With the 2010 winter snowboarding season winding down we wanted to share a really cool retro snowboard project known as Aries2010 which was "commsioned by Nike Snowboarding's Michael Hernandez and curated by trailblazing snowboard photographer Trevor Graves meant to commemorate and educate on the history of snowboarding in a way that is too seldom done in the sport."
One of our designers Justin brought this to my attention and I was flooded with old school memories of my first snowboarding trip to Big Bear Mountain in Southern California way back in 1988. During this era if you were a snowboarder you were an outcast on the mountain, as lame as this sounds it really was snowboarders vs. skiers. We also didn't have a ton of access to legit snowboarding gear, especially boots. That's why these Sorel Boots shots are just really classic to me, could you even imagine not having good boots or bindings now?
The sport has come so far so fast, just look at what Shaun White accomplished in the 2010 Winter Olympics or how Danny Kass took his small glove company Grenade Gloves and turned it into a legit business. Danny was also one of the original Nike sponsored boot riders....in my wildest dreams I would've never thought Nike would be such a player in the snowboarding, skating, and surf shoe categories. Now they are not only a major player but they continue to support Action Sports as a whole and they are always pushing the boundaries of new shoe technology.
Back in 88' there were no halfpipes, there were no parks, but once you were on the mountain there was an instant feeling of overwhelming excitement. It kind of felt like you just found a really cool small band which was on the verge of becoming huge. By 1991 that all started to change though and the resorts and companies began to see major potential in snowboarding. Halfpipes and year round snow camps started popping up, companies started seriously taking notice and shops like Sessions lead the way at the retail level...the rest is history!
Images provided by Tim Brodhagen: http://www.highsnobiety.com/feature_new/nike-aries-2010/
