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Win a Custom Never Summer Prototype!

8K views 58 replies 35 participants last post by  kirbster 
#1 ·
Twenty five years is no walk in the park, or leisure ride down a groomer. Twenty five years, with your help, has turned this company from a barn operation, to a global name. We’re beyond excited about this anniversary, but also our entire line for this year. Without you, our twenty five years would not have been possible. Many snowboard companies have come and gone, but we’re still here. All of these years have been spent pushing the boundaries in an industry that is not just a business. Shredding, for us, is a way of life. Whether you’re on a Never Summer, a Burton, a Lib Tech, or Flow, all that matters is that you are out on the snow, shredding everything in sight, and having fun. Snowboarding, like all of your passions in life, is a part of who you are. So, here’s to all of you, from Rockies to the Appalachians, Cascades to Sierras, Andes to Himalayas, French to Japanese Alps. The Twenty Five board is our symbol of an identity that we have been spending twenty five long, enjoyable years creating, shaping, and building some of the best boards in the world. Here’s to another Twenty Five Years.



For this contest, write a two paragraph response explaining how snowboarding has shaped who you are as a person, or a memorable experience. We do love snowboard stories. If it’s one specific moment or twenty five years of thrashing, we want to hear about it. Posts must be two paragraphs maximum in length including a picture of your board, your moment, or something symbolizing your shred-identity.

All posts meeting the above criteria will be entered in a random drawing to win a custom, hand-built prototype signed by owner Tim Canaday. The drawing will be held on October 7th.

Here’s an outline of our development of the Twenty Five:

•The board is in the line to commemorate the milestone of 25th anniversary. To showcase our progression, tech, advancements in new material and what we can do as a manufacture. Never Summer’s roots are in freeriding and to celebrate this.​
•Tim developing a new profile of using the Ripsaw profile in the back and Original Rocker Camber in front. Design was started on a profile that was more camber heavy in back (Ripsaw) and more rocker toward the nose (Original Rocker Camber). This gives the board massive edge hold, pressure and pop out of the tail of the board while allowing a little less pressure over the nose for effortless turning and float.​
•Sourcing and testing numerous top-sheets before finding the nylon based, ultra trick looking textured Hex Tech top-sheet. This was very important because we wanted the board to really stand out and be unique. While adding to our line of performance driven top-sheets that offer a reduce slip texture.​
•Shape changes. Wanted nice directional shaped to add to freeride performance and classic look. First shape “Bat Tail” was later used on Twenty Five Split, as were what we learned from cutting and attaching aluminum tail protector. Tim modifying tail shape so it didn’t distract from hardpack performance misconceptions. Tim shaping nose to current board’s “Cruise Missle Shape” with Proto Type 2 sharpe angles but a more drawn out directional nose.​
•Within 2 days of Tim personally making the first 25 prototypes on May 20, 2015, we were at A-Basin testing in big Spring dump conditions.​
•Graphic design progression. Lots of designs considered (brighter color blocks, mountain images of Never Summer Range) and deciding on s my classic Never Summer eagle graphic in an all black anniversary appropriate color, to really showcase the Hex Tex Top-sheet.​
•CNC Drag knife cutting 25 Anniversary bases​
•This is a limited edition, one season and done board, a collectors piece or for the rider wanting the highest performance freeride board that is very unique and you’re not going to see a lot of people with. But, this profile, tech and materials will carried forward into a series of boards for 2017/18.​
 
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#2 ·
I used to hate winter because it was cold, dark, and at the time I thought that there wasn't much that you could do in the winter. I dealt with seasonal affective disorder, which I treated with UV light and I'd start a countdown to the day pitchers and catchers reported to spring training the day after Christmas because that was the only good thing about winter to me. I live in Michigan and I legitimately couldn't stand 25% of the entire year. So stupid. This all changed when I was 33 and met my wife. She was Canadian and a skier, but she had always wanted to try her hand at snowboarding. She suggested that we learn to ride together, I agreed and it completely changed our lives.

Snowboarding gave me something to live for in the winter, and something to look forward to all summer. Snowboarding is the reason that I began exploring new parts of my state, the country, and eventually other continents. This is going to sound stupid cliche but for me it's true- snowboarding taught me that I could live an adventure-filled life. Snowboarding is how I identify myself, and it's the basis of most of my life choices. I'm not one of these killer riders that slays chutes and 60-foot gaps. I'm just a guy in love with a sport that gives him a reason to spend too much money, drive too many miles, break too many bones, and still come back looking for more.

 
#4 · (Edited)
I was born into a secluded, religious “Cult” in upstate NY. We had no access to money so everything we had either had to be home made or given to us. I built my first snowboard in 8th grade out of plywood and a 50 gallon trash barrel. We made a rope tow from an old tractor, and would spend every day on our little hill, bombing off small jumps, and landing on our asses most of the time.

Fast forward 20 years later, i’m living in Denver CO, world class riding just minutes from my back door. When I moved here, my girlfriend, now wife (as of last week) wanted to see what snowboarding was all about. She fell in love with it and now can shred with the guys. Snowboarding is a major part of our relationship, and something we are both very passionate about. Snowboarding takes me away from all the small stresses of everyday life and brings me back to that Icy hill in NY and I feel like i'm just a kid out there, having the time of my life.

We discovered NS boards shortly after moving to Denver, and we feel strongly about supporting local businesses. We appreciate the passion and sincerity with which you guys run your company and all the amazing boards you guys put out every year. I encourage everyone, if you get the chance, swing by their shop in Park hill and check out how much work goes into making each and every one of these decks.

Proposed on top of Keystone, this was the mountain she learned to ride on


NS Legacy as our wedding guest book
 
#6 · (Edited)
I've been snowboarding for approx 28 years. For most of them it was about being with friends challenging each other to progress. My friends and I were the first people to snowboard at our local hill, Four Lakes Ski Area. Four Lakes offers 4 runs that were approx 100 verticle feet! We had great times there. "BoB" the bob cat driver would work with us and in a few years we had a decent park. Snowboarding was about friends and we would do it 5+ days a week.

Fast forward to now I'm 38 years old and I still go to the same hill but now it's all about family. Both my kids started boarding at 3 and my wife at 36. Snowboarding has made my family stronger. It's the one activity that we do together. While I loved sharing snowboarding with my friends, snowboarding with my wife and kids is beyond comparison. The face of the sport has changed but the love for the activity stays the same...

Here's a little photo of my daughter and I last year having a little run in with ski patrol!
 

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#7 · (Edited)
It may sound like a cliche but I'm sure for many of us it is totally true: snowboarding changed my life. It makes me smile to think back... I've been a chubby short-winded aimless scared of hights reluctant unconfident teen hardly capable to run one mile. I had no reason to change, until my encounter with snowboarding BC. It's the purity of the moment, the beauty of the landscape, the feeling of being so small and at the same time centered and focused, the freedom which lies in each turn which made it worth for me to change my lifestyle, my work schedule, my travel plans.

Snowboarding has changed my body, my mind and soul. Experiencing moments when at the top of a line, being nothing but scared, but when entering the line everything changes, the moment when the mind gets totally focused on negotiating that challenge, the adrenalin rushing through your body, the goosebumps when you get aware, yes, I can do this! followed by the explosion of emotions when the board glides n floats and becomes an expension of ones body, and nothing can hold back the yells and giggles of utter joy... these are the moments I live for, the moments I will remember in 20y, the moments which are worth everything.



Edit: had packed all I feel for snowboarding into those lines for Wraths po(w)etry contest; it's more than 2 paragraphs, tho, but... :):
No hustle no noise
Just me and the buddies
Silently moving in meditative steps
Calm

The gust of my breath
The smell of the cold
Reflections of light tickle my senses
Beauty

No duty no deadline
Just us and the mountain
Enemy and friend at the same time
Aware

Which line is joy
Which one is safe
Movements and thoughts fully assembled
Focused

Artificial demands
left down in the valley
Purity enwrapped in one single color
Liberated
 
#8 · (Edited)
Snowboarding has made me younger and rejuvenated my youth. At age 44 and my daughter who was 7 at the time, stood watching little kids cruise down the hill…we had been sledding earlier that day…but this looked much more fun. And by god if a 5 year old could snowboard, what could be bad? Growing up in Nebraska, I knew nothing about riding or skiing and only had sledding memories. A couple of weeks later she and I were trying to board; which was painful but damm fun rolling around in the snow like a kid.

Flash forward 14 years and she has added BC skiing to the snowy life, but just yesterday we were talking about the upcoming season, new gear and planning a trip. Boarding has been the single best thing that I’ve done for my health, relationships with the kids and being involved in the community as a ski bus chaperone. This winter I will turn 59 and the aches and pains are nothing compared to the excitement and adventure of being back in the snow with family and new friends; poaching endless moments…whooping and giggling while careening toward certain death. Riding is where the magic happens...I become younger…earthly burdens, aches and pains disappear...all that is left is a line where my soul has taken flight.




 
#9 · (Edited)
25 years ago I was a highschool freshman and avid skateboarder living in rural Vermont. In my skateboard, I found a way to express myself and make art. The world was a canvas, and my skateboard was the brush. Unfortunately, for six months a year Vermont becomes Hoth, and it was agony for me. To my surprise, one day my father returned from work with a snowboard. He worked with Jeff Brushie's stepfather and it was one of Jeff's old boards. My father pushed me around the yards until I figured out the balance and then drove me to the top of a defunct ski area and gave me a push. You could say I learned the hard way.

I was completely hooked and snowboarding became my life. I threw myself into snowboarding and rode it as far as I could. I traveled, I competed, I saw much of America, and I was left behind as friends turned pro. I had the heart, but not the level of talent, and that was okay because snowboarding stayed gold for me. Over the years, my orientation towards snowboarding has changed and I find that I love it even more. It's evolved from a place where I strive for perfection in motion to a platform for connecting with the people I love. It's a magical place where I find peace, excitement, and belonging.

 

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#10 · (Edited)
I grew up in suburban Minnesota on the outskirts of Minneapolis/St. Paul. I learned to ski beginning at age 3 on a rope tow at the Como Park public golf course, but by age 6 I was seeing a lot of people on snowboards and I convinced my mom to let me try it. By age 8 I had a handful of lessons under my belt and spent every free moment during the winter destroying my gloves on that damn rope tow, lapping down the far side of the hill and catching air on the ridge of a frozen sandtrap, and yes - I rode in Sorels. I graduated to larger ski areas in the region, but by the time I hit high school I was getting more interested in drinking and partying than snowboarding, so the only riding I did was on trips around the midwest with friends, and these trips were basically for partying with snowboarding just being something you did while you drank. I went to college for a semester but ended up dropping out as I would rather get drunk and hit on girls than get out and shred. I worked shitty jobs and just hung around looking for a buzz. The year after I dropped out, I joined a couple of friends on their winter trip to Colorado as I figured it would be a good time filled with more of the same (drinking, trying to hook up, you know the drill.)

We went to Loveland, and I was hooked, even if I spent most of my damn time trying in vain to swim my way out of pow after repeatedly wiping out. The next August I quit my job, moved to Denver, and got two new jobs - one loading planes for UPS at Denver International Airport from 3am to 8am every weekday morning, and the other teaching snowboarding at Loveland on the weekends. On weekdays I would drive straight from the Denver airport to Loveland when my shift was over, ride all day, and then basically pass out as soon as I got home at 6pm. During this time I almost completely quit drinking, completely quit cigarettes, and improved about 200% in my snowboarding skills. Being able to completely control my descent through feet of snow, across icy patches, and around moguls while dodging trees and other obstacles, all while being able to fully clear my mind of any and all thoughts - other than where my next turn will be - is the only thing that I've found that makes me feel whole. It is better than any medication; it is my meditation and has allowed me to do whatever I want in life. That one season in Colorado centered my mind to a degree I did not think possible. In the spring I returned to Minnesota for school, worked on and eventually completed my BS in astrophysics (every winter and spring break was spent chasing the snow, and there were countless weekend trips up to Bohemia), began regularly exercising including mountain biking 3+ times a week, met my now wife, and lived happier and healthier than I ever had prior. My wife is now doing graduate work at the University of Utah, we live at the base of the cottonwood canyons, are both season pass holders at Snowbird, and I have a great job with a boss that lets me come in at 3pm on pow days. I fully attribute my life's turnaround to that first trip I took to Colorado. Snowboarding literally made my life what it is today, and I would not trade that for the world. As long as I can ride, I am free.


Addendum: my wife had skiied once in her life before we moved to SLC. Her first season out here she got 80 days on the snow (she skis, I tried my best to get her on a board but she just didn't like it so after a handful of attempts I put her on skis... Icelantics of course!) Life is fucking awesome.

Below: my all time favorite board, a NS Heritage X, and me atop knife ridge at wolf creek (so stoked to hear about the matchless pod expansion plans!)
 

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#13 ·
Being from Kansas, my early snow experiences were fairly limited. A bit of sledding, then some fun sliding around on 4 wheels when I got my license. My senior year of high school, some friends and I decided to take an Easter trip to Wolf Creek. The first day was rough, mostly falling. The second day was slightly less falling, T-shirt weather, and glorious slush.

The morning of that second day, I finally dug into a real turn. Right under Bonanza, I could probably go to the spot. Even on a crappy rental board, in junk boots, it was awesome. Eventually I got my own boots and board (Proto HD). The most I've ridden is 14 days in a season. I enjoy every one though. Riding with friends, with myself, just pointing a stick down a mountain. Here's to another 4 years of progression!
 
#14 ·
Fonna for the first time!

In the summer of 2015, I was slated to go on a family vacation to Norway to get in touch with my wife's family history and her relatives. It was August and a couple of weeks before going, I found out that there was the potential for me to take a day trip to Fonna Glacier Resort . It would involve taking a ferry and a bus ride from Bergen to do so and this seemed like something that could only happen once.

I have had better days of riding on better equipment and in better conditions but I have never had an experience in snowboarding that was as unique as this was. There were only roughly four runs to be had. For a good chunk of the day, local pubescent ski racers ruled a stretch of the mountain. The day lodge is the smallest I have ever encountered (and my hill growing up was built on top of a concrete landfill). The shrimp wrap and chocolate milk were probably about 20 dollars after conversion. It was amazing nonetheless. The view was incredible. The ride up on the bus was terrifying and the riding and demo gear were just fine. In fact, it was the first time I had been on rental gear since first learning to ride back in 96. If you get the chance you should go and experience riding at Folgefonna because it is like nothing else.
 

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#15 · (Edited)
I live in Perth, Australia. It's a dusty plain with a couple of sand dunes. And a beach. During the northern winter this place feels like one of the furthest points from snow in the entire solar system, and during our southern winter it takes literally thousands of bucks to get over east and shred our muddy excuse for snow. It's somewhat of a cruel irony then that hiking to a snowy peak with a snowboard under my arm is easily one of the most rewarding things in life.

I owe many thanks to my good friend Chevy for introducing me to snowboarding about 6-7 years ago. He worked a few seasons over in Thredbo and gave me a couch to crash on anytime I wanted, showed me around the mountain, and rigged the system so I could ride the chair without buying a pass (shhh). Since then we've been on a couple of epic trips together - two months in Whistler, a month in Japan, and another one coming up. I don't wanna get too sentimental but these will always be some of my best memories. "Going snowboarding" isn't just about the freedom you feel when you're burning down the mountain, it's the places you get to go and the people you get to meet there. Anyway, Chevy's been ripping around on an NS Legacy since 2010, as well as a Proto CT. He fucking loves his NS's man. If my name gets picked out of the hat for this contest, the board is going straight to him. Here's a photo of Chevy practicing karate chops in Japan.

Happy shredding!

 
#19 · (Edited)
So I'm a converted skier, and like most people here, as soon as I started snowboarding I was hooked... But to really understand the story, you have to understand my background.

I started skiing at six years old, over on Buttermilk mountain in Colorado. I didn't get too many opportunities as a kid because I was growing up in the Southeast - Atlanta, Georgia to be specific.

Every year my family would take a two week vacation out to Colorado and we would go skiing. I actually got to be pretty good (ten days in a row as a kid will do that to you). We went every year...

...Until I was thirteen and blew out my right knee.

Doctors still don't really know what actually caused it. They speculate it was a combination of the stress caused by the odd knee angles in hockey, the intense stress that a new football season was putting on it, and the random growth spurts of puberty. This lead to a stress fracture that my body "grew into", and which has been causing me arthritis ever since. I had to quit football, quit tennis, quit squash, quit running, quit... everything... because my right knee was the size of a grape fruit. I could still squeeze in a ski trip here and there if I got some steroids injected below my kneecap, but doing ten days in a row was entirely out of the question.

A couple years after college, I moved out to LA and discovered the Big Bear area. I immediately fell into a nostalgic version of love. My doc gave me cortisone injection in my knee and I hit the slopes. My knee still felt terrible though, and even with the steroids I wasn't able to do more than 2 days in a row.

Then I started dating a beautiful girl who I fell head over heels in love with, and decided that I wanted to show her the wonders of the snow. She was more of a beach person, and I was more of a mountain person, and so we made a compromise - I'd go with her to the beach in the summer (and get sunburned) and she'd come with me to the mountains in the winter (and freeze). In large part due to the advice of friends and this forum's skiing counterpart, I decided that it would be relationship suicide to try to teach my GF how to ski. Instead, I signed both of us up for snowboarding lessons.

I HATED the snowboard the first time I got on it. At the end of the first day (the day before my first lesson), my wrist was sore, my butt hurt, and I wasn't even able to do a falling leaf correctly.

But I'm a determined guy. And I didn't want to waste the shot of cortisone I had gotten two weeks prior, so the next day my GF and I headed back for a lesson, this time armed with butt pads and taped wrists.

We both did horribly - she actually learned much faster than I did - but I noticed something wonderful: my knee didn't hurt!

Unlike in skiing, where you're alternating a significant amount of force between both knees (one knee is usually far more extended than the other), and you're often times rotating your knees and bending them at strange angles, when snowboarding I was locked in. Not only did my knees not hurt, they felt GREAT. I realized that as long as I don't do jumps, I'm not going to be putting any heavy impacts on my knees, and the way the bindings lock you in really prevent a lot of the torsional twisting and jerking that you deal with on skis.

So I fell in love and bought a snowboard the next day...

But that snowboard sucked. (OK maybe it was a great snowboard. But it was for more advanced riders and left my novice ass with a $500 physical therapy bill), so I bought my second snowboard - the Never Summer Snowtrooper.

I learned how to do toeside turns on that snowtrooper.

So that's the background!

The story is actually pretty short... I knew I was addicted to snowboarding when I ended up bringing my snowboard with me when I flew back to Atlanta, GA to visit my family for my birthday in February. (Note: my bday is also my my dad's bday, and my mom's is two days afterwards, so we celebrate all of them together.) My bday ended up falling on a Tuesday, and all my friends and family were working that day and the next, so I decided to take a miniature vacation up to the icy and small mountains in North Carolina. I rented a AWD Hyundai Santa Fe, threw my snowboard in the trunk, and drove the four hours up to the mountain all by myself.

And I got caught in my first blizzard.

It was truly a magical experience to be alone, snowboarding at night, 2000 miles away from where I live. What I remember most about this first powder session isn't how great the snowboarding was.... It's how beautiful it was. It was 6PM and dusk had fallen, and I didn't have a care in the world. I remember riding up the chairlift and looking up into the sky and watching the snowflakes falling. There was nobody in the chairlifts ahead of me, and nobody in the ones behind me. There were tiny cottages below the first half of the chairlift, and they were lit up beautifully. And when the wind was blowing at just the right angle, the falling snowflakes looked like stars flying by me. It was as if I had gone into "hyperdrive," and everything was just so quiet.

There's a certain rustic feeling to the Appalachian mountains that doesn't carry over to the western mountains. As if the Appalachian mountains would be much easier to get lost in... to get away from the world. And in the blue ridge, everything is just so damn blue.

For once, I wasn't worried or limited by my health. I was completely free, and I knew that for the first time in a very long time that my health wouldn't limit my pursuit of something I love... that I would continue to be free.

Riding the powder, falling when I scorpioned for the first time, turning and hitting a few tiny jumps, well it was all so magical. But honestly, the memory that sticks out in my mind the most was that solo chairlift back up to the top, in a blizzard, at night. Because I felt truly alone, hundreds of miles away from anyone who knew my name, surrounded by nature, and now I had the strength and health to fully experience it.

And it was beautiful.
 

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#20 ·
Snowboarding has been an obsession ever since I strapped a board to my feet back in 2008. It was love at first crash fall and bruise (since that what I was doing the first day out, ha). Like many, I thought I could get the hang of it since I grew up bombing hills on my longboard skateboard. I failed miserably and was a total newb. I'm sure everyone around me knew it too...no snow clothes, just jeans, shirt and jacket....in the middle of a fuckin' snow storm, HA! I didn't care what I looked like. I loved the challenge of learning and everything that came with it. Even though that day was horrific, I bought my first setup at a local shop because I KNEW I loved snowboarding.

Now, 8 years later, I've progressed with the help of lessons, this forum, and just getting out on the snow. I love how snowboarding has brought me closer to my friends and family. I make it a point to plan multiple trips to new destinations during every season. Riding with a group or riding solo is the best therapy for my soul. I absolutely love getting lost in the serenity of nature...dropping in...and shattering the silence with a yell of pure happiness in the moment.

 
#21 ·
I was first introduced to snowboarding in 97-98 by a friend who was a hardcore hardbooter. I was a skier at the time so was always faster than him, but gave in to his constant nagging to join the sideways cult and bought a snowboard on display at the resort shop - a Never Summer with a denim-looking topsheet and a cool metal ‘Never Summer’ cursive logo on it. (To this day I have no idea what this model was because its not shown in any past catalogs.) I was hooked from the first wobbly heel slide down the entire slope. Took lessons, watched tons of vhs videos, and by the end of the season was racing my buddy, he on his Burton carving board and I on my twin-ish board with no-name bindings and crap floppy boots. Then in 99-00 I drank the Forum koolaid and bought the first Jeremy Jones pro model. Truth be told, that board was not a great board by any means. It was kinda dead-feeling and the best it had going for it was the bright green base with the F logo. But the 157 directional was finally the right length/shape for me and I loved the newfound stability it provided. By then I was hanging with some park crew who taught me spins, jumps, butters, and how to properly dress like a gangsta snowboarder lol.

Fast forward to ’14. I had gone through lots of boards (and ridiculously baggy pants) and was getting jaded of the whole thing. By this time I had a new riding buddy whom I guided into the sport and his stoke was through the roof. He wanted to go ride all the time and kept dragging me to go with him. I figured I would try to get the stoke back by getting back to my roots and bought a Never Summer Ripsaw as homage to my first two boards that gave me so much joy. It was NS and had the bright green base from the Forum JJ. First time I took it out, I was blown away. I loved how it was damp but not limp (looking at you, TRS), stable when flat but a beast trench carver when laid on its sides. And a true twin which is a huge plus for me because I love riding and landing switch. It really shook my snow stoke back to life, so much so that the last two seasons on the Ripsaw have been the most fun I’ve had in 20 years of riding. Thank you Never Summer for introducing me to and rekindling my passion for snowboarding. Now, if only @The Chairman could help me identify the mystery first NS board of mine!

 
#22 ·
Great shred story/history, love those hardcore hardooters.

Your first "denim" board was one of our very early sticks, from 92/93. Classic. One of the cloth top-sheet boards! We offered a variety of top-sheet designs like your denim. They didn't really have model names per say but we had a D (Directional), W (Wide), T (Twin). All had cloth tops and the metal logo, either cursive or NS. Your denim was from the same year as this board on display in our office. Some of the first twins that were offered with or without inserts. This was when stances were becoming wider, baseless binding craze and advent of 3D & 4H bindings. So, alot of people were T-nutting boards and cutting directional boards into twins.

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P.S. Your Ripsaw looks like a siiiicck...., set up.
 
#25 · (Edited)
I was always taught to put my family above others, but what they meant was to put my family over myself. I grew up very frugal with spending, and worked ever since I was 8 at my family's business (so it wasn't hard work). It's not like I was dead broke, my parents would just give me a hard time if I wanted to do something that cost money. Snowboarding? I started in the early 90's with a forward stance and I would go about once a year with my church as nobody in my family was into any sort of sport. Every year, I would get a little better. By the time I was in high school, I would go with my friends and again snowboard about once a year. From 1990-2002, I would snowboard a grand total of 8 times. After college, I sorta secluded myself and got lost in cyberspace playing video games trying to escape reality. Flash forward 14 years.


It was 2016, and I got out of that rut of a life 6 years ago, but I was still just wasting away, working, not truly enjoying life. I met a girl and she was into snowboarding. So trying to get with her, I decided that we would go snowboarding. It's been a decade and a half, and I didn't want to look like a fool so I went to the local hill to practice. I bought my goggles online, but everything else was rented. I even brought my ski pants from 1994, my avatar is a photo from that day. That day changed my life. I soon bought all my gear, season pass, chains, anything that would take me up the mountain, I didn't rely on anyone and went by myself. I wasn't sure about what I was buying, so I just bought the highest quality cheap stuff and hoped for the best, but of course everything was wrong. This year I bought all the things I want(with some frugality) which is a huge change. While I used to rely on other people and did what they wanted, I quickly stopped that. If they wanted to come with me, cool. If they wanted to do something else, I would ditch them and go ride. Snowboarding has changed my life, as my life is my first priority now.

https://imgur.com/a/Z6sTy
this is all the gear I bought this off season.

https://imgur.com/a/dHQ2N
all the stuff I bought this year. which isn't much, but holy shit it's a lot for me.

ps girl got with my friend, but I thank her. lol

the next thing I'm going for is a powder board...
 
#26 ·
To my mom.

I grew up in a difficult household. Parents divorced, and both hooked on alcohol and other drugs. I had to live in foster care at one point because of this. I always looked for outs, ways to get out of the house and away from the all the bad stuff. That was achieved by sports, spending time with friends, skating and simply being outdoors. Out of the blue, I decided I wanted to try snowboarding. I honestly don't remember why, or how it sparked my interest. What I do remember is that the single most important thing my mom ever did for me was get me my very first snowboard. To this day it still brings tears to my eyes because I knew she couldn't afford it, but I knew she just wanted me to love her again. I was 12.


I also remember the first time seeing my snow-covered local hill in the distance as I approached in a cramped car clutching my shiny new, bright yellow Liquid. It looked like Everest. Between MxPx songs I muttered aloud, "there's no way I will be able to get down that." Sure enough, my first time left me bruised, battered and broken. I remember crying out of frustration and pain because I couldn't do it. I couldn't get down the hill. I couldn't get up the hill. I couldn't do anything but constantly slam. But I was determined because snowboarding was such a wonderful gift from my mom, and I knew how much she sacrificed to buy me that board. 19 years later I'm still listening to the very same music in cramped cars, but now looking for the biggest terrain. I love snowboarding. I love my mom.













 
#27 · (Edited)
I started late… I grew up as a surfer in a Florida beach town. Surfed all my life. Competed in contests and travelled all over surfing in my younger days. In the 90’s when snowboarding took off, many of my friends suggested I give it a try. I had a room full of surfboards and really didn’t like cold, so I blew it off as “too much gear” to go buy and start a new hobby. No thanks.. Never even gave it a try or consideration.

Fast forward to 8 years ago. I took a job that moved me to North Carolina and away from the coast. I decided that first winter I would go up to Snowshoe and take a lesson. Before that, I went to the Burton outlet in Orlando and bought one of everything that I could afford. Boots, bindings, board, jacket, the whole deal. Showed up for my lesson and by the end of the day was making it top to bottom on all their runs. And I was way hooked! Now, I spend around 50 days year on the snow, between here in NC and out west every year. Backcountry, resort, hiking, and cat days. I’m so totally hooked on snowboarding now! And at 50 yrs old, I have more fun than most 18yr olds each winter!






 
#28 ·
I started skiing at the age of 3, but despite enjoying spending the weekends on the slopes, I wanted something different. I loved skateboarding so I saved up money from my paper route and bought my first snowboard at the age of 10 in 1988 – a Burton Cruise. I couldn't afford boots so I took my flimsy winter boots and added foam padding from a cut up camping pad. This was back in the day of mandatory leashes, 3 strap bindings and some of the resorts didn’t even allow snowboards on some of the lifts. I fell in love in the first season and I am still in love with this sport 28 years later!

My dad was (and still is) a volunteer ski patroller so as a kid, I managed to get 40+ days on the slopes in a year. These are some of best memories of my entire life as I got to spend my weekends in the mountains and bond with my dad. Now I’m a father and I get to share this same passion with my kids. My oldest stated boarding at the age of 3 and my youngest will be jumping on a board this winter (he turns 3 in January). Watching my oldest progress in the sport and the joy in his face reminds me of when I first started. This sport brought out the best of me and I am proud to be able to share this with my kids.

Congrats on 25 years and here’s to another 25!!

Here's my Proto CT which I just sold as I have Proto Type Two on order which should be here next weekend!

http://www.snowboardingforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=104618&thumb=1
 

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#52 ·
I started skiing at the age of 3, but despite enjoying spending the weekends on the slopes, I wanted something different. I loved skateboarding so I saved up money from my paper route and bought my first snowboard at the age of 10 in 1988 – a Burton Cruise. I couldn't afford boots so I took my flimsy winter boots and added foam padding from a cut up camping pad. This was back in the day of mandatory leashes, 3 strap bindings and some of the resorts didn’t even allow snowboards on some of the lifts. I fell in love in the first season and I am still in love with this sport 28 years later!

My dad was (and still is) a volunteer ski patroller so as a kid, I managed to get 40+ days on the slopes in a year. These are some of best memories of my entire life as I got to spend my weekends in the mountains and bond with my dad. Now I’m a father and I get to share this same passion with my kids. My oldest stated boarding at the age of 3 and my youngest will be jumping on a board this winter (he turns 3 in January). Watching my oldest progress in the spo
rt and the joy in his face reminds me of when I first started. This sport brought out the best of me and I am proud to be able to share this with my kids.

Congrats on 25 years and here’s to another 25!!

Here's my Proto CT which I just sold as I have Proto Type Two on order which should be here next weekend!

http://www.snowboardingforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=104618&thumb=1
Congrats sdbadd! Your name was drawn as the winner of this custom Never Summer prototype, a board that will be making an appearance in our 17/18 line. Please private message me with your info and we'll get that right out to you.



Thank you everyone for your submissions. Stay tuned for another contest like this one!
 
#29 ·
Hey sdbadd, thanks for sharing! There's been so many awesome stories, it's been a treat to read them all.

The CT was an amazing board, but your new Type Two will be that and then some.
Anytime that we hear hear that a little one is getting into shredding, we get stoked.

In case you haven't heard, we are going down to 80 cm boards. We have a new model coming out called the Shredder. This model is offered in a 90, 100, and 110. These boards feature our legendary Original Rocker Camber which makes it easier for them to learn to initiate and follow through on turns. They also have a tapered core that allows them to flex into a turn.

Thanks for the support!

 
#31 ·
I got a story from the year NS came to be. In fact I even still remember an ad from those days where 2 dudes were reverse flexing a NeverSummer board, I remember both guys having a foot in the middle of the board and just pulling back on the nose essentially shaping it into a C . It was mind blowing!

It was definitely the winter of 91 and I was super stoked for a trip to Fortress with my buds. Had my moms Chevy Nova and the system was a portable boom box with 80 batteries, so it only went out for special occasions. I knew it was 1991 cause it might have been the trip that caused me to get sick of Nevermind as it was the only tape I brought. Picked up my 3 friends and we were on our way at like 6:00 am with our rental boards and shitty plain old every day snow boots and outer wear. Made it for first tracks, not that it mattered as we were all very much learning to be beginners at this point. Such good times were had by all. early afternoon I thought I was hot shit and I rode up beside one of my buddies and stated "I am the denominator" in an Arnie voice then caught my beck edge and had the worst slam ever. Besides the whiplash and head bang it was my arm and one of my legs that hurt like hell. I was done, made it down and hobbled to the lodge, my friends were already ready to go the other two were already done hours earlier.
Damn good thing we left when we did. Made it back to Calgary before it got dark and we stopped somewhere to play some Mortal Kombat cause it was still new and shocking and plain awesome to play on an arcade machine. It was after that I noticed my dickhead friends who were done earlier hung out in the car for a bit and somehow managed to kill the headlights completely. So luckily now it was just a matter of getting home without getting pulled over for no headlights.

As for a something symbolizing my shred-identity and since I have no paragraphs left to talk about my love for skating and surfing too here are some sand dollars I found and painted in 2001 for my now wife's birthday present when I was living on Canada's west coast.
 

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#32 ·
Snowboarding has inspired me to explore. Explore the world, explore life, explore the wilderness, explore knowledge and explore new friendships. Because of hiking to find new lines or on a pow day hiking to get untouched goods I have been able to explore places I have never been before seeing new views and sharing good conversation with friends. I have met so many interesting people riding lifts or grabbing a beer at the lodge. I have met friends who I stay in touch with all seasons and go on life changing trips with. Riding the mountain has taught me to be alert, always looking out for my surroundings being aware of my safety and others around me. I always lend a helping hand to a stranger or friend in need on the mountain because you never know when you will need one in return.

Snowboarding has furthered my pursuit of knowledge. If it were not for this forum I would not spend hours on the internet researching avalanche safety or analyzing weather patterns. I strive to try every board on the market memorizing every spec but even beyond snowboarding relevant knowledge the conversations had on here and on the mountain have taught me about beer, european countries and politics, running and working out, nature and much much more. Without snowboarding I would not have the same drive to pursue knowledge. If you really think about it every time I am outside snowboarding something truly breathtaking happens and it is not always the riding.

 
#33 ·
Born in 1983, same year as NS started designing and building boards. I am a Quebec native all the young boys are doing is Hockey, Hockey, and Hockey. Our family was split between two cities and my parents could not afford Hockey nor they were interested in it at all. Back in the early 1990’s snowboarding was still new in Quebec. However, my father was an avid skier and took us to the mountain to burn that extra energy. But if it was not for my oldest cousin that I always was mimicking I would be on skis.

Snowboarding has taught me that I can be creative in my own way and no matter what level I may be at I’ll always have fun. Now at 33, I’ve been studying and learning the snowboard building process. My craziest dream would be to design and build my own board with my own hands to eventually ride my own creation. Snowboarding has been one of the reasons why I live and now I’m looking forward transmitting the passion to my two years old daughter.
 

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#34 · (Edited)
It is fun to read other’s stories. It got me thinking about my own.

It was 1987 and I decided I wanted to try snowboarding because I hated ski boots. I had only started skiing earlier that same year. I was a junior in High School and experiencing my first snow season where going up to a ski area on a repeating basis was becoming possible (with the help of my older brother, who had a vehicle). We picked up boarding together. I had to split 3 cords of firewood in the backyard to earn my 1st board: a Burton Elite 145 cm (foam core, Fastex binging buckles, swallow tail, and even a fin). My brother was old enough to have a job and his own $, so he bought a Burton Safari. We both used moon boots at first, the moved on to regular Sorels. I started literally in our backyard, which had a clear path and enough slope and enough snow back then (it does not snow anywhere nearly enough there anymore to make this possible today).

I built a jump on the backyard run and would stay out into the evening, lining the path with Xmas lights for visibility. I would use our snow-blower on the back deck to blow more snow onto the “run” and specifically the jump I built. We got bored with that “run” and would hike out to roads in the woods that were (at that time) not being used and not being plowed, to find longer runs (these roads are now paved and surrounded my McMansions).

The first trip to an actual ski area was to Breckenridge in the Springtime of 1988. It just so happens that they were having the World Snowboarding Championships there at that time and all the best riders in the world were there. And, this was my first day at a ski area with a board and I was on what was, even for that time, outdated equipment. I sucked, to put it lightly, and wasn’t smart enough at that time to realize that I should have taken the metal fin that protruded below the base off for packed snow riding. This fin, combined with task of riding on packed snow, caused me to do involuntary 360’s down the slopes as I descended them, often catching the downhill edge and slamming.

I recognized Shaun Palmer himself (from magazine pictures/articles) yelling some insult at me from the chairlift along the lines of “You Suck!!”. He was, of course, correct- but that was pretty dam intimidating! I went back to my brother’s car and got my skis and ski boots and skied the rest of the day. But the funny thing is that by doing so, I realized that even with all the difficulties I was having, I didn’t want to ski when I could snowboard instead.

Many years have passed and many experiences have followed, and hopefully I have improved a bit since that day, but now I can truly say that this isn’t only something that I have been doing most of my life, but that it has shaped my life and is a part of my life. Hopefully the story will have many more chapters before it’s all over…
 
#35 ·
It is fun to read other’s stories. It got me thinking about my own.

It was 1987 and...
That was awesome. My brother and I had very much the same thing getting into snowboarding. But I totally remember driving around to whatever hills we could find that look suitable to build a jump or had nice little jibs like hay bales. I was so pissed being the older one that he could do 360's before me. He had a Burton Air and I was rocking a Kemper that was cut down to look more new school.
 
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