Last winter, Salomon Snowboard athletes traveled to Europe and North America to test our new Fit To Ride boots. The crew spent nearly two weeks around Innsbruck in January, then another 10 days in Helsinki and Yvaskyla in late February. A month after the Helsinki trip, some of the riders traveled to Mammoth for Holy Bowly--a vastly anticipated and equally creative event drawing riders from around the world.
INNSBRUCK WITH FLO, RAFFI, AND DYLAN
The assembled riders were young, hungry, and arrived in Austria to be welcomed with prime conditions and a plethora of spots.
"If I've learned anything over the years of filming snowboarding, it's how crucial the crew and the vibe are to the output. So, when Salomon asked me to flip for a project surrounding their new boots with Raffi Kossman, Dylan Norder, and Marco Morandi, it was an absolute no-brainer. When we got together for the first trip in Innsbruck, everyone was hungry to get shots and be out every minute of the day--and that's exactly what we did. I really hope the footage conveys the vibe and the fun we had filming this." - FLO CORZELIUS
FINLAND WITH FINN AND JJ WESTBURY
"Testing the boots was truly a pleasure. Finn and I have both struggled with feet issues in the past, and found it daunting to spend extended periods of time in our snowboard boots, particularly when filming in the streets. We would stomp around in winter boots for most of the day and only lace up once we were about to board, then pop out of them immediately afterwards. Due to the habit, both Finn and I flew to Finland with our winter boots jammed into our board bags alongside our snowboard boots. The Launch boot was so comfortable that our winter boots didn't leave the bags for the whole trip. Both Finn and I wore them every day for three weeks and they felt great."
"As far as conditions, by the time Marco touched down in Helsinki to link with us, the conditions were some of the worst I have ever experienced--crust on rock! Marco was driven to get some clips, and Finn and I had a few spots still holding snow that we hadn't been able to ride during our prior time with the Snowboarder Mag crew, so we made the most of the situation and got down to business the best that we could. Our last day of filming was probably the last day that you could have really filmed anything in Helsinki that winter--we literally rode it into the ground!" - JJ WESTBURY
HOLY BOWLY
"The overall experience at Howly Bowly in Mammoth was one for the books, especially for a guy like me who had never snowboarded in the States. I could really feel the good vibes and camaraderie from hundreds of boarders rippin' the course. At the end of each day, we all raked and side-slipped together for course maintenance."
"The funniest and most frustrating moments for me (and Marco) was probably when we filmed for the project. When you finally figured out a line and Marco was ready to film, you just had to dive into the course while everyone was doing the exact same thing, it was chaos! We had to zig zag through the features while crashing into people (and people crashing into you), and after all that, you probably didn't land the last trick of your line if you survived the way down.
Holy Bowly wasn't exactly follow-cam-friendly, but I believe our crew got the shots we were looking for and now I can laugh about the unsuccessful tries!" - Johan Nordhag.
