Fuck ski companies in snowboarding at all!
This isn’t a post to just point you towards CAPiTA. It’s meant to make you think… then point you in the direction of companies like CAPiTA,(haha) rider owned, and rider operated! CAPiTA’s Blue Montgomery, Signal’s Dave Lee, shit even Burton’s Jake Carpenter… There are only a hand full of Board, Boot and Binding companies out there that are owned and run by people who share snowboarding as passion and lifestyle.
I love snowboarding, and it makes me so sad to see so many other snowboarders tossing their money at companies that haven’t got a clue, why I feel the way I do.
That’s my rant.
TJ Schneider, Snowboarder!
The Snowboard Realms, Snowboard Video Series 
I agree with you! We should all practice what we preach and really get to know the company behind what you are buying before you dish out the green.
Love it man. Absolutely LOVE IT!!
this is just not cool
why is that?
I’m all up for supporting snowboarding companies run by riders for riders, but there’s no denying ski companies (like k2), also craft some good products. While I feel the same way as you do, I think that we should always see things on the flipside. Wether we like it or not, the world is run by corporations and while we may give our money away if we get a good product in return, there isn’t much more we can ask.
Cryptic,
I’m stoked you took the time to respond to this.
Forums like this are intended to bring up different view points and discuss them, and really make you think about things.
First I’d like to say that taking the view of “whether we like it or not, the world is run by corporations” attitude is pretty defeatist.
That’s like saying “why bother to vote”. It’s sad to hear people talk like that, because eventually, everyone starts to believe it, and the world is then run by corporations who have brain washed you into thinking that you don’t have a choice and are as powerless as they want you to be.
I agree with you 100% that some ski companies do make great products, there’s no denying them that.
However, there are shred companies making products of equal, if not superior quality, that are owned and operated by snowboarders.
t
As I can’t reply to your post, I’ll just write here, hopefully you’ll see it.
Just wanted to say a couple of things, first of all, Cheers on the reply back! I wasn’t expecting it hehe. Second, I completely agree on the view of “whether we like it or not, the world is run by corporations” attitude being defeatist, of course we always have our own choice to make, after all many historic events were started by the will of one single man, What I meant with that statement is that, bigger companies usually get the monopoly of the market thanks to their wide range of choices, while most of the smaller companies really depend on the customers reviews and “mouth to mouth” wisdom. I do know that corporations run the world, but I also know that everyone can forge their own path, regardless of the corporate influence. In my opinion when purchasing a snowboard, (unless you rode it before), it’s always a “hit or miss” experience, it could be a Burton or a Bataleon or a Capita or a Salomon, the truth is alot of companies out there make good and bad products, hence why alot of people dislike Burton, since on most of their boards, you pay for the brand more than for the actual board. At the end of the day, I’m all in favor for snowboard companies ran by riders for riders, it makes perfect sense that the riders who shred the mountain, get to create and finetune snowboards as they like and as they think it’s the best way. I guess what I’m trying to say in this wall of text is: you’re right about both types of companies, wether run by businessman or riders alike, they both make good products but at the end of the day, people just ride what they like, Bataleon’s TBT is for some, not for everybody, same goes for K2’s Flatliner Technology, Neversummer’s Hybrid Rocker or even Capita’s Camber, people should always ride for passion and the awesome lifestyle snowboarding is, wether it is with a Burton Vapor board or even a stick with some glue on your feet (kinda extreme comparison here), what matters is having fun!
Last but not least, keep doing the great job with the site and series, snowboardrealms is one of the few places I often come to check out because it really reminds me of the essence of snowboarding.
Cheers!
I agree about a lot of what you guys are saying. Snowboarding frustrates me in the way that tons of people hate on the big companies (corporations if you will). I’ve ridden the whole spectrum of snowboards. I’ve had a lot of different boards. I think it’s funny how people hate on Burton like they’re some kind of evil company that only cares about money and the bottom line. Yeah sure they want to make money because what is the root of any business but to MAKE MONEY. Burton is a rider driven company that takes heaps of input from their riders and the public that says “hey here’s what works now lets do it” and those riders are some of the best in the World. The fact that Burton owns forum, special blend, analog and other companies is a little frustrating purely because they try to keep it under wraps is frustrating for sure. But when I hear somebody say “fuck burton I’m not supporting them: and they’re riding a Gnu pickle or whatever. It makes me roll my eyes because Gnu. Roxy and Lib Tech are all owned by Quiksliver which is a publicly traded company. A global corporation if you will. Now if Jake Burton was the greedy capitalist scum that everybody tries to make him out to be he could have taken the company public years ago or sold out to a major corporation. Instead he has kept to his love of the sport/lifestyle and steered it in the direction that he wants and I respect that. At the end of the day find what works for you and shred because that’s really all that matters. No falls no balls shred the gnar