Freebord News

Congrats Adam and Freebord Poland for securing this feature in a major Polish newspaper, Gazeta Wyborcza. Read below for the translation…

Snowboard that doesn’t need any snow
by Agnieszka Drabikowska

They love snowboarding and they were looking for something which could substitute it in the summertime. They’ve found it.

Widoma Mountain, 392.3 meters above the sea level, Swietokrzyskie Province. Good asphalt, almost no traffic, numbers of houses end on 20. From the distance they look like they’re sliding on the snow. Because the Freebord board, though it resembles a skateboard, has nothing in common with it. Four wheels placed on long trucks replace snowboard edges. Owing to them they can carve. In addition to these there are two wheels in the middle which rotate by 360 degrees.

“They work as a base in snowboard. Therefore we can control the speed, go down in unlimited directions and stop exactly in the same way as on snowboard. Perceives and feeling of freedom are the same. Even one day some elder lady accosted me and astonished she said: - You look like you would ride on the snow, but there is summer indeed! - Andrzej Gadkowski from Kielce explains with passion.

His friend from Los Angeles told him about this new sport. - “One day I was grumbling to him about Polish short winters, there is no snow and no place to ride. He responded that he had seen there on TV some guys riding on the streets as on the snow. I brought the board from the USA and it just began.” - he says fastening the board.

Robert: “Freebord gives me so much freedom. It doesn’t depend on weather conditions, you needn’t to pay for any lifts and you can ride practically everywhere.”

Tomek Kuzmierz is a manager of information technology in a big bank in Cracow. On June 4th he came to Widoma together with his wife in order to take the first steps in Freebord. They were looking for a sport which would give them as much joy as their beloved snowboard. They tried surfing, but they agreed that it won’t substitute snowboarding.

In Widoma, Tomek has caught the bug: “This board won’t get outside of my car boot so far. Now I can go somewhere with out my wife, but never without my Freebord.”

Tomasz Urbanski, the President of Polish Snowboard Association, has heard about riding on Freebord. “Snowboarding emerged just from skateboard, and Freebord is like a successive stage of the snowboard’s evolution. If this sport makes snowboard fans happy we should only be glad of that, by all means we support such initiatives. I haven’t tried Freebord myself, but if I have a chance I will do it for sure” he declares.

Freebord is now accepting submissions for the 2009 Pro Team. If you would like to be considered, you have until December 31, 2008 to submit.

Here’s how it works:

• Put together a 2 minute edited highlight reel that shows us what you got (make sure you highlight all aspects of your riding). We want your best raw riding clips sequenced together into a 2 minute max video. You can use clips we have already seen from this year or new footage.
• We will be looking 100% at the quality of your riding, not your editing - so your video should showcase your best riding clips. Period. This is not a concept video. You can add music if you want or keep the audio raw - your call - but no effects otherwise.
• For reference, check out this year’s rookie/rider nomination video: http://vimeo.com/2081877. This video is a little more polished than what we want from you, but the segments are in line with what we’re looking for.
• Upload your video to any video hosting site (Vimeo, Youtube, Dailymotion….) and email the link to kent@freebord.com.
  
• We will only accept one video per rider.
• All videos are due by December 31, 2008. No late submissions will be considered.

We will announce the 2009 team sometime in January. If we select you to the team, your team submission video will be the first video that we use for your team section on our website.

Good luck and let us know if you have any questions…

Two Represent rides going on in the land down under this month… they’ve been dormant all winter but now it’s time for the Aussies to come out of hibernation. Get the eff out there and show us what you got!

MELBOURNE REPRESENT!

Saturday November 22 2008

RIDE

Flinders Street Station (Map), 11:00 am

• Video and photo shoot madness all afternoon

• All levels of Freeborders and Longboarders welcome

PERTH REPRESENT!

Saturday November 29 2008

RIDE

‘Peace Hill’ - Johnson Parade, Mosman Park (Map), 12:00 pm

Featuring

• DJ FREQ
• Howley Brothers Kicker
• Pro Riders Sam Trowbridge, Luke Howell and Stephen Howell

The Location Features

• Mellow hill for learners
• Bomber hill for confident riders
• Ledges
• Footpaths
• One Epic Gap

PARTY

SOS Surf Company

66a Adelaide St, Fremantle, next door to Fleet Cycles (Map), 7:30 pm

Featuring

• DJ FREQ
• Discounts on New Freebord Gear
• Pro Riders Sam Trowbridge, Luke Howell and Stephen Howell
• And the premiere of Flatspot’s new film ‘Forecast’

The Gear Junkie Stephen Regenold recently reviewed Freebord’s G3 setup for Outside Magazine’s online blog. Check out the excerpt below or read the whole story here. Thanks Stephen!

Another new longboard, the Freebord with G3 Trucks, acts almost nothing like a skateboard when underfoot. Indeed, with six wheels and two foot-ensconcing binding wings, the Freebord, which costs $229, can produce a wild ride down terrain so steep that you’d normally need a brake.

Made to mimic a snowboard, Freebord (www.freebord.com) riders buzz straight downhill on two polyurethane wheels mounted on a spinning mechanism that sits in the middle of the trucks. Leaning into a turn, the center wheels rotate and the rider carves on his inside or outside wheels, which act like edges on a snowboard.

It’s hard to explain. And it’s even harder to master. I watched several Freeboard videos online, with the riders carving effortlessly on steep streets and skidding to stops with precision heretofore unknown on a skateboard.

But on the hills around my house, I flailed and crashed into the grass. It took several laps until the feel for the board came through, and even then I was uneasy with my technique.

A steep learning curve is common in sports like surfing and snowboarding. So why not Freebording, too? Though it looks like a longboard, this is really a new discipline in the sport.

Freebord cites more than 50,000 boards sold since its founding in 1998. There are videos to show proof of this board’s potential. If you try it, wear a helmet and pads. And be prepared for a few bumps before you get it down.

But once mastered, you’ll be able to essentially snowboard on land. Step in. Point the deck downhill. And ride off carving, the concrete or asphalt skimming past below, gravity pulling faster as the wind picks up and begins to beat on your face.

All new Slashers with updated graphics in white, purple and orange… now available through the FB store.

Bonus: Buy one wheel kit and add a second set of Slasher edge wheels for only $40.00. Mix and match the colors and make your own steez.

Who knew we had so much to say?

In honor of our 200 post-iversary, we’re giving away this crisp 200 dollar bill to one lucky rider. Just tell us why you need the money more than anyone else. Best sob story wins!

Jonathan Ehm, Cyril Calgaro, Arnaud Debluze, Rems and 10ish other freeborders were at the Mondial du Snowboard in Les 2 Alpes, for freebording in the resort to spread the word. It snowed 50cm (20 inches), so they had a great time shreding the snowpark, and testing all the ‘09 snowboard on the slopes.

Jonathan Ehm slashing some snow in Les 2 Alpes. Picture by Corentin

Some of you may remember this little gem from years back:

Find It

For all you punks who missed out on the FRAs this year, you can still pretend like you went. The FRA T-shirt, poster and sunglasses are up on the store for only $12.00 as a package deal, or you can buy separately. Get ‘um while they’re hot…

click images for detail view