PowderJet

Yes...the Website!

2010-12-04T18:57:00.000-08:00

Pretty amped up on this new website we just went live with (Working on getting a link back to it from this blog). I think it lets people know what we're up to in a pretty concise, yet mellow way. Still a couple of items to deal with, and some of the content (including board specs) is still absent, but we're nearly done with it. Tell us what you think about it (and us) if you want to. That would be rad.
Anyways, this website's been a long time coming, so I have to take a hot second to give out some thanks to some serious bros, who have seriously hooked us up. Gaetano, the website looks beautiful, thank you for being one of the most insightful designers, as well as one of the best people ever. Thanks. Shem, thanks in advance for towing me out of your horrible, snowy driveway every other weekend this winter. And for giving me thousands of dollars of sick digital snowboarding photographs for free...Kegler, everyone, EVERYONE thinks that your logo is the best thing about the company. Scott, thanks for naming the company, and for being a good snowboarder to take pictures of. Aaron, thanks for letting me use your photos, even though we only really met once. You're a pretty nice guy, I think. Shoot, now that I've started, there's actually a lot of people I need to thank...Ken, Vin, Mike, Nick, my wife Zoe, Matt Conrad, my dad...J. Huffman, Dave-man...Dan and crew at Dorset Custom Furniture...You know what, I'm going to stop right there. Let me know if'n I left you out, and I'll give you an individualized shout out, how does that sound?
I love this website. I feel like its my own little digital child, birthed through computer processors and observed though monitors for any shortcomings/abnormalities that must be dealt with. It's not quite done, so we can't expect it to be perfect, but I've got a good feeling that it's got a strong future. I hope everyone enjoys it, and then buys something.
And again, thanks fellas. Nice work.

2010-12-01T09:33:00.000-08:00

How's your Victorian snowboard factory?

2010-11-20T12:54:00.000-08:00

The nice thing about having your shop in a 150 year old, semi-abandoned fixer upper is that it’s free. No rent. And that’s basically the end of the list. It’s a beautiful building, but last spring it was still filled with ancient peeling plaster, broken glass and some insane powdery insulation that got everywhere. It smelled bad, looked bad, and felt worse.
It had just one electrical outlet that worked, and we had our chest freezer plugged into it, with about 50lbs of local beef. One day in July I apparently needed to have two things other than the freezer plugged in for some de-construction work. Probably the sawzall and circular saw. So I unplugged the icebox for what turned out to be two weeks. I discovered this error when I was asked by my wife to fetch a steak from the freezer in my future shop, as it was cookout night. After two weeks of steamy July weather, opening the chest freezer lid was like opening the portal into a new dimension of nasal/moral assault. That’s when the wiring of the shop began in earnest.
Jump forward a couple months...Now it’s November and the shop could be a bit tighter. We did get the furnace running last week, so we won’t be freezing out there. I’m only working in two rooms, so that’s all I’m heating. I don’t think it’ll take much to keep it warm, the walls are tightly insulated now. Plenty of power, plenty of light, plenty of heat; stereo, radio, six string. Giant snowboard press. Everything is right there. Unfortunately, it’s also disorganized, because i’m always running everywhere trying to tie up loose ends before the wood for the snowboards arrives, and THAT is the point I’ve been trying to get to.
Yesterday I talked to the mill that I’ve ordered wood from, checking on it’s status. Angie, the woman I talked to, said she just got the order in today, and they might be able to cut it before the Thanksgiving holiday. Might. This is a fair sized order of maple and poplar veneers, and I ordered it about a month ago. And it might be another two, maybe three weeks until I receive it. Good news: the wood is costing me about one fourth of what I’ve been spending until now, and it’s FSC certified. Bad news: I’m not going to touch it for possibly a month from now. This is basically unacceptable, but what am I going to do? I should have found this place sooner, and I’ll know better in the future.
In the meantime, here is the point: I now have a couple of bonus weeks to get my shop dialed in, which is going to be a key element in making a bunch of wooden snowboards. The wood not getting here is tough, but nothing is worse than working in a confused shop. Now there’s time to think about buttoning up and weatherizing. But to tell the truth, I’d gladly work in a sea of smoldering cigarette butts if it meant I could be building a snowboard right now.

Tuckerman's blowout

2010-11-11T07:41:00.000-08:00

Venture....There!

2010-10-14T18:50:00.000-07:00

A really nice, short article that recently appeared on Venture There's website.

thanks, son

2010-10-05T10:19:00.000-07:00

Thanks for prettying up the place

2nd best toeside turn EVER

2010-09-09T17:37:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of qualified claiming, Jesse said that this was his second favorite toeside turn ever.
Considering it was his second run on a PowderJet, we're claiming that his third through twelfth favorites ought to be served up before longish.

Art Hop

2010-09-09T10:11:00.000-07:00

If you're not doin' nothin', come over to the Propeller Media Works on Friday, Sept 10th. From 7 to 10PM there is a reception for this art exhibit curated by the multi-talented Michael Montanaro for the South Burlington Art Hop. There are a bunch of super talented artists involved, all of whom have been in the snowboarding industry for a long time, and all showcasing really beautiful stuff. Seriously, I was there last night when some of it came in, and it was very impressive. Without saying too much, I have to note that one photo by Adam Moran involved a Volcano, an exotic location, and the best snowboarder in the world. Also, some amazing portraits of the late C.E.Kelly, in photograph and in paint. There was much more art being delivered today. I didn't see that stuff, because I had to get home so I could get up early and help deliver 32 chickens to the slaughter house.

See you there!

2010-08-13T09:43:00.000-07:00

Huffman drops a VT cornice

2010-08-12T20:31:00.000-07:00

Another wee snowboarding clip

2010-08-05T11:06:00.000-07:00

2010-08-04T20:29:00.000-07:00

2010-08-04T08:02:00.000-07:00

2010-07-30T04:53:00.000-07:00

Southern Vermont felt the full power of pre-teen skate mayhem on Monday, at the Manchester Parks&Rec Full Moon Skate contest. Oscar didn't take first, but his best friend Jay did, and everyone was stoked. The kids were all awesome, and seemed to have a great time.
Here's a nice early grab from Oscar, several hours before the moon showed her full face.

Steel your face

2010-07-22T09:05:00.000-07:00

Whooo! Got the basic skeleton for the press assembled yesterday. 12" by 9' slabs of steel, lovingly lifted into place by Sam, Dylan, Matt and me. These things run about 300lbs each, so getting the top ones chest high was a little nerve wracking. Turns out having no plan save for not dropping it on our toes was enough. Thanks to the fellas for helping out.
Now to finish off a couple of molds and start building some jams!

All work and no play makes jack a dull boy all and work no play makes jack a dull boy all work and no play makes jack a dull boy

2010-07-12T10:11:00.000-07:00

Hey, we're back to building our own website. It's not going to be flashy or particularly interactive, but it'll get the job done. We're building it on shopify, and the pages there are live immediately after you build them. It's all pretty rough still, and most of the words haven't been written, but it's up and in effect while we toil away on it. So if you're interested, scope the site and give us your feedback. Click over there---> where it says "buy a PowderJet".

Frequency

2010-05-19T17:43:00.000-07:00

Frequency-The Snowboarder's Journal did a two page spread on PowderJets in their latest issue, #8.1. More great photos by Roose-man, and words by Vince LaVecchia. You can't read the story online, but here are a few bonus photos of Chris Bowlen and me, farting around near Bolton, VT. To read the magazine story, you'll have to cough up for a hard copy, or steal one from a buddy. Here's a list of places where you can obtain the best snowboard magazine on the planet. I've always loved Frequency magazine...These guys have a realistic view of the sport, and they have great writers and beautiful photography. What more could you want? We're honored and humbled to have been mentioned in their pages.

Another bit on ESPN

2010-05-18T17:42:00.000-07:00

A cool story that master wordsman J. Huffman wrote about lost ski resorts in New England. I tagged along on a trip with photographer Shem Roose, who captured some amazing photos of this hidden gem in central Vermont. The snow was marginal at best, but we had a bitchin' time and will be going back when the snow is right.

From Sammy

2010-03-16T18:44:00.000-07:00

There was a photo of a suitcase grab too, but that shit is hard to pull off.
I mean, I appreciate the irony and everything, but it just wasn't quite there. Throw
in a mellow tweak at least, just to give us something legit to cling to... or go the
opposite route and bust one out in just your skivvies. I'm just saying let's take this to
the next level...Now get back out there and make us proud!

Excellent pow turn shot, tho!

Photo by Tanner Bowden

2010-02-25T07:37:00.000-08:00

More ESPN Bloggage...This one's a pretty long interview with Jesse Huffman about the PowderJets philosophy, accompanied by some more rad shots by Aaron Codling.

Jay's Peak

2010-02-22T17:16:00.000-08:00

Here's the piece. Some fun words from J. Huffman, fun photos from A. Codling.
Jay is a great mountain.

2010-02-10T17:54:00.000-08:00

We had a sweet opportunity to hit up Jay Peak yesterday, and it truly exceeded all of our expectations. Not only have they received several feet of snow in the past week, but we also had bluebird skies above a sea of marshy clouds, and relatively balmy weather. It was the rare Vermont trifecta that local photographers only speak about in hushed tones, huddled down in their rusty Subarus. Past and current Vermonter Jesse Huffman invited us up to shoot some powder slashes at Jay with photographer Aaron Codling, who moonlights as a night shift park groomer up at Sugarbush Resort. (I don't really know how someone who spends 5 nights a week working till 8 AM can then get the gumption to snowboard all day with a camera bag, so I can only assume he's one of those new fancy vampires that can somehow stand the sun now.) Anyway, we found a bunch of super fun spots, got lost a few times, talked on our mobile phones and ate a big steaming platter of poutine.
On the way out of town we stopped at a sand pit that Huffman had seen on his last trip to Jay. This is where the other dudes strapped on the wooden boards for the first time. The sand pit also did not disappoint...it was steep as a bastard and waist deep. There was even a sweet cornice drop that Jesse was having fun on, another Vermont rarity. So that's one more thing...what's one more than a trifecta? A four-fecta?

By the Way

2010-02-08T04:22:00.000-08:00

No one knows more than us that we need us a new Website
We're working on it right now
Hold your horsies!

How about that?

2010-01-29T16:42:00.001-08:00

PowderJets makes the Sundance scene, cradled by the lovely hands of Ms. Parker Posey. As if we couldn't love her any more, already!

Wooden Snowboard (Strings Attatched)

2010-01-01T17:35:00.000-08:00

My awesome wife bought me a Snurfer for Christmas.
Our oldest son Oscar is 9, and he really, really wanted to try out the snurfer. I had to explain to him how it's an antique, and needs to be treated gently, and we can't treat it like we would some other less historically rooted snow sled. I told him that we could really only ride it once in a blue moon, which is a phrase I NEVER use. He actually didn't know what the hell I was talking about, so I had to explain that a "blue moon" is when you get two full moons in one month, which is pretty rare. This was Wednesday. Come to find out, Thursday, New Year's Eve, was a full moon, and it was the second one this December...A Blue Goddamn Moon, and I had no idea! When I told Oscar about this amazing timing, his reply was: "Sweet! So we get to ride the Snurfer?" So we did.
Manufactured, by the way, by the Brunswick Corporation, who also brought to us the electronic bowling score tallier(sp?) as well asBayliner, Boston Whaler, Maxum, Sea Ray, and Trophy boats and yachts. Invented by Sherman Poppen in the middle sixties. If not for him I would have a different set of friends, and probably a different, less amazing and beautiful wife. Maybe I would have gotten really into ceramics or something, I mean who the hell knows?

2009-12-16T19:48:00.001-08:00

OUR ONE VIDEO MOMENT OF 2009

Three more pix by Shem

2009-12-12T09:18:00.000-08:00

Shem and I hooked up one afternoon last winter and shot some photos near Bolton and Camel's hump. Basically all the images I have to use right now are from those five hours, although we should be getting some new ones soon, as long as el nino doesn't spank us too badly. We found some insanely fun spots that day, and we'll be heading back there as soon as there's adequate cover. This was a super fun day, and Shem is a really good friend and photographer.

Cold rain and snow

2009-12-10T05:27:00.000-08:00

We had a snow/wind/sleet/rain day yesterday, and the boys felt the need to brave the weather to get in some shredding. We plodded out across the field into stinging sleet, and Oscar weaved himself through 500 waiting burdocks for a first ever run on his PowderJet. Grabbing the board came onto his radar recently, but he's not trying to hear my explanations on what constitutes acceptable grab locations. Good for him!
We're looking at two to three inches of snow and ice, sleet driven by 45 MPH winds, and a 9 year old on a wooden snowboard built by his old man. That's some country punk.

2009-12-08T17:34:00.000-08:00

I know this is a snowboard jam we're working on here, but I get a lot of inspiration from surfing. I'm kind of a surfer in the mountains...an earth surfer out there Surfing the Earf. The surfing world is going through some major identity crisis right now, with companies like Abercrombie&Fitch (Hollister) totally hijacking the image of the sport, and dudes are just turning their back on the whole gig. This New York Times article talks about people making their own backyard wooden surfboards, and guys like Tom Wegener in Australia who are producing kits for building your own Alaia.
There are a couple of things I love about this. First, I love the notion of building your own board, based on your own ideas, and then taking it out and learning to surf all over again. It doesn't matter if it isn't perfect. Perfection is an impossible ideal. The point is to experience the sport in a new way, one where the surfer is able to experience the future, present, and long history of surfing all in one ride.
I also love this quote from the editor of the Surfer's Journal: “They’re essentially swimming surf culture into deep water and saying, ‘Let’s see if you can handle this.’ ” Basically taking the poseurs and money men to task. While the soul of the sport is at risk, core surfers are taking refuge in the benevolence of the Polynesian surf Gods of Yesteryear, or something.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/travel/escapes/04alaia.html

Constant Inspiration

2009-12-01T15:34:00.000-08:00

Some of the best people we know build wooden surfboards in Maine.

Test day

2009-11-30T09:43:00.000-08:00

When I hook up the air to these things, they're supposed to inflate the fire hose, which creates the pressure against the mold, which shapes the snowboard. I'm assuming everything's going to go really great. That said, if you hear an explosion later on, in about an hour from right now, say, and you feel the windows shaking and plaster is cracking and falling from your ceiling, it probably means there's an exploded fire hose somewhere in Rupert. Call OSHA.

Getting more Jiggly

2009-11-29T06:58:00.000-08:00

The press is coming along smoothly. Got a lot of work done on it over the last week. The frame is made from 2X6 framing lumber lagged into 11 7/8" MicroLaminate joists. Very strong. I also picked up the fire hose and fittings to make the clamping process work, so I'll be busy with putting the mechanics of that together this week. If I had gone with the simpler vacuum mold process, I would be building boards right now, but I'm sure that this is the right way to go. The boards will be way stronger, the process simpler and MUCH less wasteful. Admittedly, the press is super ugly but I think it's going to work well. A few more modifications and I'll be testing her out. Hoping to build a few rides for X-Mas.

Jiggity

2009-11-21T18:15:00.000-08:00

Check out this brand new board jig we just finished roughing out. Trevor over at Dorset Custom Furniture in Dorset, VT sat down at the computing machine with me, and we hashed out the design I wanted. This is an exact replica of the sweetest board I made last winter, the one I ran to on basically every occasion. A camber-less base, deep side cut and convex swallow tail...holy crap, I can't wait for it to finally snow here.

The frame to hold this jig is under construction...should be putting in several hours on it tomorrow. I can't work on it at night because power tools wake the baby. Especially impact drivers. Sleeping babies hate those. Nighttime is for finish work.

Things are ramping up down here, and it's about 45 degrees under a cloudless sky. It feels like September in Vermont, and even the hunters are hating on it (deer stay dormant in warm weather, and hunters can't find them. So they say.) I'm still pretty charged to get this machine built, even if I can't enjoy the fruits of it for another month or so.