Have you ever seen my grandfather on skis? Well, no need to anymore, as in this new Vans advertorial Metallica’s Danish drummer Lars Ulrich wears some ski gear and looks exactly like my late grandpa. We’re not sure why, but Lars is pitching his new Vans x Metallica collaboration shoe to metal music aficionado and pro snowboarder Pat Moore while both sit around some log fire in a ski resort.

We guess it’s official now: Snowboarding might not be as cool as dealing crack these days but it sure as hell beats those dudes from Metallica.

After the demise of Forum, beasty ripper Pat Moore has found himself some new snow kicks thanks to the dudes at Vans.

Vans proudly announces the addition of uniquely talented, all-terrain snowboarder Pat Moore to the global Vans Snow Team. Pat joined the Vans team and friends for a chest-deep powder trip to Silverton to celebrate Vans’ 20 years in snow earlier this week.

Pat said: “Being here in Silverton for Vans’ 20th anniversary in snow is such a humbling experience. Vans’ passion and commitment to sick product and the snowboard lifestyle has spanned nearly my entire life. In the last 20 years, Vans has sponsored some of the most influential snowboarders in the world, from Jamie Lynn, Palmer, Sean Johnson to the new legends like Mark Landvik. I’m honored to be a part of a team that holds such a legacy. From your first pair of skate shoes to your all mountain snowboard boot, Vans is the original. Stay classic.”

“We’re honored to add a rider of the stature of Pat Moore to the Vans roster,” said Vans Action Sports Director Peter Dericks. “Not only is Pat sick rider, but his humble, down-to-earth approach fits perfectly with the rest of the team’s personality while raising the bar for our entire snow program.”

A fixture on the snow scene for more than a decade and described as “an all-terrain destroyer” in the 2013 Snowboarder Rider of the Year issue, Pat placed in the Top 10 for the fourth time. Pat is renowned for his big video parts in films such as That’s It, That’s All and the Art of Flight that are diverse with all types of snowboarding from urban rail riding to backcountry lines. This year, he is the only rider to compete in both X Games video contests, Real Snow and Real Snow Backcountry. Pat placed 3rd in the Real Snow contest last year.

Although Pat’s riding is big it’s also unbiased as he prides himself in saying, “I don’t care what I’m riding, as long as I’m having a good time with my friends.”

In addition to Vans, Pat is sponsored by Volcom, Red Bull, Electric Visual, Squaw Valley, Eastern Boarder, Crab Grab and Haul Ass Wax.

These guys are all fucking nuts.

Round 1 of the eagerly anticipated X Games Real Snow has opened for public voting and, honestly, there’s some of the most insane urban riding you’ll ever see. Mindblowing pretty much covers it. Check out our thoughts on who should win should win Round 1 of Real Snow 2013 here.

We’ll cut to the chase and show you the videos. Riders are paired off in a head to head format and it’s up to you who goes through to the next round. Watch your jaws don’t drop too hard… And when you’re done make sure you vote for the lunatic you’d whose edit hyped you most.

EERO ETTALA vs ETHAN DEISS

JEREMY JONES vs FRANK APRIL

DAN BRISSE vs BODE MERRILL

LOUIS-FELIX PARADIS vs PAT MOORE

Now, if you’re not a gibbering wreck after watching all that, make sure you go vote for the ones that stoked you most.

Forum, Special Blend and Foursquare’s latest team movie, #Forum, features some mind-altering riding from their heavyweight list of riders. And they’re streaming it here for FREE until Thursday October 25th. So be quick…

We watched this in a boozy school disco-like party the other day in Neustift and can safely say it’s definitely worth the price of admission. It’s even worth more than that as you’ll see Andreas Wiig’s freakish kicker skills with more dubs (7, count ‘em) than you’ve had hot dinners, and Pat Moore’s beasty ender where he pushes the ‘well-rounded’ moniker way the hell out. There’s heaps more sickness from Jake Welch, Nic Sauve, Cam Pierce, Austen Sweetin, Mario Käppeli and Daniel Ek to blast your eyeballs with, so click play while you can…

Judging by this teaser, Forum, Foursquare and Special Blend’s latest team movie, #Forum, is gonna be insane. Crazy urban action mixed in with more double corks than you’ve had hot dinners…

Here’s the communique…

#FORUM #TEASER presented by Special Blend, Forum, Foursquare brings you the best from #andreaswiig #patmoore #jakewelch #nicsauve #austensweetin #campierce #danielek #mariokaeppeli

#WORLDPREMIERE on October 10 – Southern California

During October and November there will be numerous national #FORUM premieres throughout Europe so be sure to check out @forumsnowboards.com, @special-blend.com and @foursquareouterwear.com for the premiere and release dates.

In the meantime, get your social media game on lock and make sure to #FORUM. You catch us on Instagram @Forumsnowboarding.

And here are all the other parts.

Hot on the heels of their epic Boxes For Days season ender at Bear Mountain, the Lib Tech guys hit another home run of an event in Japan – the Holy Bowly. With guys like Jamie Lynn and Pat Moore flying in you have the inkling that it’s something special. And it is…

Bowl sessions are nothing new for snowboarders in Japan – they’ve been sculpting these epic transition-filled playgrounds for the over 10 years as the season winds down and, as we showed you when we posted a Japanese bowl session from last year (aka The Funnest Looking Snowboard Park Ever), they have it down to a fine art.

In Europe, too, shapers have been toying with skate-inspired snow setups – the infamous Wängl Tängl with its various RedBull End Sections and more recently the bowl feature at the Nike Chosen Sessions – but when Lib Tech decided they’d put on their own bowl session there was only one place they could do it.

Lib’s Event boss Krush Kulesza had been inspired by the Japanese scene, and hooked up with local shaping legends Hayato “Bubbles” Maruyama, Goro Komatsu and Shuji Kajiura to build a beast, call over some US rippers to ride with the local Dons and put on a session. As you’ll see, everyone was pretty hyped on the outcome with “The best snowboard event ever” a common statement.

This, indeed, looks SO much fun.

Here’s Forum’s official video of the opening day, featuring Pat Moore, Nic Sauve, Austen Sweetin, Mario Kaeppeli, Niko Cioffi, Stevie Bell and Cam Pierce.

Dan Brisse

Louif Felix Paradis

Jed Anderson

Pat Moore

Nick Sauve

Halldor Helgasson

Bode Merrill

Scott Stevens

Vote for your favorites here: go here.

Forum, Foursquare and Special Blend’s team dudes look to have produced another instant classic. We threw out a barrage of WTF?!s when peeping this.

Once again, here’s the Euro premiere dates, along with those across the pond for our North American bretheren…

European Tour:

Oct. 1st Feldkirch, Austria – Poolbar
Oct. 3rd Barcelona, Spain – Shoko Club
Oct. 5th Marseille, France – La Friche et Le Cabaret Aléatoire
Oct. 6th Bozen, Italy – Halle 28
Oct. 8th Landgraaf, The Netherlands – SnowWorld

North American Tour:

Oct. 13th Calgary, AB CAN – Plaza Theater
Oct. 14th Vancouver, BC CAN – Forum Sports Bar
Oct. 15th Portland, OR – Mission Theater
Oct.19th Detroit, MI – Crofoot Ballroom
Oct. 20th Montreal, QC CAN – Boulevard 44
Oct. 20th Denver, CO – Summit Music Hall
Oct. 21st Reno, NV – The Freight House District
Oct. 21st Plymouth, NH – The Flying Monkey Movie House & Performance Center
Oct. 22nd Salt Lake City, UT – Complex
Oct. 23rd New York City, NY – The Red Bull Space