Are you ready?

Winter is coming. Looking out of the window and seeing a bright sunny day it is hard to believe that we are in the middle of October. Step out into that sunshine though and you will feel the harsh bite of winter building up and if reports are to be believed, and this does turn out to be the coldest winter in 20 years we are in for a treat. Ullr has spoken and has decreed upon us a second La Nina winter in a row, what does this mean? Well put simply lower than average temperatures, and at this point they are saying at least 5 degrees celcius lower than normal, and above average precipitation. Think last year on steroids and you are beginning to get the idea of what Mother Nature has in store for us.

With this in mind and with the amount of fist pumping excitement this is generating, we at AG are going to help you decipher the world of snow technology to help you make the most of what could turn out to be the best winter Vancouver Island has ever seen. First up is the industries biggest talking point right now, camber.

Camber can be broken down into three main categories with then slight variations on these themes.

Positive Camber – The original. This shape allows the rider to bend the board to create pop and rebound and to allow the board to be deformed. When a rider stands on a positive camber board they will feel it flatten onto the snow putting 90% of the board in contact with the ground. With positive camber when we bend the board to a certain point the board will push back to regain its original shape. This push back can either be the effect produced when bending it along its length in an ollie i.e. pop or when twisting it torsionally when turning i.e. rebound. When riding a board in powder because we are not on edge we need to bend the board torsionally again, this time without the pressure of pushing against the hill on an edge the board is deforming and therefore banking against snow to create the turn and float.
Best uses for this shape are: Pipe, groomers, freeriding, park riding.
Key features for this shape are: Stable at speed and on landings for jumps, tons of pop, lots of rider feedback.
AG top picks – Bataleon Evil Twin and Goliath

Reverse Camber – The New Kid. This shape takes everything surfing has been preaching and brings it to the snow. Reverse Camber or Rocker has been a game changer in the sport. With Reverse Camber a rider’s balance point transfers from outside of the feet to between the feet. The ends of the board both angle up and the contact points (where the board comes into contact with the snow) are determined by the rider’s stance. With this shape the board will turn and respond very quickly. With less board touching the snow and the feet determining where the contacts points are any movement of the body will transfer directly to the board. For a rider this means the board will be easier to rider on steeps, in trees and in icy conditions where riders want the quickest response possible. It will also be easy to butter and press on both the snow and park features and be easy to spin. Possibly the best use of reverse camber is float in powder. With the nose of the board pointing up and the curvature of the rocker the board allows the rider to stay afloat with less effort and a more centred stance.
Best uses for this shape: Powder, rails and boxes, learning to ride, butters, moguls and chop.
Key features for this shape are: Easy to turn, lots of float, effortless feel to ride and super playful
AG top picks – Lib Tech Skate Banana, Forum Manual and Aura, Rome Artifact

Hybrid Camber – Mustache, Mountain Pop, Flying V, Easy V, C2…. This shape is the possible best of both worlds. It is a combination of cambers. Positive camber under the feet to retain all the advantages positive camber brings and reverse camber between the feet to utilize the positive effects this brings to a board.
Best uses for this shape are: Anything!!!
Key features for this shape are: Everything good!!!
AG top picks – Burton Custom, Rome Agent, Lib Tech Travis Rice, Gnu Riders Choice, Forum Destroyer

We have a great selection of all these styles in the shop right now and will be able to work out with you which one best suits your needs. Check back next week to see how height and weight affect your board choice and to find out more about what bindings there are on offer, and how they will help you have more fun, shred harder and make the most of your time on the mountain… AG

Posted in Boards, Life in General, Snow by Dan on October 16th at 3:43 pm
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This Friday June 3rd make sure you are at the Pioneer Park at 4pm! For those who missed it last time there will be a free BBQ, tons of CIRCA swag thrown out as prizes for best trick on all your favourite park features. Whether you are only just rolling on your first board or looking to get sponsored get down and get involved in the second of our bi-weekly skate jam series… See you there… AG

Posted in Life in General, Skate, Team by Dan on June 1st at 3:51 pm
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While most of us were looking up at the mountains, stoked on the cold, big snow winter we were having, AG wakeskater Tanner Champion was hard at work on any and all local water he could find unfrozen! They say the difference between making it and not making it is not the amount of talent that you are born with, but the hard work and the practice hours you are prepared to put in. If this is the case then Tanner has a huge future ahead of him filled with hard earned success. Check out this edit and consider how many layers you were pulling on while he was making it happen…. AG

Tanner Champion Wakeskate Winter 2010 from Tanner Champion on Vimeo.

Posted in Boards, Life in General, Team by Dan on May 4th at 10:46 am
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Winter might be almost over but here is a sick edit to keep the passion flowing. Make the most of the stoke and get up again or just bask in the glory of one of the sickest winters in history…

AG

BRENDAN KEENAN PROFILE from MR. B bataleon snowboards on Vimeo.

Posted in Life in General, Snow by Dan on April 18th at 3:30 pm
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When was the last time you did something without fear? Without thoughts of the consequences? Is Monday a goal to get towards without injury? Or the time to reflect and compare stories about the weekend sessions?

It’s a feeling in the pit of your stomach, the ache of uncertainty replaced by the hot flush of adrenalin as you push the realms of possible. Caught up in the moment you forget all the what ifs and maybes, you forget the last time you lost grip, couldn’t find traction, didn’t have enough speed. Your thoughts fade and are replaced by instinct, uneducated, uncorrupted pure instinct. Your body takes over, you stop reacting to learned failings and rely on past successes. Every sinew of your body works together without fear, without hesitation, to land that trick, to make that corner, to reach that transition.

Without fear we reach our potential. Without fear we are for fleeting moments everything we can be. This isn’t the you you have created through years of accepting limitations, through putting up subconscious roadblocks to stop you achieving because maybe just maybe you will fail. This is your innate ability to stop thinking and to exist without fear.

When the skate kid looks at a 7 set and hits it this is how he feels. Stoked on the encouragement of friends, searching for that story, that trick, that feeling of stomping it, no possibility of failure exists. To acknowledge this as young and brave, is to accept that consequences age us, and that age defines us. To call this what it is, is to honour it as an attitude to exist by. To live like this, to shun limits and self-imposed restrictions; this is why we strap in, why we paddle out, why we drop in. This is our Alternative Groove…

Posted in Life in General by Dan on April 17th at 12:20 pm
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Whatever the weatherman may say and the snow may try and show us otherwise Summer is on the way. For all of you who have been stoked to get on a new longboard it is time to go. Our Sector 9 longboards arrived and are in the shop waiting for you. Between the bamboo build and the easy living graphics these boards are prime and ready to make your summer.

The surf buzz is back and the pilgrimages to the West coast are in full flow. For all of you heading out that way drop in and fill your needs. We have car racks, suits, boots and so much more waiting to fill that gap, and a board selection to rival Kelly Slater’s garage just waiting for you to take your pick.

On the topic of new boards team rider and all round good guy Taco just picked up his new Aloha AF1 Tour. In the words of the guys who built it “The AF1 Tour allows you to explore the most critical sections of the wave, and is the essential board for the committed surfer looking to maximise their performance.” No doubt Taco will let us know if it lives up to the billing and as the photo shows he is certainly pumped to find out!

AG has been a long time supporter (and users) of the OGIO product. They can set you up for travel, getting your gear carted around in an organized fashion or keeping you hydrated and full of supplies. This week we brought in two of their epic gear bags the Trucker 8800, this bag carries a colossal 8800 cubic inches of gear. What does this number mean in real terms… this.

Enjoy the extended weekends on Mount Washington, there is still time to ride so take advantage of the great winter gear deals with snow pants starting at $45 here at AG. There are two more weekends to go and then it is up to the Snow to Surf race on May 1st to close out the season in style. If you are game and are entering the sufferfest, see you there…

Posted in Boards, Life in General, Sales, Snow, Surf, Surfers, Team by Dan on April 16th at 12:08 pm
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Big thanks to Dragos Neaga for showcasing the Kaden Martin and Chase Torrie from the AG skate team. With the sun out and the temperature beginning to rise let’s hope this is the first of many.

AG

Posted in Chase, Kaden, Life in General, Skate by Dan on April 14th at 10:33 am
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You can feel it in the air. The breeze is warmer, the mornings earlier and the evenings filled with the sweet smell of BBQs. At AG this means boxes, boxes and more boxes of the good stuff for Spring and Summer.
So what do you need? Shorts, we got ‘em, bikinis we got ‘em, the latest offerings from Spy optics and Dragon, in the case. A limited run 5′5″ Kelly Slater endorsed Wizard Sleeve!!!!!!! On the wall. Ripcurl, Xcel, Channel Islands, Firewire, Insight, LRG, Volcom, Sitka, Orb, Adidas, Cons, Supra…. to name but a few! For those of us who are going to squeeze every last turn out of this epic winter you are not forgotten. Come snap up the last bargains of the season with winter goods on sale at up to 70% off.
So roll on Spring, bring on long evenings, slushy park laps, epic surf sessions and lazing in the sun, soaking up the rays enjoying a time… AG

Posted in Boards, Life in General, Sales, Surf, Surfers, Wetsuits by Dan on April 2nd at 2:39 pm
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How many people can look out of their window and see what we see? Drive down the Island Highway and you have so many constant reminders that where we live is different. I’m not talking here about the license plate in front of you with the marketing catchphrase “The most beautiful place on earth” staring back at you. But, stop and think about it and there is some weight behind that.
Take an average day in the store at AG, we check the snow report at Mt Washington and look to see not if it has snowed, but how much. To see if that record snow year is in sight or if it is just another run of the mill 5 metre plus season. We talk to customers about where to surf on either coast, seeing the surprise and delight that first time a person realizes that they can surf on the South Island, or that there is a place nearby, by the point, where the wind hits…. you know the rest. It is amazing to hear the stories from some epic session where the snow was falling but the waves were the best they’ve ever been, listening to the excitement in the customer’s voice about how the next storm set is shaping up to provide something even better.

You begin to realise that we don’t have to wait.

Last night after work I drove over to Doumont and for an hour as the dark came ever closer I squeezed in just one more trail over and over again. Soaking wet, tired and oh so stoked I climbed back into my truck enjoying how good it felt to be riding in March.
More and more it seems that the Island does not seem to get bogged down and restrained by the constraints of the ‘real world’. If there isn’s deep snow to ride, a wave to surf, a trail to ride. Go take advantage of one of the other amazing options we have here for a day or two, as conditions will change, and your passion will be able to be sated again. Until then think of the skate kids among us, sun, rain or snow, they are waiting for their chance. If they are not at the Park, you can be sure they’re on our couch watching videos until the pavement dries.
As a guy from a long way away who has made this Island home, where we live is pretty special, and the things we see and can do… priceless.

Posted in Life in General, Uncategorized by Dan on March 20th at 1:20 pm
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So it’s pretty awesome when you can celebrate a friend’s success when they achieve something they’ve been working towards for a really long time. Especially when that success comes to one of your oldest friends and it involves interviewing Canada’s best surfer and Canada’s modern surf filming pioneer about a project involving one of the worlds biggest surf video contests put on by the world’s best surf video production companies and getting said interview published on Canada’s largest surfing stage.
In short, Drew Burke interviews Pete and Jeremy about their part for Taylor Steele’s Innersection freesurfing video.
Check it out here at SBC Surf !!!!!

Posted in Contests, Life in General, Surf by Josh on November 28th at 3:58 pm
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