Frequency Review: Issue 7.1

I received my Frequency in the mail right before my flight to Seattle, packed it in my carry-on, read it on the flight and took it on a journey. Since then I’ve read it, re-read it. It got buried in my truck below a pile of catalogs and moved around until I found it earlier this week realizing I missed writing about it.

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Issue 7.1
“Where did snowboarding originate? Issue 7.1 reopens the debate with a feature by Jackson Hole’s Jeremy Jones who discovered a village in Turkey where they have been riding for four hundred years. Canadian icon Devun Walsh speaks on pushing snowboarding from the early 90s until now. British photographer Richard Baybutt chronicles his ill-equipped moto trip from England to the Alps in search of a bit more than powder turns. Colin Wiseman looks at the development of two small Canadian towns and their big mountains: Revelstoke and Golden, BC. Lastly, Vermont prodigy Kevin Pearce talks about going from the biggest contests in the world to filming in Alaska in his interview. From dirtbag couch surfs to Pemberton’s point break and the schoolyards of Alaska, frequency TSJ’s 21st release is dropping now.”

Cover Shot

Frederik Kalbermatten captured by Jeff Curtes on scene at Methven Heli, New Zealand. The mix of black and white, captured by shadow effect versus real is insane to stare at just how clean the lines are.

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The shadow of the heli is sweet, but what captures my attention is the rider’s line to flat ground and the steep slope of snow that surrounds the rider. Each snowball detail on that line is visible and to the left, looks like a snow explosion came down before the rider did.

Features

Quite the collection of features in this issue, from past to present professional shreds, you journey into the lives of Devun, Jeremy and Kevin…riders at different stages of their careers, different riding styles and carrying on the tradition of progression in different ways. We follow Devun Walsh whose style isn’t known for extreme tricks but simple tricks that look good, to Jeremy Jones leading the pack of previous generations by finding the history of snowboarding in Turkey and finally to Kevin Pearce continually stepping up and well-deserving of spotlight that isn’t about falling short of Shaun.
Devun Walsh
From Barfoot grom to Canada’s greatest..

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There’s no doubting that Devun is influential in snowboarding, a name that has lasted and continually comes back, 15 years of being in snowboard films and continually pushing his style. Before the days of parents pushing kids to snowboard, Devun saved up to buy his first board, worked the contest circuit and worked to keep moving up in snowboarding. His stories and thoughts on snowboarding as it progresses to his own riding having to progress to compete with the younger riders is a good read.

The origins of snowboarding
Is snowboarding 400 years old?

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Snowboarding to the truest form is in this article. Jeremy Jones travels to Turkey, in a remote location with untouched powder to be ridden. Upon this journey, he finds a town dedicated to the ride long before people claim to have invented snowboarding. Unlike us, it’s not on the latest gear or slopes with chairlifts, money taking over the sport, or what pros ride what. It’s pure and true, from all ages on what many wouldn’t even consider rideable. The best advice from a 70 year old Turkish man, “ride every day. It will keep you young and make you happy.”

Moto to the Alps
From England to the Alps by motorcycle.

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It’s quite remarkable. Leave England and travel to the mountains, not by the normal way though of car, train, plane…but by motorcycle. Scenic roads and beauty from the drive to reaching a mountain for more beauty, the rewarding kind. It’s a rare journey to make but Richard did it without regrets and with experiences to last long.

Columbian Conflict
Developing Revelstoke and Golden.

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It’s hard to imagine mountains where you can name the run, terrain that is accessible but not blowing up, still untouched, a locals heaven. Colin looks into the two big mountain towns, Revelstoke and Golden which offer ample opportunity for snowboarding powder lines without the crowds, without the glitz. Retaining the soul is the question surround this article.

Kevin Pearce
Vermont contest prodigy expands his horizons.

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It’s just the beginning for Pearce and yet he’s accomplishing a lot as a rider, from pipe to pow he’s progressing. He’s winning contests and making his name more well known while following in the footsteps of riders before him that started young. The interview gives good insight into coming up into the world of contests, feeling the work involved with progressing as a pro rider from contests to traveling and his own thoughts on where snowboarding is going, explaining that people need to be involved.

Highlights

I look forward to reading the editors notes for any magazine, because I can picture these wise older shredders speaking to us, telling us words of wisdom about continuing the shred life. Jeff opens up this issue with a focus on the economy and the cost of snowboarding. It strikes some interesting points about the state of the industry, snowboarding and makes me question a lot of it.

Eric Greene has a quick article on couch crashing with a classic story that really should prepare anyone for what might happen when you surf couches to shred.

So the story goes covers the noboard birth from a simple story as not being able to find binding straps and having to invent his own prototype that was rideable. Now a family of pioneers, they come together to celebrate a person and continue a tradition.

Reading meets riding in Alaska. Getting students to read books can be quite a feat. A school in Alaska figures out a way to use the love of snowboarding as an opportunity for these kids to read books and make shredfest a reality.

Finally the end of the mag has a photo that I absolutely love. It’s a Genovese smooth dismount and that shot is just classic.

Quality

Frequency isn’t your typical snowboard magazine in terms of quality of the publishing. It is just as they described it, your coffee table journal. I’ve been reading Frequency for the past year now and this issue was one of the more thought provoking issues, good stories but a lot to take in as well. I actually thought about what was being expressed and that’s hard to say about a lot of snowboard magazines. This is most definitely your living room coffee table magazine, it’s not meant for bathroom status.

Check out Frequency’s website and stay tuned for the review of Frequency Issue 7.2

*The magazine photos taken of the cover are from me. The photos taken of the cover and each feature are from Frequency’s website.