Rider:

• Danny Arnold

Locations:

• Keystone, Breckenridge, and Woodward at Copper

Filming/Editing:

• Judd VanMelle of Mitten Media

Riders: Matt Ruta, Richard Small, and Teodor Day

Location: Revelstoke Mountain Resort, British Columbia, Canada

About Epic Planks: Epic Planks is a handmade ski and snowboard company committed to creating innovative products while taking customer feedback to heart in order to progress the product line in a positive direction. Epic Planks has established partnerships with park skiers, cat skiing, and heli skiing guides worldwide. These partnerships have resulted in a solid lineup of rider designed handmade park skis, powder skis, all mountain skis, park snowboards, and all mountain snowboards.

About Inflik Media: Kaleb was born and raised in Revelstoke, British Columbia. He learned to ski on what used to be Powder Springs, a small 2 person chair going only a few hundred feet up the mountain. That small hidden ski hill has now grown into a world class resort known as Revelstoke Mountain Resort. His love for film began with a Christmas present in 2007. Since then he has grown out of the small compact camcorder and into the world of large HD cameras, SLR’s, and SteadiCams. Travelling around the BC Interior, Kaleb can be found at any deep powder stash or fresh groomed park with his bag of camera gear and a great idea for his next edit.

About Germination: Germination is a new web video series documenting the growth and progress of a young ski and snowboard company. The seed of Epic Planks was planted in 2009, follow along as this seed grows….

Join Epic Planks team rider Ola Sollie and the Next Generation Media crew in Norway as they hit Vierli

Swag Terrain Park, Konsberg Ski Resort, and the streets of Oslo for some off the wall urban skiing.

This episode was edited by Ola Sollie, who also shared filming duties with Frederik Torsvik.

Viewers are cordially invited to experience the sights and sounds of a Norway that you have never known existed!

The crew is kicking off the series in a big way, and there are many more adventures to come.

So kick back, relax and bare witness to the high-flying talents of Europe's finest young shredders - enjoy!

January 4 – 8, 2012: Freeskiing World Tour, Revelstoke, British Columbia

• Alex Blais
• Richard Small

January 11 – 14, 2012: The North Face Junior Canadian Open Freeskiing Championship, Red Mountain, British Columbia

• Jon Whelan

January 14 -15, 2012: Gatorade Freeflow Tour, Vail, Colorado

• Danny Arnold
• Bryan DePauw
• Mike King

January 18 – 21: The North Face Canadian Open Freeskiing Championship, Red Mountain, British Columbia

• Richard Small

January 21 -22, 2012: Gatorade Freeflow Tour, Mountain High, California

• Danny Arnold

January 26 – 28, 2012: Freeskiing World Tour, Moonlight Basin, Montana

• Richard Small

January 28 – 29, 2012: Gatorade Freeflow Tour, Okemo, Vermont

• Sam Zahner

January 27 – 29, 2012: Whitewater Jr Freeski Open, Nelson, British Columbia

• Matt Ruta

February 3 – 5, 2012: Kimberley Junior Freeski, Kimberley, British Columbia

• Matt Ruta

February 4 -5, 2012: Gatorade Freeflow Tour, Brighton, Utah

• Danny Arnold

February 9 -12, 2012: North Face Park & Pipe Open, Northstar at Tahoe, California

• Danny Arnold

February 23 – 26: Aspen Open, Aspen, Colorado

• Danny Arnold
• Mike King

March 1 – 4: Lake Louise Junior Big Mountain Challenge, Lake Louise, Alberta

• Matt Ruta

March 1 – 3, 2012: Sprint U.S. Grand Prix, Mammoth Mountain, California

• Danny Arnold
• Mike King

March 8 – 11, 2012: North Face Park & Pipe Open, Waterville Valley, New Hampshire

• Danny Arnold

March 12 – 16, 2012: Revolution Tour, Mount Snow, Vermont

• Danny Arnold

March 17, 2012: Carinthia Open, Mount Snow, Vermont

• Danny Arnold

March 18 – 19: Wrangle the Chute, Kicking Horse, British Columbia

• Matt Ruta

March 22 – 24, 2012: Dumont Cup, Sunday River, Maine

• Danny Arnold
• Mike King

Epic Planks Technical Specifications and Binding Mounting Information

“Founders and Epic Planks have so much in common,” says James Barber, one of the owners of Epic Planks. “We’re both about enjoying life and being more than just a couch decoration.”

“We really respect what these guys are doing,” adds Founders Brewing Co. President and CEO, Mike Stevens. “We only use the best ingredients in our brewery, because we know that’s what’s going to make the best beer, and Epic Planks has the same philosophy with the materials they use to make their boards and skis. A quality product takes priority over profitability and efficiency for both of our businesses.”

Founders has been committed to supporting innovative and unique active lifestyle initiatives for years. They have sponsored a local bike team for years; donated $20,000 in 2010 to jump start the efforts of Grand Rapids Whitewater, a local nonprofit looking to restore the Grand River to its natural state; and helped kicked off the inaugural Grand Rapids Urban Adventure Races held earlier this year. They saw this as an opportunity to support winter sports nationwide.

“The partnership just made sense,” says Founders Vice President of Marketing and co-founder, Dave Engbers.

The snowboard in the new Founders line comes in the Stash Park and Stash AMP models and incorporates artwork from Founders’ winter seasonal Imperial IPA, Double Trouble ($425 retail for both boards, including tax). The skis come in either Epic Planks’ first model and flagship, the Crop Duster, or the Vaporizer, and are designed based on Founders’ newest year-round beer, All Day IPA, which will be released in February 2012 ($745 retail for Crop Duster, $690 retail for Vaporizer; both include tax).

The first round of pre-orders must be turned in by November 15 for delivery in January 2012. Orders will be accepted at the Founders company store and their online gear site. Other stores may carry the skis in the future—so be on the lookout for further announcements. Those who are in the greater Grand Rapids area are invited to the taproom on Tuesday, January 3, 2012, at 6pm, to pick up their skis and/or boards, snag some giveaways, and enjoy a one-of-a-kind, yet-to-be-announced, winter-sports-themed Founders beer on tap for a limited time only.

The Epic Planks Stash is a snowboard that is handmade with attention to detail. This board comes in two distinct flavors: Stash AMP & Stash Park.

The Stash AMP is our reverse camber all-mountain snowboard.  With the Stash AMP, you get a stiffer flex than the Park model and triaxial fiberglass, which will float in powder, bounce off pillow lines like Super Mario, slay the trees, and carve up groomers. The Stash AMP is available in lengths of 157cm and 165cm.

The Stash Park is our reverse camber park snowboard. The Stash Park core and biaxial fiberglass provide a consistent buttery flex that shines on rails, pipe, urban, and booters.  The Stash Park is available in lengths of 148cm, 152cm, and 155cm.

For more information on handcrafted Stash snowboards from Epic Planks, check out: http://www.epicplanks.com/snowboards/

Here are a few photos of the Stash (shrinkwrapped and ready for shipping):

Heli skiing in British Columbia. Unreal.

Heli skiing in British Columbia with a group of pro riders, film crews from Dendrite Studios and B4Apres Media, and writers from Untracked Guides? Un-freakin-believable. Sign us up for numero tres. Last season we had just such an opportunity at TLH Heli Skiing in Gold Bridge, BC, about 4 hours drive north of Whistler.

After getting lost in Vancouver as usual (“where is that effing Lion’s Gate Bridge?!?”), we made our way to Whistler-Blackcomb for a warm up, where Epic Planks team riders Jon Whelan and Danny Arnold made a day of putting their handmade Crop Duster powder skis through the paces, playing in the park, some blown out bumps, and leftover freshies in the trees. We’d missed a blower powder day by one day…. bummer, but not really that big of a deal when you’re going to be ogling 830,000 acres (100 times bigger than Whistler) of vast, powgasmic, thigh shredding, mind numbing terrain the next day.

Following Whistler, we met up with the rest of the group to make the trek to TLH Heli Skiing, including Epic Planks athlete Alex “Blazer” Blais, who caught our eye with his sweet segment in Dendrite Studio’s award winning ski film “Out Of The Shadows.” (buy Out Of The Shadows here) Throughout the trip, Alex kept us laughing by yelling “SHOWTIME!” just before dropping in on each run. Why? Most times when riding you can (and should) check out your lines more thoroughly than a quick pass-by with the heli. Here though, when dropping in with little recon, he thought each run could be a shit show. No matter. Throughout four days of exploring TLH Heli Skiing’s awesome terrain Alex shredded it, sending the Crop Dusters over pillows, off cliffs, and through blower powder that only heli skiing, snowcat skiing, or a lot of hard work can regularly get you too. His helmet cam footage was later shown in the lodge, Crop Dusters dancing though some seriously exposed terrain before stomping a 50-foot air that had everyone gasping. Good times.

Danny and Jon also had good showings, skiing big lines, running off cliffs with a bit more gas than necessary, and just enjoying hanging out with and learning from the other Dendrite athletes, including Maxim Arsenault and Matt Elliot, who are some very cool guys and amazing skiers.

Each day ended with Alex, Jon, and Danny lovingly caressing their Crop Dusters before tucking them into bed next to them. Just kidding. It was more a matter of dumping the skis in the gear room before killing dinner, and then Alex putting the hurt on Danny in a game of fooseball. It was an all around great time, more than contributing to the Epic Planks goal of putting our products to the ultimate test to make sure we’re providing the best quality product for your money. Get on some Crop Dusters this year and see why the guys in the ski movie industry are riding them.

Later,
Brian, Bill, and James