DAWN OF THE VILLAGE | RECAP & GALLERY

After watching everyone slaughter Snowboy and SRD’s Dawn of the Village for four days, I couldn’t help but think about this Ben Gavelda quote: “Snowboarding is in an age of surplus talent and limited compensation…” This quote could be perceived as negative, and in a lot of ways it is, but I also see it as positive. Snowboarders now seem less concerned about sponsorships and more concerned with having fun. We’re transitioning from a sport about scale to a sport about play and possibility. Crews like Bench Press and Boobeyes are an example of this. They pay homage to the ethos Robot Food and Think Thank built upon. Snowboarding is diversifying and really beginning to creatively challenge its settings by open-mindedly asking questions like, What’s rideable? How can I use the whole spot? And, how can I have the most fun? These questions are redefining our ideas of what is proper, transitioning us into what I think is a very exciting and creative future. A future that is less homogenous and predictable. Dawn of the Village was another link in this transition. It’s playful setup allowed for people to develop their skills on butter pads to down bars, hips to quarter pipes, and whoops to rails. The park had a massive amount of possibilities for micro and macro boarding. All I can say is, four days wasn’t enough. Thank you SRD, Rockstar, and Sunshine. And, thank you Snowboy… All the rad. I can’t wait to see where snowboarding goes from here. – William Fraser