Grab yourself a brandy and reminisce on these couple of clips before chowing down on the bird.

8th – Near Death: Skier Falls Off Cliff

While we like nothing more than mocking our tall-teed doppelplankers, when we saw this and witnessed the full horror of what happened we were more than stoked the guy seemed Ok at the end. Jeez, imagine the tug in your gut. Oof.

7th – The Art of Flight Teaser 2: Very Metal

Unsurprisingly in 7th place is another clip dealing with The Art of Flight, this time it’s their second teaser. And as they did with That’s It, That’s All, Brain Farm followed up their first tickler with a subsequent one with a Metal soundtrack that spiked the internet back in July. Raar.

Places 6 – 5 drop in a couple days, so swing back then.

So here is the beginning of our rundown of what the Google machine tells us were the most popular videos we posted in 2011. And as a disclaimer, we’d like to add that this says more about you than it says about us…

10th – Euro Gap 1 Full Movie

Though we posted it in 2010 (as a ramp-up to the release of the most excellent Euro Gap 3), this gem of a full movie from the beginning of the 2000s by brothers of other mothers Joni Malmi and Paavo Tiikkanen still had enough people sniffing it out to land it in the 10th spot. And rightly so. If ever there was a movie that celebrated the raw radness that is a pro snowboarder’s life, this is it.

9th – The Art of Flight Teaser 1

Being that it’s been watched, rewatched, reviewed, read about, dissected, criticised, praised and marketed the hell out of in the intervening months, it’s almost possible to forget the frothing enthusiasm the release of this first teaser generated back in February. Nah, not really. People were hyped to see the first glimpse of TAOF, as they will be the next time Rice and Morgan release their next anything.

More in a couple of days…

Okay, he doesn’t actually say much but it’s nice to see someone other than Shaun on ‘proper’ telly, and show the soccer moms that there’s way more to snowboarding than contests and Olympic golds. We know that avalanches are a serious business, but was it just us who thought Travis totally pulled that blonde when he clawed his way out of that slide.

On another Brain Farm-related tip, you can read our brain farting on The Art of Flight premiere in Munich here if you want more Rice wit dem peas.

travis-rice-art-of-flight-conan-obrien

Erm, careful you don't topple over.

The Red Bull tour bus stopped off in Munich last night and gave us the opportunity to watch The Art of Flight on the big screen. It made us think…

Brain Farm Cinema’s The Art of Flight has been touring the planet for a while now, but the crew only pitched up in Onboard’s home village of Munich last night and gave the local shred mafia a chance to experience the movie on the big screen. Of course, we’ve seen The Art of Flight already and it’s been discussed and dissected to death both online and in print, but laptops, iPads…  hell, even if you bought it on Blu-Ray we’d say seeing it in a theater on a house-sized screen is arguably the best way to experience the vision of Travis Rice, Curt Morgan and their Brain Farm homies.

Sadly for some reason Travis, Curt and Pat Moore who were supposed to show up to the premiere didn’t make it, so it was left to Nicolas Müller to walk the red carpet alone as a barrage of flashbulbs went pop and cameras were thrust in his face. Ain’t no thang for Nico, he’s one cool cat.

Anyway, here’s some thoughts that popped in our heads after the event, which don’t involve the chitter chatter about how there’s more shots of aircraft than shots of Travis riding.

- It looks great on the big screen. Shocking, eh?

- It’s still kind of a big deal. Though there was no Justin Timberlake at this premiere, there were two of the big cinemas full to capacity and there was some dudes from German TV ZDF hassling people for their thoughts on the film as they came out.

- We didn’t actually notice the helicopterphilia so much. It sounds dumb but with a bag of popcorn and a cushy chair, you get drawn into the movie more and the storytelling aspect becomes more enjoyable. You’re not thinking, “Ok, great. Now show me a triple whoopdedoo.”

- Travis Rice’s riding is truly superhuman. You don’t need us to tell you he’s a beast, but the size of the stuff he sends himself off becomes even more awe-inspiring when it’s 40-foot high.

- However, Travis’s narration is still pretty cheesy. “Alaska. So far gone.” We still can’t hear that without grimacing.

This is Nicolas 'Lonely' Müller and a couple of grommets. He is a cool guy.

- Nicolas Müller is a dude. While Rice fucks the mountain, Nico makes sweet love to her. It was interesting to chat with him after the film too. In short: he filmed all his stuff in one month, it was hectic to shoot for as there was barely a down day, and he’s never seen anyone else send it as hard as Rice does, nor take such savage beatings and get back up to hit the spot again and stomp it. He was also visibly in awe of the man which, coming from the guy most snowboarders would like to be able to shred like, is one hell of a testament.

- Because The Art of Flight is, as we mentioned, still kind of a big deal, the premiere as expected drew in the usual snowboard suspects from Munich, but there were also a fair few regular Joe-type cats who’d come to see what all the fuss was about. Not that we’re saying they’re not people who snowboard, but some were certainly not ‘snowboarders’. And from talking with Curt and Travis this is a big part of what they want their movies to do – to inspire people to get out in to the mountains more and give them a glimpse into the life we perhaps take more for granted. Not the sending 100m switch backside double corks, more the dicking around on bad weather days, the battling with the elements and the majesty of the natural environment in which we play. Of course, there’s also showcasing the pinnacle of our humble sport with the most cutting edge cinematography available but what we found really interesting was being sat next to a generic non-snowboard dude who seemed really entertained by some of the lifestyle parts, and was constantly exclaiming “Scheisse!” throughout the action. We couldn’t help but think this guy would be heading to the hills come next snowfall off the back of this, giving snowboarding a whirl and even maybe even getting his nipper a board for Christmas. This is a good thing. Appealing to the core and mainstream is a tough balancing act to get right, but we’d say for the most part Brain Farm pull it off.

- It’s really not a snowboard movie. It’s a movie with snowboarding in it. Perhaps subtle semantics but a point missed by many wailing at the heaps of ‘nothing’ between the riding.

- It’s pretty good.

That’s our brain fart anyhoo. If you can see it on the big screen we’d heartily recommend it. It’s certainly better than half the junk in the cinemas now for sure. Should you buy it to watch on your small screen? If you get offended by gratuitous heli shots, people firing guns, stuff in the mountains that’s not actual snowboarding or energy drinks, then perhaps not. But, still, even the most diehard hater of popular snowboard culture could not fail to be impressed by the riding when it’s on. So, y’know, like, do what you gotta do.

Johnnie Paxson. 5-0 to firecracker. Photo: E-Stone.

Our freshest mag hits stores today. Bag yourself a sneak peek at what’s inside, then bag your copy from your local news merchant.

HALLDOR HELGASON INTERVIEW

No, Halldor ain't has his nose broken and no, we ain't been messing with him. It's just a print thang.

Halldor’s bossing it right now. Girls want to be with him, guys want to be him, he bagged the opener in Standard’s TB20, he’s leading the charge online, he comes either first or dead last at contests… Halldor is the man. Our German ed hooked up with him and infamous partner in crime Johannes Brenning in Norway to get the lowdown.

THE ART OF FLIGHT

Brain Farm’s latest mindbending mix of high-octane shredding and cinematography that would give Spielberg wood has hit stores, so we hit up the boys to get the scoop on what went into making The Art of Flight.

ARCTIC EXPOSURE

YES Snowboards founding fathers JP Solberg, Romain de Marchi and DCP rented a boat and toured the Norwegian fjords with JP’s bro Stian. Our shooter Matt Georges was along for the ride to document this unique trip. We think we avoided any ‘I’m on a boat!’ gags too.

JIBBER JABBER – US STREET SCENE IS ON FIRE

The urban riding scene in the US is exploding, with year-on-year more and more insanity being thrown down on the streets. Tom Monterosso looks back at where US jibbing came from and where it’s at.

LUDDE LEJKNER PROFILE

This Swedish ripper is on a roll right now. Fresh off a solid opening section in the new Isenseven movie, Kaleidoscope, Ludde locks down his first major Onboard coverage with a selection of street savvy skills.

PLUS

Ball bonking Trickology with Peetu Piiroinen, Mark McMorris’s Cab triple 1260, Analog’s Design Unlikely Features Europe, Lift chatting with Mario Kaeppeli, heaps of product, giveaways and more.

We figured it’d been at least 2 days since you’d heard anything about The Art of Flight, so happily we can report that there is an online game movie tie-in type thing, just like the Hollywood movies have. The fact that has videogame music straight from the 1980s makes it even more awesome.

If you can’t be arsed doing any work this morning and fancy fingerbashing a virtual Travis Rice to tune that sound like they’ve been taken from Streets of Rage (ask your dad), then this will be right up your alley, me old china.

Go to artofflightmovie.com and get wild.

Here’s the chatter…

Red Bull introduces “The Art of FLIGHT” game on ArtofFLIGHTmovie.com, allowing fans to ride Alaska’s breathtaking backcountry, crest remote mountain peaks, overcome gravity and stomp snowboarding’s most progressive tricks alongside pro snowboarder Travis Rice and the world’s best riders. Players rely on dexterity and fast reaction time to power the Travis Rice character through jumps, flips, spins and grabs across three tricky levels of terrain features. The game can be shared and players can challenge friends using Twitter and Facebook in the quest to reach the top of the worldwide prestigious leader board on artofflightmovie.com.

Created using photorealistic graphics, experience three unlockable levels set in three of the world’s most storied mountain ranges: the Alps, the Alaska Range and the Andes. Players are dropped onto the top of a peak then challenged on slopes with various terrain features as they navigate the way down mountain. Points are gained through tricks, speed and by pulling big airs.

Level one starts off in the Alps backcountry, where the player can throw spins and flips. Upping the ante in level two, the game’s next stage is set on Alaska’s more challenging slopes. Players have to harness speed, get massive air, balance and jump to accomplish infinite spins in order to step to the next level. Having survived the wild ride in Alaska, a flight to the southern hemisphere lands in Patagonia for the final and most daunting level. Deadly slopes give way to extreme mountain ridges, frozen sheer slopes and razor-sharp peaks, which emerge to threaten even the most experienced snowboarder. Level one and two are available now, level three will unleash soon.

Navigation for “The Art of FLIGHT” game runs off the keyboard’s arrows and space keys, which are used in conjunction to control the character. Points are earned by jumping higher and landing spectacular trick combinations. But just as in real life, push it too hard and riders may lose balance and risk falling or losing speed, resulting in a loss of points. Grab your lift ticket to play online today and make a mark on the prestigious worldwide leader board at artofflightmovie.com.

“The Art of FLIGHT” game is developed by Red Bull Media House in cooperation with Less Rain.

Lib Tech are ready to drop a special limited edition Travis Rice Pro model to celebrate the release of Rice’s new flick, The Art of Flight. It looks tasty…

In a special early season, limited release, Lib Technologies unveils “The Art of FLIGHT” T.Rice C2 Power Banana with Magne-Traction pro model snowboard. Every “The Art of FLIGHT” early release snowboard will come with The Art of FLIGHT book – including a copy of the film on DVD and Blu-ray™ in a collector’s edition box. This limited edition package will only be available at core snowboard shops while supplies last starting in early October.

“This is something that we put together to thank loyal Lib Tech fans and snowboard shops. I’ve never heard of a snowboard package this awesome,” Travis says. “I spent the summer photo editing the book and working with Parillo on the art for the boards. For the price of most snowboards you get a limited edition of one of the best snowboards that I’ve ever ridden, a gorgeous book and ‘The Art of FLIGHT’ on Blu-ray™, the way the film should be watched.”

The board features Travis’ favorite C2BTX banana tech rocker/camber combination contours and shapes tested on location during the making of “The Art of FLIGHT.” Travis and Lib Tech worked with Mike Parillo on an art piece that would make this board an instant collector’s item. It comes in both a twin pointy pow (161.5cm) and twin blunt jib shapes (153cm and 157cm).

Travis lead a team of photographers, editors and designers to create The Art of FLIGHT book, an oversized, photo-driven book featuring the stunning images captured and exclusive stories made while filming “The Art of FLIGHT.” Published by Red Bull Media House in association with Mervin Manufacturing, all 200 pages are printed on 100-pound silk finish paper using unparalleled printing techniques. The 5,000 limited edition books, a portion of which are only available as part of the Lib Tech package, will be individually numbered with a hand stamp and sold in a luxurious, 3D, collector’s edition box.

As with all Lib Tech, GNU and Roxy snowboards, Travis’ boards are handcrafted near Canada at Mervin Manufacturing in Carlsborg, WA. Travis has worked closely with the Mervin Experimental Divison to fine-tune his flexes, contours and geometries to all-terrain freeride perfection. Travis’ weapon of choice, his Lib Tech pro model, has been strapped on for wins at King of the Hill, Air and Style, Natural Selection and X Games, while the board itself boasts “Good Wood” and countless “Editor’s Choice” nods.

Register your T.Rice Limited Edition board at www.mervin.com/register and be eligible to win Mike Parrillo’s full sized board art print from Asymbol signed by the artist, Mike Parillo! For more info go to: asymbolgallery.com or lib-tech.com .

Price: 599.95 EUR
Sizes: 153, 157, 161.5. Each size features a unique element of Mike Parrillo’s artwork.
Available: Specialty snowboard shops that carry Lib Tech starting this November

The premiere was kind of a big deal. Held at the iconic Beacon Theatre it welcomed the film’s entire cast and crew including Travis Rice, John Jackson, Pat Moore, Mark Landvik, Nicolas Müller, Mark McMorris, Eero Niemela, Scotty Lago, Jake Blauvelt, Jeremy Jones, DCP, celebrities such as Justin Timberlake, Mike Diamond from the Beastie Boys and Owen Wilson, as well as the world’s best surfers, plus thousands of enthusiastic fans.

You can buy The Art of Flight from iTunes, and after watching it we’d say you should unless you like rails, hate powder, hate slow-mo more, and detest seeing the most insane booters you’ve seen get owned. Maybe not your pre-shred amper, but interesting, awesomely filmed and rammed full of heavy, heavy, HEAVY snowboarding.

Oh yes you read right: the probably most anticipated snowboard movie of all times had it’s world premiere in New York yesterday and since today the full movie is available for download in the itunes store!

We have never waited for a movie with more excitement (not even That’s It That’s All since we had no idea what to expect yet), watched the trailers more often than these and sucked in every tiny piece of info that we could, than we did the last two years for The Art of Flight. So we’re delighted to announce that, drumrolls, the movie is now available for download for only 7.99 euros (HD version 9.99 euros)!

That is of course unless you prefer to sample this extraordinary experience of snowboard cinematography on the big screen, in which case you should make sure to attend the premiere tour all over Europe

Making a Snowboard Movie is Easy – The Art of Flight Teaser

John Jackson POV – The Art of Flight Teaser