The European snowboard industry was given its first chance to see the 1819 snowboard offering all in one place and on snow at the Snow Avant Premiere in La Clusaz, France from January 14-16, 2018.
Fantastic early season conditions have buoyed the industry and both retailers and brands alike were on good form. Both French and British retailers reported growth from last season, and in some cases mid-20% year-on year so far.
Take a look at our One Eyed Monster gallery for the first glimpse of 1819 winter products and the snowboard industry’s glitterati. Photos by Clive Ripley & Harry Mitchell Thompson.
Snow Avant Premiere, La Clusaz - the opening event of the on snow snowboard test calanderThe event is held in La Cusaz at the bottom of the L'Balme liftBusy test villageRock On Snow ProTest areaIt's one of SportAir's three winter events.Conditions were significantly better then the last two years thanks to heavy early season snow, which continued throughout December, into January and shows no signs of holding up.Primary test areaTest data is captured at the entrance to the event.Lunch vibesGet your fill686's Stephane & Pacome showing a new jacket - more info released next week!Adidas' Manager Field Accounts Action Sports France's Julien Arthuer Menu with the Acerra double Boa and classic looking SambaAmplid's Rich Ewbank with the super fat powder twin, the DA DA and company founder Peter Bauer with the Aloha Vibes, their super fat swallow tail. Both boards from the Future Shapes fam.Bataleon's Rubby Kiebert with The Storm from their women's line, which now has 8 models. Bataleon making big push in women's, kids and freestyle for 1819. All-bar-one women's boards now have Sidekick tech.
Bataleon's The Storm women's board with stunning topsheet.Bataelon's Danny Kiebert with The One. Now manufcaturing at SWS, they are introducing new wooden cores with Super Tubes - carbon strips for added strength, durability and make the boards more lightweightBoard Basement's Spencer, Riders Lounge's Will Lenton, Prime Agency's Rich Jonaes, Board Basement's Gus & Riders Lounge/Method Mag's Will Radula-ScottBurton's Dan Chrichton, Lizzie Holloway and new recruit, James. The board on top is the ladies true twinned, Rewind. And underneath is the Deep ThinkerCapita's Black Snowboard Of Death, brand new forged carbon core for increased responsiveness.Capita's new Jess kimura pro model big mountain boardDragon's Elīza Zake, Craig Smith & French Agent, Yann ZaccaroDragon's PXV vs the Dragon NX2 - new shape for 1819, much wider field of vision. Dragon's new PXV goggle is less bulky due to their proprietry lens, while increasing peripheral vision, also with Lumalens tech.Dragon PXVDeeluxe ID Lara women's mid flex and dual zone split lace system bootDeeluxe ID with thermo forming inside and speed lace system Drake's DF Team freestyle board with hybrid fibrelass and sintered baseDrake's Team comes with new graphics for 18:19Dupraz D1 52N. Narrower womens model, very intuitative and easy to useDupraz new D1 with increased carbon in the construction for greater responsiveness and lower weightDupraz's main man SergeGiro gogglesGNU's Lauren Lidford (Mervin's new UK distributor) with the Free Spirit, Jamie Anderson's new stick and Mervin's Hendrik Teutsch with the Mullair, Nicolas Muller's new pro modelGoodboard's Maik hard at work Goodboards' Josef Holub with the Rotor & Maik with the ApikaiHorsefeathers Cornell insulated 10K jacketHorsefeathers Prowler with Primaloft and 15KHorsefeathers Tomas, Michael and PatrickJones' new Mountain Twin spiltboard Jones' women's Mind Expander - all conditions spilt boardK2 AfterBlack for stronger riders who want to go largeK2 Manifest freestyle twin board with traditional camberK2's Alex and JeffLeft and right, Dmitri and Matthieu of Resero and in the middle Nidecker's Thierry Lib Tech - Lauren Lidford, Mervin's UK distributor with Travis Rice's Orca. Mervin's new PR maestro, Hendrik Teutsch with the Dagmer Jamie Lynn and Transfer BMBW binderMelon's Ash with their Jackson goggle with Alana Mcdowell artist edition. All Melon lenses have Zeiss Sonar lens as standardMelon's Parker goggleMervin's Lauren Lidford & Marian KaedingMervin's Lauren with Bent Metal Binding Works' Upshot women's binding and Hendrik with the JointMr Carve, Serge Dupraz and a sharp looking Clive RipleyNever Summer's Tom Beaton with their Shaper Twin & The Proto Type 2Nidecker Merc with iconic shape from the Flow stable Nidecker Squad - Noble Customs' Sam Noble, TSA's Jeremy Sladen and Nidecker's Thierry KunzNidecker Tracer Series full camber asymetric carving board Nidecker's Fabien with event organiser Mathieu.Nitro crew Nitro's The Squash, hybrid powder, back country and carving comboNitro's Tommy Delago with the Wood Carver all mountain carving board, graphic has tools from his work bench at home.NOW's Jeremy Jones pro model with new stronger flip flop binding.NOW's Select with new high backPicture's Black Edition with streetwear influences and PFC freePicture's Mathieu and ManonPicture's womens Expedition freerdie line, PFC freePlum's Dari splitboard binding.Plum's Ennia Poggio (Comms Manager) & Gaël Armand (Sales Manager)Plum's Sok - complete hard boot binding interface for ascent and descentPOW Alpha GTX glove with leather padding and Gore-Tex membrane for harsh winter conditionsPOW Stealth GTX womens top of the range glove for harsh winter conditionsPrime Agency's Ollie Plumley showing Halldor's Lobster pro model - Die When You Die and Schoph's artist editionOllie showing the base graphic for Schoph's modelProduct wall inside main tentRental equipment area.Ride's Bastien and ThibaultRide's Mountain Pig for freeride and carving, good in icy conditionsRide's The Twin Pig asymmetric with curved backend, part of their park series.Rip Curl's Pro Gum women's jacketRip Curl's Citröen collab, now spanning 5 yearsRip Curl X Citroen van decked out for all your road tripping needsRip Curl - no holds barred with this concept car - Citröen collaborated with Rip Curl and used car experts Pössl and Dangel.Rip Curl's line out for testingRome Snowboards' French event staff David Werner with their new high end pow board the Ravine + fully adjustable Vice binding + Florian Herr with Rome's Marshall board and new Crux binding - super light and lower pricepointRome's Eddie RaketeRossignol's Saw Blade is based on its Gypsaw but has been toned down for the intermediate rider at a lower price pointRossignol's women's Meraki adapted from the Saw Blade, with a thinner wood core and narrower waist.Roxy - Ragdoll's Lauren Lidford with the Torah Bright pro model and Hendrik Teutsch with the SmoothieSalomon crew & Surfdome's Tobias Andersson. L-R, James Fuller, Tobias, Sylvain Boburbousson & Pascal BoburboussonSalomon's SLab splitboard and their all-new Assasin, which is now a directional twinSmith helmetSnowtrax's Rob so amped to get out he's sorting his own setup!Stance Subvert's Darren & Lorraine with a tasty Craig Smith (Dragon) sandwichSwitchback's Halldor pro modelTom Beaton with the Sims Kidwell Round Tail 2 (RT2) & the Tom Sims proUnion's Forged carbon Expedition comes with new strap and is lighter this year. Union's Strata has new dampening composite on base to reduce vibrationWearcolour two layer 10k:10k women's Base jacket from the Fusion range Wearcolour's Diverse jacket for riding and everyday useWearcolour's Tristian.Will Radula-Scott & Will Lenton from Riders Lounge and Prime Agency's Ollie PlumleyYES Libre with camber between your feet and rocker tip and tailYES' Greats twin asymmetrical with added torsionFlow new NX2-CX very light and reactive. Excellent ratio weight_rigidity-strength New Hiback asymmetrical Uniback with carbon and the Active Strap Tech and an aluminum baseplateThe Fuse 18/19 more affordable price, combine new Highback asymetrical made with Nylon and active strap tech for comfort and easier use of Speed-EntryFabrice Piccamiglio and his family
