JF Pelchat, ex-pro rider and the man behind NOW Bindings, has been apparently working on the idea behind these bindings for the best part of a decade. In a nutshell the technological leap is that these have an insert disc that mounts as normal but sits in a metal disc holder which is connected to the sides of the baseplate by a pivoting mechanism to make the baseplate essentially free-floating. This, plus the silicone bushings and heaps of cushioning that pretty much replaces most of where a traditional baseplate would be, is designed to reduce chatter, enhance feel, boost response and give more of a skate/surf-type feel to your snowboarding.

Pelchat’s had a small army of pros test them, including Devun Walsh, DCP and Jeremy Jones, and captured their feedback, so we were more than stoked to finally be able to test them for ourselves. Check the video review.

The crowd in anticipation of the things to come.

After yesterday’s NowHere premiere and film review we now give you the lowdown on the new Pirates film Hooked and the Munich premiere. After they had kicked of their premiere tour with the traditional Innsbruck booze-o-rama (which parts of our crew attended but don’t remember much of), the crew moved on to the Backstage club in Munich for a back-to-back party experience.

The crew enters the stage.

When it comes to riders, Arthur Longo, Coincoin, Björn Hartweger, Hans Ahlund, Halldor Helgason, Kalle Ohlson, Stian Solberg, Tyler Chorlton and Danny Larsen made up for a solid premiere crew. It was quite obvious that they all had done a bit of pre-gaming as they took over the entire party upon arrival. The mandatory rider introduction/product toss/giveaway on stage was already a big mayhem, and by the time the movie started the riders were already partying it away with the crowd.

Kalle, Hans and Stian enjoy themselves.

After the flick Pirates regulars i-Shine and Trouble Andrew rocked the stage, the latter demonstrating why he got a record deal and you didn’t. I will let the pictures show you what a bitchin night it was!

Music: Making people go crazy since day one.

Florent, Coincoin and Arthur are having a blast.

Let’s quickly talk about the movie then: In typical Pirates fashion all intros features the riders dressed up as Pirates, and in all other scenes in snowboard gear, which I thought was a good idea. When it comes to the riding, Halldor’s part was hands down outstanding. He is one of the most versatile riders out there, and he is killing it on every type of terrain. His part alone is worth buying the movie. Then there’s obviously his brother Eiki, whose part was rather small but showcases his skills, too. Just to make all park rats feel really gutted his part ended with every possible rail trick done in one session on the same street rail.

Jason Horton and Pirates boss Basti point fingers.

Also, Arthur, Tyler and Marco Feichtner had been filming in AK, and even if the learning curve up there is long and steep, they put some good gnar into the otherwise quite jib-heavy flick (which is mostly due to the once-in-a-100-years snow conditions in urban Scandinavia). But don’t worry, there are enough doubles, park jumps and pillow lines to have your feet itching to get back on your board.

Pleasure-Taz and Danny have different opinions on the movie.

All action has been filmed on 16mm, and the its aesthetic makes it stand out from the many digi productions of late. The music in Pirates movies is gradually moving away from the inexplicable Austrian love for reggae, and features pretty much everything from electro to metal (e.g. Danny’s part). Have I mentioned that you should go and buy the movie? Hell, they throw in a 100-page art book. What are you waiting for?

Halldor pointing towards his hotel room.

This is an exact copy of what our memories look like.

Björn and Coincoin play the trumpets.

"More beer? Hell yes!"