Last week, yours truly Onboard Magazine travelled to the Austrian valley of Montafon for an all-new event concept called Nike Snake & Hammers. Nike and the Montafon had conjured up a banked slalom cum slopestyle course that was open to everyone who felt like a few fast turns, slow spins, and slushy transitions. The aim was to snake down course as fast as possible while dropping their best „hammers“ along the way. The course was a combination of numerous turns and banks, the park included a stairset, side by side kicker setup, big bowl, a gap through a snow tunnel to a straight rail, a creative halfpipe and a small hip. In our humble opinion, it was the laid-back park design that made the event stand out, as punters, media, and pros alike were eager to get their edges dug into the banked turns and snake pipe walls.

Stephan Maurer on course! Photo: Cyril Müller

Despite the challenging weather on the first three days (snowfalls and high fog) the vibe was outstanding, as the course was as inviting and fun to ride as it gets. On the day of the finals the sun came out, many pros and legends alike turned up and made for an unforgettable day on the mountain. Nike pros like Peetu Piiroinen, Jamie Nicholls, Kevin Backström and Spencer O’Brien were joined by an illustre crew of riders like David Bertschinger Karg, Enzo Nilo, Stephan Maurer, Nico Droz, David Benedek and Steve Gruber.

Peetu Piiroinen is attracted to big kickers. Phto: Cyril Müller

When the judging was complete on the day of the finals, Christian Haller (SUI) showed he had the best mix of balance, speed and tricks winning him a share of the $10,000 prize purse. With a race time of 01:25,10, frontside lipslide on the gap downrail, frontside 720 tailgrab off the kicker and many other tricks he claimed a deserved win. Spencer O’Brien won the women’s contest by snaking down the course with her well documented power and style with the best hammer award going to Jamie Nicholls who threw a perfectly stomped backside 1080 off the kicker.

Snake & Hammers winner Christian Haller coming out of the tunnel of doom. Photo: Cyril Müller

MEN
1. Christian Haller / SUI 2. Stephan Maurer / SUI 3. Peetu Piiroinen / FIN

WOMEN
1. Spencer O’Brien / CAN 2. Nicola Thost / GER 3. Aline Bock / GER

BEST HAMMER: Jamie Nicholls / ENG

Further information about the contest and the complete ranking are published on www.snakeandhammers.com.

A bird’s eye view of the park. Photo: Cyril Müller

Yeah it’s winter proper right know but so what? Springtime shredding’s still funner than a bath full of boobies and this section from People’s new movie, Pretty Wise, pays homage to that fact. It will also make you want to get strapped in whatever the time of year – check it out!

People Films is proud to bring you a whole new group of riders for our 2012 film, Pretty Wise, featuring the natural talents of 11 rising stars and 3 veterans that will no doubt be leaving their indelible impression on the world of snowboarding. 

Featuring: Jason Robinson, Rusty Ockenden, Robbie Walker, Shayne Pospisil, Jake Koia, Lonnie Kauk, Elias Elhardt, Johnny Lazz, Scot Brown, Marco Smolla, Mark Carter, Jason Dubois, Will Lavigne, and Shaun McKay.

Buy PRETTY WISE on iTunes Now!: itunes.apple.com/us/movie/pretty-wise/id570725329

Watch Snowreel2012 with Tom Klocker, David Bertschinger Karg, Tobi Strauss, Marco Smolla and Colin Frei. These are their best shots from last season – enjoy!

This is Simon Gruber’s & Marco Smolla’s shared part from the 2011 Isenseven snowboard movie Kaleidoscope.

Go Pre-Order your DVD copy of Isenseven’s 2012 Movie “Fool’s Gold”. Right now! A nice Beanie is included in the Deal!
isenseven.tv/foolsgold-2012-dvd

People Films went through a massive change compared to last winter. Gone are the days of JP Walker and his buddies. But this new crop doesn’t seem to be too bad, either!

Featuring: Jason Robinson, Rusty Ockenden, Robbie Walker, Shayne Pospisil, Jake Koia, Lonnie Kauk, Elias Elhardt, Johnny Lazz, Scot Brown, Marco Smolla, Mark Carter, Jason Dubois, Will Lavigne, and Shaun McKay.

Another teaser for Isenseven’s 2012 movie called Fool’s Gold. This will undoubtedly set the Germanic internet on fire.

Classic fun and friendship riding by Alex Tank, Benny Urban, Tobi Strauss, Fips Strauss, Peter König, Tom Klocker, Luka Jeromel, Marco Smolla, Colin Frei, David Bertschinger Karg, Kevin Bäckström, Ludwig Lejkner, Wojtek Pawlusiak, Dani Rajcsanyi, Christophe Schmidt and many more.

Fool’s Gold. Definitely some fool’s in this little trailer numero 2 for our upcoming movie.
Sit back, open a beer and wonder what it’s like to spend an entire season with this gang.
*Sorry for all the cursing. Our boys obviously have no manners.

Fool’s Gold will be available September 2012 at your local boardshop and iTunes worldwide. Boom!

Sneak a first peek at the new Isenseven movie that’ll be dropping this fall. Watch it now – Banging!

The Munich-based Isenseven crew always come up with the European-flavoured goods so check out a first look at what they’ve been slaving over all winter long. Hammerzeit.

Here’s what the three-headed videographical manbeast that is Alex Schiller, Tom Elliott & Vincent Urban had to say about things:

Fool’s Gold. Yup, that’s the name of our 2012 feature length blockbuster film.

A few of our boys have left us, a few guys re-joined and a few new faces will appear this year. But never the less, it’s a great mix of the bestest team ever and we hope you love each rider the way we do. Although, they sometimes can be annoying.

Watch our crew hit jumps, hit rails, hit faces and hit hits all over the world, captured on our crispy HD cameras for your viewing pleasure (or pain…)

Fool’s Gold will be available September 2012 at your local boardshop and iTunes worldwide. Boom!

Riders: Alex Tank, Benny Urban, Tobi Strauss, Fips Strauss, Peter König, Tom Klocker, Luka Jeromel, Marco Smolla, Colin Frei, David Bertschinger Karg, Kevin Bäckström, Ludwig Lejkner, Wojtek Pawlusiak, Dani Rajcsanyi, Christophe Schmidt and some other friendly faces.

Elias Elhardt and Marco Smolla shred Hintertux in traditional garb and then get leathered at Oktoberfest. Partyzeit!

Here in Munich every autumn, men dress up in children’s shorts, women dress up in wonderbras and both drink beer and get nasty. To celebrate Oktoberfest Elias Elhardt and Marco Smolla donned their lederhosen and ripped up Hintertux to some god-awful music that, seriously, sounds almost good when you have drunk two or more litres of strong helles. And then they went to Oktoberfest to drink beers bigger than a human head.