Ticket To Tailgate Alaska – Snowboarder Magazine Video Contest Submission

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Ticket to Tailgate video image

Exploring the mountains of Alaska has been a life-long dream for me and this season I am doing everything I can to make that dream come true. When I saw that Snowboarder Magazine and  Tailgate Alaska were giving away $5000 towards a trip to the Tailgate AK event my hopes were raised.  I’ve been trying to bag as much footy as possible this season, despite it being the driest Utah winter in recorded history. So I threw some of it together and put my hat in the ring.

While I’m not a fan of facebook  popularity contests, I figured it was worth a try.  If nothing else it is another platform for more people to be exposed to the possibilities of ripping down mountains without the help of the old training wheels.  While it was one of the favorites, the edit didn’t win the contest.  So I will be making my Alaska dream come true the Grassroots way.. through hard work and personal sacrifice. One way or another I will make it to Alaska to surf the biggest mountains in the world this year.

Here’s a look at my submission. Thanks to my homies for helping me get shots!

Snowboard Magazine’s Ticket to Tailgate: Jeremy Jensen from Grassroots Powsurf on Vimeo.

SIA Denver – Grassroots Style

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Nicolas Muller and Jeremy Jensen

Grassroots Powdersurfing all over SIA

The Snowsports industry tradeshow is always a hoot. All your favorite super heroes are there, the latest and greatest technology is revealed (usually a re-packaged form of old technology under a new name) and the hype machines are running full steam.  All the big companies fight for attention using whatever gimmicks they can pull…  free beer, half naked chicks, DJs, free swag of all sorts, juggling clowns, …. anything to grab your attention so they can convince you that their company is hot shit or their technology is superior to all the other companies that are making the same product.   We didn’t have anything like that so we did things Grassroots Style.  We showed our product and let it speak for itself.  We are doing our own thing and we have been doing it for 7 years now. Powsurfing is the purest form of “snowboarding” in existence and is the most “free” form of any type of mountain riding.   So what’s not to love about it? I don’t think any snowsports enthusiast could hate on something that so purely defines what it is we are all after when we head out into the mountains.  In our eyes this is more powerful than any side-show gimmick that the mega corporations could ever dream up.

We were fortunate to have good friends who see the beauty in what we do and they believe in our product and what it stands for.  These friends came up huge in helping us show our product at SIA. We were able to showcase boards all around the show.  They were a perfect fit in the Mtn Approach booth, they are the perfect companion for that kit and they looked right at home in the booth that Cory made from old barn wood.  They fit beautifully in Dave Basterrechea’s Cheetah Factory Racing booth- CFR makes the perfect rack to haul your powsurfer around on the back of your snow machine.  Our boards found another home in the “Backcountry Experience” booth that housed many split boards and powder specific snowboards. Powsurfing is of course THE ultimate backcountry experience!

Our goods were looking tight with the Mtn Approach gear

At home in the “Backcountry Experience” Booth

Note to all the companies riding our coattails and copying our stuff- This is our new lawyer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grassroots was a big hit amongst the legends of snowboarding both young and old.  Shawn Farmer, Terry Kidwell, Nicolas Muller, JJ Thomas, Bjorn Leines, Danny Davis, Johnny Paxton, Lucas Magoon, and the list goes on and on… The most creative minds in snowboarding were naturally drawn in and clearly hyped on what we have created.  Our videos looped on a TV screen in the CFR booth and passers by were able to see the possibilities on these unique looking wooden toys.

Farmers is down

Farmer knows what’s up! The Powderskate Twin is a clear choice for this guy.

Nicolas Muller – Of course the most creative riders in snowboarding are down for powsurfing.

Terry Kidwell is the Godfather of freestyle snowboarding. Hyped to chat with this man!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When JJ isn’t boosting 30 feet out of a super pipe he can be found powsurfing.

Bjorn Leines and Dave Basterechea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Retailers were hyped, industry legends were hyped, pro snowboarders/skiers/snowmobilers were hyped…. so of course we were hyped that our first real SIA show was a success. After being involved with snowboarding for 25 years it’s easy to get burnt out on an industry that creates so many cliques and fads to try to keep their product fresh in the eyes of the buyer. It feels good to be doing what we love without having to put a spin on our product to sell it to people. The fun and freedom will always speak for itself.

HOMEWARD BOUND!  When the show was over and packed up we were stoked to get the hell out of Denver.  We had left Utah just as 3 feet + of pow had fallen, so we were eager to get back to where the goods were at.  We let the rest of the industry go do their on-snow demos (more like on-man-made-ice demos) at Winterpark and we went home and surfed pow with “the Daves” from Cheetah Factory Racing.  I was stoked to show Dave B some of our backyard goods since he showed us such a good time up in Canada last month.  Both Daves took their first powsurf runs ever and were blown away.  They were both naturals, slaying the steep tree chutes and popping ollies on the fun buttons.  Tall Dave called it the funnest time he’d ever had and the best road trip of his life.  Cheers to that!

Kanika, Dave B, Tall Dave, & Jeremy loving Utah powder.

Dave B crushed it right out the gate.

Tall Dave showing his skateboarding roots!

Breaking all the rules.. Jeremy popping a shuvit on the Powder Shark 140cm

Utah Statesman Article – Grassroots Powdersurfing

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Herald Journal Article on Grassroots Powsurfing Cover Page

Reading the title of this article I was a little estranged. “Local business owner creates extreme sport” seemed like a pretty big claim.  It’s a stretch to put a finger on who “created” powsurfing, or the act of sliding sideways down mountains on boards free from bindings and ropes.  It’s kind of like saying someone invented playing catch, or was the first person to run or skip.  The concept and practice of binding-free snow sliding dates back centuries at the least.  What we at Grassroots have done is create a tool (or toy) to encourage and enable riders to take this form of snow sliding to new levels, incorporating contemporary skate style and more of a true surf style than what we had seen in the past.  We felt that if you were going to ride a bindingless board then it should be a board designed specifically for that task (rather than throwing a pad on a snowboard that is designed and built to be ridden with bindings) and you may as well be able to take full advantage of not having a board strapped onto your feet.  Spin it, flip it, ollie it,.. make the most out of your ride to the bottom.  If that’s what constitutes the creation of a new extreme sport then I guess we’ll wear that hat with pride.

Here’s a link to the article.   http://www.usustatesman.com/local-business-owner-creates-extreme-sport-1.2808749#.USaN5Y5EAso