past and more about that future... like when will we get the next hardbooter into TWS

[LeeW]

If my memory serves me correctly, didn't Jason Ford rode alpine boards HB too ?

[D-Sub]

people were actually offended by the HB article in SL?

man...that is one of the most ridiculous and maddening things I have ever heard. Idiots. Nothing less.

[FTA2R]

ok, so let's start our own mini magazine. i'm very sure there are some people here who have the time do undertake this venture.

[Scorpio]

If my memory serves me correctly, didn't Jason Ford rode alpine boards HB too ?


I'm not quite sure of Jason's competitive history. I do know that he rode Burton back in the day.

[Kirk]

:nono:

Hehe... whatevers.

You appear to be trying to quote me but I don't recall "blah, blah, blah" as part of my post. :confused:

[sandarapark]

:nono:

when will we get the next hardbooter into TWS

hmmm, when hardbooters get a bode miller counterpart:biggthump ........possible?

[Jack Michaud]

ok, so let's start our own mini magazine.

This gets proposed here on a roughly annual basis.


i'm very sure there are some people here who have the time do undertake this venture.

there aren't.

[AndyYT316]

hmmm, when hardbooters get a bode miller counterpart:biggthump ........possible?

I think we've already got Shaun Palmer, but last I heard he was riding a Kessler bx board. Guess we just need another Shaun Palmer on hardboots!

[Rob Stevens]

Jason Ford did ride an alpine board.

At the time, though, all the racers I had a chance to ride with ran high angles with a soft set-up on squaretails (CK, Delaney, ect...).
The only guys riding hardboots and plates at the time seemed to be freestyle riders like Damian and Jose Fernandes (though Jose was kind of off the back of competition by then).
That was a time when competing pretty much meant that you went to the comp and raced one day, followed by some v-ditch the next.
Jason raced gates in a time that is long gone, kind of around the time that alpine was just starting to look "different" (via the turned-in back foot) and thereby "weak".

I seem to remember getting back into ski boots to ride alpine around 1990 and the comments from my friends were mostly of the "why do you do that to yourself?" variety. It was hard for them to understand why anyone who felt the "comfort" of soft boots would volunteer for the "pain" of hard boots. This was in Whistler and the people making the comments were respected riders. This place and its riders have set the tone for what's "in" and what's "un" ever since.

We should all know by now that alpine "blows"... as to why that is, though, most probably couldn't say.

[Neil Gendzwill]

For example, Jason and I spoke briefly about that carving article he published last season in his magazine. He told me that he received some negative responses for even publishing it. A few advertisers weren't down with it. One unnamed company in particular threatened to stop advertising.Did Jason say what the basis for complaint was? Did they feel that they might lose market share by being associated with a bunch of old guys on alpine gear? I can't see the average reader of SJ making that connection. I don't think your standard park monkey is laying out that kind of coin for SJ, just not his thing. I see his readership skewing older and/or smarter.

[Scorpio]

Without going into too much detail, it was most likely an advertiser wanting to make sure that content compliments well with the advertising. Advertisers make decisions like this all the time. If they feel the direction of the magazine doesn't meet their objectives, then they pull out. That's true with all types of media.

[stoked]

One unnamed company? (in particular threatened to stop advertising because of the alpine article)

strange that a name popped up in my mind when I read that but that would be too funny if my guess was right :)