Category: Snowboard

Int’l Snowboard Magazine – Ken Achenbach, Pioneer

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Ken Achenbach on the cover of Int’l Snowboard Magazine – January 1987

Another classic issue of ISM with Ken Achenbach leading the tour of Mt. Bachelor as well as the first ballsy board test by Tom Hsieh and the crew of ISM. “This was the friskiest board tested, the Barfoot was as loose as a goose. Well who can forget those comments from the original board test. And of course the bonus of this issue was the one and only Keith Kimmel interview, not to be missed. This issue closes with a classic ad of Shaun Palmer on the back cover.

Check out the full magazine on my issuu homepage.

Mike Basich & Matt Schlingmann, Snowboard Pioneers

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(left) Mike Basich and (right) Matt Schlingmann at Mt Reba (Bear Valley) Photo Shoot in April, 1991

Maybe we were a little ahead of our time. Tom Hsieh had a visionary moment when he arranged a nightime snowboard photo shoot at Bear Valley, Mt. Reba, CA. The crew was assembled (Mike Basich, Matt Schlingmann, Randy Walters, and others showed up for the scheduled two night clothing photoshoot and worked their asses off) … to be published in the Fall 1991 issue of ISM (never happened though since ISM closed their doors after the 90/91 winter season). Mike McDaniel and the crew of Bear Valley had the quarter-pipe and park (one of the first, I suppose) spray-painted for the event (obviously, this was before eco was smart). I shot about 15 rolls of film under a generator-powered Dynalite studio kit from the Bay area (which we blew up). Luckily everything was finished after the first night (till sunrise of course).

Mt. Reba, Bear Valley
And of course, the Mt. Reba painting crew made it all possible.

Int’l Snowboard Mag – Season Annual 1987

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Jim Zellers at Donner Ski Ranch Lake Tahoe, ISM, Season Annual, Winter 1987 (Photo by Larry Prosor)

Now this is truly a classic issue of ISM. Their first 4-Color cover in 52 pages; there was no turning back. Check Out the following snowboarding stars of the eighties. You can look at the mag in flip-format here!

Int’l Snowboard Mag by Tom Hsieh – Snowboard Pioneer

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Shaun Palmer, ISM Cover, October, 1986 (Photo by Tom Hsieh, Jr)

Originally known as Absolutely Radical in March 1985, International Snowboard Magazine was the first seasonal snowboarding magazine and proclaimed the “last word” until 1991 when it discontinued publication.

Brainchild of Tom Hsieh, Jr. of San Francisco, the October 1986 issue can be seen in its entirety in flip-format. Thanks for checking it out!

Mike Chantry, “Master Blaster” Snowboarding Pioneer

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Mike Chantry, Homewood Ski Area, Lake Tahoe, 1988

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Mike Chantry, Sand Mountain, Nevada 1988

Excerpt from Lee Crane’s story at Transworld Snowboarding, History of Halfpipe:

In 1978, resorts in California’s Lake Tahoe basin hadn’t realized snowboarding’s potential and refused to allow snowboards on their mountains. Because of this, snowboarders spent most of their free time searching for good spots to ride. “Back then not everyone in high school had cars so we needed places to ride that were close by,” remembers 29-year-old Tahoe local Bob Klein.

Klein’s friend Mark Anolik was hiking around Tahoe City in 1979 when he discovered the perfect hit on land owned by the Tahoe-Truckee Sanitation Company. It was literally the city dump. No one is quite sure if the spot was a bend in a creek bed, or the edge of the land fill. It had an entry and a couple hits, which was all these snowboard pioneers needed. Word of the pipe spread and within a few days Mark, Bob Klein, Allen Arnbrister, and Terry Kidwell were beginning to session the spot. They named it the Tahoe City Pipe.

By the spring of 1980, thanks to a local phone company employee and skateboard fanatic named Mike Chantry, the pipe was exposed to the skateboard world. ”Mike Chantry took me there nearly blindfolded because Bob Klein didn’t want anyone to find out about it,” remembers Tom Sims, founder of Sims Snowboards.

“What’s wrong with other snowboarders finding the pipe. At that time there weren’t even that many snowboarders in the world, let alone riding the Tahoe City Pipe.”

Over the next few years pro skateboarders Rob Roskopp, Steve Cabellero, and Scott Foss began visiting the pipe. Lensmen from Thrasher magazine and later International Snowboard Magazine were close behind, not as much for the pipe, but because of the people who were there.

By today’s standards the Tahoe City Halfpipe was not even a halfpipe. “The pipe itself was really just one-hit,” Chantry says. “To make it good took a lot of shoveling.”

That didn’t seem to bother Terry Kidwell or Allen Arnbrister. “Once Kidwell and Arnbrister got into it, it became more of shaping thing,” Klein explains. ”They would spend more time shaping it than riding.”

Keith “Slasher” Kimmel, Snowboarding Pioneer

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Keith Kimmel, Donner Quarterpipe, Lake Tahoe, 1986

Along with Terry Kidwell, Bob Klein and Allen Arnbrister of Tahoe City, Keith Kimmel was one of the original pioneers of modern day snowboarding. He was featured on the cover of the first International Snowboard Magazine (ISM) in March of 86, ripping the original Tahoe City halfpipe, a natural gully near the TC dump.

In this photo, published in the ISM Interview and Thrasher Magazine, Keith is pictured here in one of the first “switchstance” moments in snowboard history. You can read more about the early days of snowboarding halfpipe here.

Tom Burt and Damian Sanders, Snowboard Pioneers

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Tom Burt and Damian Sanders at Mt. Rose Nevada before mainstream ski area acceptance, 1987

Tom Burt and Damian Sanders were two of the original founding fathers of snowboarding. While Damian’s freestyle flare and movie debuts drove mainstream acceptance and explosive growth, Tom (and Jim and Bonnie Zellars) fathered the backcountry movement in early media. Damian was FLF Films early poster boy and starred in their earliest snowboard movies which further fueled snowboarding’s popularity into the early nineties. Together, the four were sponsored by Chris and Bev Sanders/Avalanche Snowboards of South Lake Tahoe.

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Damian Sanders at the first Squaw Valley Halfpipe (Lake Tahoe, 1989)

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Tom Burt at the first Squaw Valley Halfpipe (Lake Tahoe, 1989)

John Cardiel – Skate and Snow

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John Cardiel, FS Rock-N-Roll, Original Burnside Bowl, Portland, Oregon, 1991

One of the easiest riders I ever had the luck to work with was John Cardiel. I’m glad to hear that John is recovering from being hit by a very large truck many years ago. Our roadtrip was the first story that I had ever been assigned to write and photograph. It was for Snowboarder Magazine in 1991 and featured John going to summer camp, namely High Cascade Snowboard Camp. Halfway through the week John treated us with a skate session at the original Burnside Bowl.

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John Cardiel with Chew, High Cascade Snowboard Camp, Mt Hood, Oregon, 1991

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John Cardiel, Timberline at Mt. Hood, Way Above Palmer Snowfield, 1991

The weather was pretty uncooperative during the week until we hiked up Mt. Hood above cloud level and John spun off a crystal ridge line several times. In the days before digital, I was glad to see all the Kodachromes had turned out nice and sharp.

Craig Kelly – Legend

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Craig Kelly Backside, Soda Springs, Sims World Championships, 1985

At the third world championships, Craig ruled the pipe along with Kidwell, Kimmel, and Palmer. Craig had just picked up his sponsorship from Tom Sims a month before, and he’s sporting Raybans, Moto Gloves and Levis. In this photo it’s funny to see people sitting on the walls which is generally prohibited at today’s events. The World Championships moved to Breckenridge the following year.

Craig Kelly at Mt. Baker, 1991
Craig Kelly, Mt. Baker, 1991

Six years later, Craig had switched his sponsor to Burton and we had another miraculous sunny photoshoot at Mt. Baker during New Years vacation. Craig bounced off the tree top which was unexpected. The posse that day was pretty large and included Mike Ranquet (who was sharing a house with Craig), Shawn Farmer who was wearing all black, Jeff Fulton, Carter Turk, and Eric Jenko. Anyone else?