it's like deja vu all over again...here come blank snowboards

[skategeezer]

picked this up from Boardistan...

Blank Snowboards | Making Snowboarding an Affordable Pastime | White, Black, Green, Blue, Pink, Snowboards

November 18, 2008 by blanksnowboards

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE - SALT LAKE CITY — In response to recent economic struggles, Blank Snowboards is stepping forward to meet consumer demands for a quality snowboard at the right price. The newly formed company’s back-to-the-basics approach to manufacturing and selling snowboards, has allowed Blank to create a board that can hold up against any of the top quality brands currently available on the market, while still offering huge savings.

The concept for Blank Snowboards started with four friends, including professional snowboarders Jason Murphy and Brandon Bybee, who were sick of facing the commercialization of a sport they had come to love. These entrepreneurs wanted nothing to do with the over-marketed, high-priced world that snowboarding had become.
“We’re all about the purity and love of the sport, not about all the other stuff,” said founder Rob Foy. “We wanted to make snowboarding more affordable without compromising the quality.” So they set out to make their own snowboards, void of all the hype.
They began by cutting out all the excess costs of corporate overhead, over-the-top graphics, professional sponsorships, fancy advertising, and retail mark-ups. Once they had stripped their boards down to the basics, the real work began as they moved into the research and production phase. After months of putting in countless hours on the mountain testing different materials and cuts they finally have their ideal line of boards, ready to launch for the upcoming winter season. Murphy can attest to the high standards they worked to meet as they slowly perfected their design.
“There were times when I spent days shooting for a video and couldn’t land a thing on my sponsor’s over-the-top, high end board,” said Murphy. “That’s why I love my Blank 155 — it’s all about the way the board rides and holds up under hard riding, not the price.”
They focused on retaining quality and creating a board that consumers could actually have fun on. Now this band of friends is releasing their product to consumers across America and reintroducing snowboarding as an affordable pastime. As a part of their pledge to cut costs, Blank only sells directly to the public and cannot be found in stores. Orders can be placed online at www.blanksnowboards.com.
In their crusade to return snowboarding to what it was in the good old days, when things were simple and riding was for pure joy, Blank has not forgotten the importance of giving back. Without snow-laden winters, finding the perfect snowboard wouldn’t really matter, so Blank has promised to give a tree for every snowboard purchased through them to combat the effects of deforestation and help restore the balance of nature. Holding true to their passion for the sport, Blank also hosts a blog and online community on their website, where fellow boarders can post pictures and share their favorite snowboarding moments.

[PeterWeinrauch]

Good... because if the snow guys have a bad season because of the economy, they are in a hole.

Just trying to stay alive

[pvking233]

thats still pretty price, i got a 560 shaun white 08 model this summer for less than 250 which is 40 more than their board that is sized for me

[TheFuzz]

You still have to buy bindings, shoes, and winter jackets and all that crap. Snowboarding remains expensive.

[mc99david]

this will be good for the sowboard industry i think

[dirtyhippy]

fuzz you also forgot that if you go to any resort worth snowboarding at its close to 70 bucks a day just for a lift ticket, not to mention gas and food. even with a cheap seasons pass it still costs me roughly 100 dollars a day just to ride whistler. (multiple that by how many days you go... once you go past 8 days it starts getting a little cheaper..)

[Mall Grab]

The troubles of "the industry" keep me awake at night.






Not.

[TheFuzz]

Originally Posted by dirtyhippy

fuzz you also forgot that if you go to any resort worth snowboarding at its close to 70 bucks a day just for a lift ticket, not to mention gas and food. even with a cheap seasons pass it still costs me roughly 100 dollars a day just to ride whistler. (multiple that by how many days you go... once you go past 8 days it starts getting a little cheaper..)

I boarded whistler and I can say that it was the best mountain I have ever done before. I have been to a couple places in Colorado and Switzerland that didn't impress me as much. I here park city Utah is really wicked too. Whistler is such a huge place though it would be worth 100 a day. You can find runs all by yourself even if the place is packed to the seams. You're lucky to live so close to there man. There is nowhere worth even mentioning here in VA.

[Brian Holden]

Blanks decks worked for the popsickle industry because the skateboard is a simple design, wood core, 2 kicktails, 2 truck mounts, no huge problem to copy for less. However what makes a snowboard a snowboard is the different materials used in it, the layout, everything. I really do not think this would work at all, unless people really do not care about their ride at all.

[Alpha06]

I bought a brand new burton strike 155cm board on ebay for 90 bucks, it was an old model. These boards seem expensive as #### to me.

[dirtyhippy]

yeah fuzz i felt your pain for a long time. i started riding in ontario on a hill which even if you went as slow as you possibly could the ride down didnt last over 30 seconds haha (30seconds a run while the chairlift was about 3 minutes to get back to the "top") it wasnt very productive in the grand scheme of things.

whistler is huge and despite the number of lifts (i think its in the 20s) it always seems that each one has a gigantic lift line. whistler is such a popular destination that despite the longer runs (some of which can last for like 30 minutes) you end up easily spending 20 minutes in a lift line because there are so many people there on any given day (i usually go on weekends.. weekdays arent nearly as bad)

but i will admit whistler is one of the best places i have rode but its way too commercial (owned by itnrawest so of course they are trying to make a huge profit) and unless you have money/show off your money its not a fun place to hang out either. but i am a little bitter cause i cant afford the 100 dollars a day this year and will probably only head up a couple times. but its the same old rich kids sport.. it costs a ton to live near mountains, let alone be able to play on them

[mc99david]

i would love for snowboards to get more about construction than graphics, but hat will be consumr driven, when the average snowboarder doesnt know or is able to feel the difference between a high end and a low end board. people tend to go off of brand name and how it looks. not sure if this will ever change. but i makes it so i can ride one of the best boards out there and not pay for a burton.

[dirtyhippy]

^^^ i dont think that is necessarily true. sure graphics play a large role in decision making but anyone who is able to make smooth carves/ride in control can pick out the difference between a high end and a low end. brand names work for a reason, if all burtons were garbage (which was my previous sentiment before i picked up a burton uninc for cheappp.. by the way i absolutely hate the graphics on it but it rides like a wet dream) then they wouldnt be as popular.. but they are usually good for their prices (minus the aircraft technology ones which were like 1200 for just a board) people who are new to the sport will always pick for graphics and price range. its the same in any board sport.

if given the choice between a burton and a blank, i'd pick the burton even if it was a little more expensive because you know what to expect. if blank became a reputable company, rather than just a cheap approach to snowboarding, then id give them more of my attention.

[mc99david]

dirtyhippy, my point is more that, would you consider yourself the average snowboarder on the mountain on any given day? i am not the greatest snowboarder by any means, far from being sponsored, but on most days up on the mountain im one of the best there. the average snowboarder in this area anyway seems to be someone that can ride down most of the hills and probably gets up to he mountain maybe 5 to 10 times a year. the people i know like this dont know the construction, or tech differences, might feel a difference, but def dont know it by lookin at it. actualy i have found that the average snowboarder cant even carve, and call it carving when they can go from one edge to the other. not saying this is good or bad, just my experience.

[crazy_boarder_dude]

Originally Posted by mc99david

actualy i have found that the average snowboarder cant even carve, and call it carving when they can go from one edge to the other. not saying this is good or bad, just my experience.

Bingo!

Compress Extend Compress. Ive been snowboarding in Onterrible for 8 years going onto the 9th now I think. And yesterday was opening day for my Home hill yes hill. And I was with my buddy who has been an average rider for a few years for now and wants to start doing more park. And I looked at him and said

"Brah you should really master your carving you know Compress through the heelside carve then extend while transfering over to your toeside and compress on your toeside..."

Then when we got off the lift I said

" like this" Going down the hill yelling "Compress extend compress extend..." all the way down the run.

And got him to do that for a bunch of runs and he's already getting better. Its amazing how concentrating on the little things in a sport such as snowboarding in this case (And in this case getting some nice deeep carves going) can be soo much fun.

[geolemon]

Originally Posted by Cpt Planet18

Blanks decks worked for the popsickle industry because the skateboard is a simple design, wood core, 2 kicktails, 2 truck mounts, no huge problem to copy for less. However what makes a snowboard a snowboard is the different materials used in it, the layout, everything. I really do not think this would work at all, unless people really do not care about their ride at all.

If you look at the PDF they put together with their comparisons, they did a nice job comparing several significant ride-affecting factors.
Personally, I like a soft board, so these look like they'd be nice for me... and I think the understated, solid colors look cool. ...I'm actually riding a Forum prototype from a few years ago - it's solid black on the bottom with a white logo, and solid green on the top with a little white area where they sharpied on some engineering info. Basically, it's a blank.

I'd check one of these boards out, and I do care about my ride!

[Mile_High_Mark]

What are they charging to ship a board?

[sk8norcal]

so where are most boards made?
are companies going oversea?

YouTube - Kevin Pearce makes his own snowboard at...

Burton Snowboards Is King of the Hill - US News and World Report

[crazy_boarder_dude]

Originally Posted by Mile_High_Mark

What are they charging to ship a board?

I checked and shipping to Canada is. Im am taking these guys into consideration when buying a new board next year

UPS Canadian Express Service ($15.00)
UPS Worldwide Express Plus ($20.00)