I first met Mason Davey, the co-owner of Weston Snowboards, on a boot pack out to the Jackson Hole backcountry. I happened to be on one of his Backwoods snowboards that I was testing as a part of the Jackson Hole PowWow, a powderboard test where board shapers get together and compare notes on unique shapes.
Boardroom: Four Techniques To Improve Your Splitboard Ascents
Like every gratifying, adventurous inclination, splitboarding involves a sometimes funny, sometimes frustrating progression for resort-turned-backcountry snowboarders. Most riders learn to snowboard inbounds and then make a transition to the backcountry. Because of this, using two planks to climb a mountain and mastering additional uphill travel skills can be daunting. So to glide off on the right foot, here are four, easy-to-practice ascent techniques.
Boardroom: A look into the life of a Rocket Scientist splitboard revolutionary
Phantom Splitboard Bindings, designed to be used with lightweight alpine touring ski boots, have quickly become a go-to for splitboard mountaineers around the world. In addition to Phantom providing a cool new product, its story is unusual. With a marketing plan based almost entirely on word-of-mouth sales, Phantom has successfully grown in the years since its founding. What’s even more interesting about this revolutionary company is that founder John Keffler is a full-time rocket scientist.
Boardroom: Franco Snowshapes gets quantum with snowboard design
Mikey Franco has lived in Jackson Hole, Wyoming for 26 years. He started teaching snowboarding the first year he moved to town, and has been a guide for Jackson Hole Mountain Resort for 16 years. Franco recently took on a second job, snowboard manufacturing. He wanted to take the knowledge he had collected from years of guiding and teaching—watching people ride and listening to their terrain and conditions preferences—and integrate it into boards that were custom made for the rider.
Boardroom: an interview with Christine Feleki, aspiring female splitboard guide
An aspiring splitboard guide from Canmore, Alberta, Christine Feleki is working over the next few months to gain the experience needed to pass her final guide exam. In a world where there are not many splitboard guides, and even fewer female splitboard guides, Feleki has put in the time honing the art of knuckle-dragger guiding and terrain management. Now, she’s on track to become a fully certified guide.
Boardroom: An interview with Pallas Snowboards co-founder Stephanie Nitsch
Stephanie Nitsch is a woman of many hats. I first met her in 2014 at the SheJumps all-women ski and splitboarding mountaineering course, Alpine Finishing School, held outside of Revelstoke, British Columbia. She was there as both participant and journalist, and I got to know Stephanie through stories of her roving lifestyle. Now Stephanie splits her time between her house in Whistler, B.C. and Park City, Utah, where her new company Pallas Snowboards is based.
