Today is December 27th, usually the worst day of the year, as everyone is pretty messed up from the days before. Also, it is the perfect day to awkwardly return all those unwanted Xmas gifts. However, you might have escaped it all, travelled to the mountains, and sit in a chalet after an epic day of riding freshies. But then, why would you read this? Before it gets more complicated read on to find out what was going on back in September (aka the ‘full movie month’)! Voilà, it’s yet another month of This Year in Snowboarding!

September

First of all, we continued our Most Influential Riders of the 00s list with White, Jones & Dakides, de Marchi, Rüf and Maas, and Rice, Müller and Clark. People started flocking to the glacier resorts, just like Greenshields, König and Klocker. Or they went to Turkey like the Ride crew. What are you saying? You have a headache and can’t concentrate on my writing? What the hell, here’s the full bHappy flick ‘Happy Thoughts’! (See you in 2o minutes…)

A little late we received the sick Treats teaser and an interesting edit of the ‘Marco’s Mansion‘ project in Sölden, featuring Mr. Smolla and a bunch of other Nike 6.0 riders. The Norwegian Government finally approved the location for the World Shred Championships in 2012, … and Absinthe kicked off their new season of Flipside episodes. Also, Flow Snowboards dropped their Witness the Sickness full movie, and Relentless their second episode of Lives of the Artists. Danny Larsen faces Stian Solberg in yet another Knowledge battle. Two final HCSC clips marked the end of the summer shred edit frenzy. The Nitro team flick was presented in a slick teaser, but, really, the Ducksjen teaser is still a pleasure to watch:

The AK-based Bear Cubs full movie kept us off work for a while (and featured Gus Engle and Chris Brewster, among others), and so did the Icecoast flick Numskull, we spent two quality minutes with Dan Brisse and JP Solberg, and we almost creamed our pants when we saw this 9191 sneak peek and the Cheers trailer. Hot Dawgz & Hand Rails was the first competition of the season. And we visited Basti, the Pirates‘ captain, at home. And when our chief editor walked past me while I was watching the Gremlinz teaser, it should change his outlook on snowboarding for good (more about this in his myline in our print mag #120):

Where to go from here? Well, we convinced our homie Jon Weaver to contribute to a bi-weekly column called Gossip from the Good Life. Then we went to the Swiss boozefest called freestyle.ch. Peetu Piiroinen was flashing his brand new Nike 6.0 gear, and fellow team rider Gjermund Braaten won the event. Of course we posted the highlights video. At around that time Burton launched their successful theliftline.tv site, and we countered this effort with our terribly successful Change of Scenery weekly wallpapers. Isenseven, however, took us to California in this short but classy edit:

September was a month of sad news, too, as Torgeir Berre sustained a serious back injury while filming in New Zealand, and the Euro Roxy Chicken Jam got cancelled. And we closed the month with a nice chat between Joni Malmi and Niki Korpela on back in the days vs now.

Now pop that aspirin, go back to bed early, and check back tomorrow for a light-hearted review of October’s haps!

Apparently in previous years Jake Blauvelt was always told what to do. Not that this was really that much of a problem, as the East Coast kid grew to become one of the best backcountry riders of our time. However, come new sponsors comes artistic freedom and new projects. Here’s the first teaser for his “Blauvelt’s Backcountry” movie project. It features his stellar riding as well as Terje’s, Nico’s, Matt Ladley’s, Botner’s, Gjermund’s … and the list goes on. Is this the North American counterpart of 9191? Well, not quite, as it will be a Fuel TV show, but it looks banger nonetheless!

If you haven’t seen 9191 yet - aka the Gigi Movie – then after watching this sneak peek you will for sure be scuttling to buy this frickin’ bangtastic shred flick. Even more so when you’ve peeped this clip of him and Jake Blauvelt owning it.

9191 is short, but like Vecco’s legendary early Terje-focussed flicks, Subjekt Haakonsen and The Haakon Factor, it’s 20 minutes of all thriller and no filler. With an original soundtrack by Baron, cameos from Gigi’s buddies like Terje, Jake Blauvelt, Nicolas Müller, Luke Mitrani, Wolle Nyvelt and more, and the kind of vibe you only seem to get from Volcom flicks, 9191 means business.

And this sneaky peeky here gives you a good idea of what to expect. Gigi and Blauvelt shredding and stomping 3s, 5s and 7s with not a shaped cheese wedge in sight – it’s all natural terrain, baby!

You can now buy 9191 from the UK iTunes store so splash the cash, get downloading and check out what’s sure to be deemed a classic in years to come. Or head to wherever your local shred store is and demand your copy.

When you’ve watched this three times, muttering over-awed cuss words in the process, you can also check the clip of Gigi riding with Terje and swear even more at these dudes’ cat-like skills.

Gigi Rüf and Terje Haakonsen show some of their extraterrestrial shred skills in this sneak preview of 9191, Volcom’s forthcoming film. More info under 9191movie.com.

Who made the grade?

Teasers: there’s an avalanche of the feckers raining down all summer. From the big movie productions, to local crews and even Billy No-Mates with his GoPro, every man and his dog makes movies these days. And to satisfy the rabid hunger of snowboarders for any kind of fix, of all of them have some form of appetiser they let loose on the internets – some good, some bad, some downright ugly.

A teaser’s job is, well, to tease. The art is showing enough flesh but not too much, giving you a taste of the vibe but have you gagging for more. If the full movie is a shred skinflick, these are your FHMs of Jenna in a thong – no one wants to blow their load too early.

But however representative of the movie proper they turn out to be, there’s no denying we all scour the wires over summer to see what we’ll be up for getting balls deep in come autumn, so here – in no particular order – is what we at Onboard reckon to be the 5 teasers that have worked their magic best and got us über hyped to check out the full movie. What’s your top 5?

Forum & Special Blend – F… It

MPORA Action Sports >>

Forum Or Against ‘Em was great, Forever was maybe in the top 3 movies last year and with their new release, F… It, Forum Snowboards look to be maintaining their recent tradition of pumping out the slickest team flicks in the game. Their riders might not roll off the tongue as they did in they days of old, though big hitters like Pat Moore, Andreas Wiig and John Jackson never disappoint, but there’s no doubting their team’s talent. A killer tune, the right mix of  slams, dicking around and cut landings that don’t seem cut means this is one we’re for sure hyped on.

Volcom – 9191

While it’s true that they could have filmed a turd for 2 minutes with a flag saying “Gigi Movie – Dropping Fall 2010″ and we’d still have been hyped, Volcom‘s legendary lineage in snowboard cinema and the unique aesthetic they bring to the always-heavy riding means you got to take note. An original soundtrack by Baron, some Volcom quirkyness and a killer front 10 in the Jackson BC fired us up, but that 9191 is focussed on one of our favourite riders of all time means this is a shoe-in for our Top 5.

Absinthe Films – Now/Here

Absinthe ‘NowHere’ Teaser >>

It’s a fairly serious affair, this one from Absinthe, but when your movies tend to redefine the limits of big mountain freestyle then you don’t need so many high-fives and backflips to sell how fun it’ll be. These guys are all about the heaviest of hits, hairball descents and bouncing around in utopian powder stashes and the snippets you see here confirm that NowHere is going to be off the hook. Backside rodeo to boardslide? Bionic urban hits? Huge natural terrain freestyle? This looks like it’s got it all, and then some.

Alterna Films – Hello World

The perfect mix of funtimes, wince-inducing slams and solid teasy action (with even a couple of stompers) had us pumped for Alterna‘s latest release. From downtown to way out back, they seem to have all the boxes ticked for a banger of a movie and combine it with crisp, HD footage, some of Canada and Europe’s finest and a hammer of a tune. The front 10 from above is awesome, the step-up double backy gnarly and Chris Dufficy sums up snowboarding in one sentence when he says “Sometimes it just feels good to do a Method.”

Pirate Movie Production – Hooked

Pirate Movie Productions – Hooked Teaser >>

In this day and age where HD cablecams and gyroscopically stabilised IMAX 3D dolly rigs are used to make Dave from Penken’s end-of-season edit, it’s refreshing to see the Pirates giving some love to the lo-fi in their movies. Of course, its not merely their love of film in this teaser that sets them apart – their crew is arguably the strongest to set sail from Europan shores with cats like Chorlton, Helgason, Larsen, Feichtner, Rüf, Ohlson and more reading like a who’s who of Euro shred. Filled with brain-bending rail dancing, creative jibbery, beefy backcountry and one q-pipe sesh that recalls the good old days, this teaser sets out their stall nicely and had us amped for more.

We just found out the dates for the world tour of 9191 – aka The Gigi Movie – so check ‘em out and get yo’ asses there. And if you ain’t seen it yet (where have you been?) then feast your eyes on the teaser. It’s gonna be a banger.

Check out more on 9191movie.com

The late John Archibald Wheeler, apparently a big shot in theoretical physics, once said: “Time is what prevents everything from happening at once.” And it is also what makes us come up with a new This Week in Snowboarding every week. Smart-people shit and snowboarding, kablam! Once again here are the highlights from this week’s snowboarding, drawn from our own site and other places that are actually good.

The urine samples gave some reasons for concern.

SATURDAY

No Joke seems to be a decent movie from Canada. But hands down, Share the Wealth looks even better. And Jeremy Jones charging down one gnar of a line doesn’t look too bad, either. 60s surf rock in a teaser is always a plus: Be Happy teaser. The Videograss crew have fun between their shots. And a Polish dude attempts to snowboard the Nanga Parbat.

SUNDAY

The angry man brings us the full Afterbang movie. Don’t forget about the epic speed snowboarder Darren Powell. Speaking of which, the Helgasons have a go at it, too.

These days some pros need a cheat sheet for their lifestyle.

MONDAY

Seb Toots has won the Billabong Ante Up contest, as this video documents. And Matts Kulisek did something scary at the same event. Watch this clip and this teaser and join the Les2Alpes summer camps. Watch that teaser and go to Japan. The Ästhetiker rip some summer pow in Hintertux. YES Snowboards bag an award. Annie Boulanger is a rad chick. (By the way, the surf in Iceland looks sick!) The 2018 Winter Olympics host race is down to three.

TUESDAY

Videograss release their epic Bon Voyage teaser, and FODT release the equally classy The Arena teaser. And there’s more teasers: Bald-E-Gal, The Völkl team can’t surf. And Tamworth sees some good riding, too.

WEDNESDAY

The teaser for 9191, the Gigi movie, is out, and it looks oh so good. The German 21Inch teaser pops up on our site. The kids make the flakes fly at HCSC session #1. The What’s Up teaser hails from Quebec. Sandbox hit up the DC Mountain Lab. Meet “the Andreas Wiig of the Andes“. Check out this awesome Burton x Tron collabo, because you’re all probably a hipster.

How can you make alpine riding look better? Throw a splashy photoshop filter on it!

THURSDAY

Watch bHappy‘s mellow last day at Northstar (warning, includes some skiing). The Cardona park down under looks gooood. The Japanese Catch Me teaser is good stuff. If you have a lot of time, watch this long German edit, or this equally long True Color clip. Speaking of Germans, their Playboard magazine turned 15 (congrats!). Kazu is the man! But do you know Charlie Idda? While we have been awarded the ‘Do Nothing Award’ several times Hannah Teter might be in for VH1′s ‘Do Something’ version. The first week of summer camp in Val Senales was a success. The pow in Brighton, too. And there will be a big air event in Las farking Vegas!

FRIDAY

The first of Think Thank’s first Right Brain Left Brain mini teasers is out. The Dew Hut Jam hails with a clip from Australia. Fluofun post a lot of next season’s board information on their site. Unfortunately, it’s all in French. Watch Andy Wright‘s 08/09 slideshow. And it is so hot in Vermont right now, you can have BBQs. Indoors.

That’s all for this week, folks. Enjoy your weekend, and don’t drink too much!

Of all movies of the upcoming season, the 9191 film project might be the most anticipated one: It might make more sense to you if we called it by its vernacular name, “The Gigi Movie”. And since it is a Volcom movie, just like the classics ”Subjekt Haakonsen” and “The Garden”, you know you’re in for something epic.

Apart from Gigi Rüf the featured riders include Bryan Iguchi, Terje Haakonsen, Mark Landvik, Curtis Ciszek, Blair Habenicht, Wille Yli Luoma, Luke Mitrani, Wolle Nyvelt, Jake Blauvelt, and Nicolas Müller. This one will be special, I tell you!

More information on the film’s website.

Gigi Rüf. Photo: Cole Barash.

Onboard caught up with the Austrian ripper to pick his brains and to get the lowdown on his new flick, dropping this autumn.

We were sat in our office, bummed out as it seems it just will not stop raining here, so we thought: “We need to get hyped on something. Who’s riding stokes us out?” The answer, Gigi. We called him up for the skinny on what he’s been up to, his approach to the backcountry, family, and his upcoming Volcom movie, 9191. Damn, the thought of a Gigi flick just got us a semi…

How is it going, Gigi? Is the season over now?

No, not yet. I have two small ankle injuries currently. But I guess that’s what happens if you jump through the air like me.

Where did that happen?

It happened during my last trip: The “Grease Bus Tour” in Tahoe, a Nike thing.

Gigi's epic Onboard cover from the first issue of the 09/10 season. No coverlines, all awesomness. Photo: Matt Georges.

What else is still on your schedule now that it is already mid May?

We are still looking where there’s some snow left.

I guess that means traveling quite a bit again, no?

Yeah, we’ll have to look way up North. I have contacted a colleague of yours and Björn Lindgren. He told me there was still a lot of snow in front of his camper in Riksgränsen. It sounds promising and it is always good to have a local around who knows the area and can give you some guidance.

What do you have to get done up North then?

I’ve still got stuff to do for the Volcom video. The season was rather short as we could not be productive any time before February. Before that the snow had never been where we were. But you’re right: The end of the season is coming soon. It helps that the sun is not that strong up North…

This is what is known these days as SENDING IT. The Gig in Switzerland. Photo: Cole Barash.

That would have been my next question: What exactly is the deal with the Volcom video? It’s a Gigi movie, isn’t it? Can you talk about it?

For sure… we already have a teaser that has been screened on Fuel TV in the US. When and where the movie will be released I don’t really know… I am always busy riding.
The movie is called “9191” and it is about my snowboarding and that of my friends, who I have met during the season. I was continually on the road shredding.

Are you happy with your filming results so far? Can we expect yet another banger part from your side?

Not just a part, a whole movie! [laughs] I had many great experiences and it was a dream come true so to speak. I could focus all my attention on my own film project.

Next question: Don’t you feel quite some pressure to fill an entire movie with your riding?

For sure I want to give my best. However, as proved by my ankle injuries you can’t really force anything. I just enjoy my opportunity, and to be honest I don’t even know what’s already in the can. I can only hope that in the final product people will be able to see that, for me, it is all about adventures and experiences. Regarding pressure I would say that it is the highest now as the season comes to a close. One season isn’t really that long – you have to stay fit and motivated. This works best when you are enjoying it. Anyhow, up until a month ago I couldn’t believe what’s going on!

Watch this mid-line monster back 3 in Neverland and you'll know Gigi has an almost preternatural gift in the Backcountry. Photo: Cole Barash.

Just the other day Christophe Schmidt – who went filming with you in AK a couple of years ago – told me that your approach to backcountry riding is out of this world. How do you do that? And how do you manage to push yourself further every year?

This might sound like a cliché, but for me it is ‘Just follow your nose. Whatever comes your way.’ I think life is a puzzle that wants solving. We move forward through experience. I think you should never be afraid, or you will get annoyed in the long run.

As long as it works for you. How has your approach to risks and dangers changed now that you are a father.

Unfortunately my daily life is not really structured. I miss my wife’s cooking when I’m on the road. Regarding my son I have a good conscience knowing that he is healthy and will always greet me with a laugh. But I am still making my experiences in this aspect of life. But to return to your question before: My snowboarding is just what it is… currently more of a task but every now and then I don’t want to go for anything gnarly at all. I always follow my feelings.

I think that’s what comes across in your parts: Nothing seems forced, it is all natural. Who did you meet during filming and who will appear in 9191?

This season I was able to revive a few snowboard friendships: DCP, Jake Blauvelt, Terje, Wille Luoma, Luke Mitrani, Nicolas Müller, Blair Habenicht, WOLLE!, Luaks Debari, Marco Feichtner, and Arthur Longo.

Corked front 5 in Cervinia. Photo: Matt Georges.

Wow, that sounds awesome! The crew reads like the Who’s Who of backcountry riding.

To me they are trustfully companions when it comes to snowboarding and everything around it.

Let’s change the topic: You rarely compete in contests. Why – or why not?

I have the wrong attitude from the start as I keep thinking that I will screw it up anyways… I guess I’d always need some extra time to come up with a trick that might work and get me the prize money.

Well, people don’t know you for your contest results anyway. But what’s your take on the ever growing contests and the fact that the media’s interest is focussed on them? Just think of the Olympics, the Dew Tour, Air&Style, etc.

It is a nice sport, and I would love to ‘cash in’ like everyone else… the popularity is indeed growing. For me, though, it is all about experiencing adventures. I often think about liberty, creativity, serenity in terms of my sport. It is a sport that is inaccessible for many, because you need a lot of equipment and other stuff up on the mountain.

Chair lift tailbonk. Photo: Matt Georges.

Yeah, true that. At least you are able to give something back to the many people who dream about being on those mountains where you are riding.

For sure. I hope the film will show that the only way to get there is through friends.

We are very much looking forward to it. What’s going to happen when the season is finally over? Do you have any plans for summer?

I will roam my family and friends… let’s see what adventures await me.

Last question: When I picked you up in Bregenz about two years ago, you had this insane Ford Mustang. What does your fleet currently consist of?

My skateboard is my number one, then the family car, a half-wrecked motorbike, which I will have to put together over Summer. My BMX has also a flat tire. And I should change the starter of my Mustang – currently the only way to get it going is by banging it hard.

Ice slasher in Switzerland. Photo: Cole Barash.

Well, right there there are challenges for two summers to come.

(Laughs) Yes, I would say so, too. Anything else?

No, I think I’ve taken enough of your precious time.

That suits me – dinner is ready! Have a great spring evening…

Enjoy being home and spending time with the family – at least until it’s on again. Hope to see you soon and thanks a lot Gigi!

Photo: Cole Barash.