Something for the Snowboarders

Marc Frank Montoya Launches Sound Outerwear

January 16, 2008

Professional Snowboarder Marc Frank Montoya will launch his new snowboarding brand

Sound for the 2008-2009 season. Comprised of technical waterproof/breathable outerwear and a full range of accessories, Sound will officially launch at the 2008 SIA and ISPO tradeshows. The line is built on the proven Patented Sound System features that have been in development for more than five years, with styling and fabrics that are completely new. Sound will launch worldwide and will be based out of the Brandbase headquarters with other snowboard brands Technine, Nomis, and Alycium, of which Marco is now a partner.

"Whassupp Ya'll! You're gonna be soo stoked!!! We've never been happier and more confident than we are now with Sound!!! EVERYTHING has come out PERFECT - exactly how we've always pictured it! We're finally all set up with the best team of friends, infrastructure, and partners, and things are going ridiculously well. All of our hearts are 110% into this, and the stars have aligned to make this the all time dopest gear company EVER. Sound is gonna be the best shit ever made, with all the right heads behind it. We want to thank everybody for the support over the years and we hope you're as proud as we are to be a part of a 100% REAL & TRUE snowboarding company. We've always done it from the heart. It's never been about the money, only stayin' true to ridin' & havin' fun with the homies, you feel me?! So check Sound at SIA and ISPO & we'll see you there, you WILL be stoked!!! That's my word!!!

Your boy,

MFM

"I first met Marco when he was just a no name kid with unbelievable raw talent, and since then I have been lucky enough to work with him in on every project I've ever been involved with. Like his riding, he comes through every time with the ideas that make me change my entire view on what snowboarding (and outerwear) can be. We have always worked together to try to bring these ideas to riders and take snowboarding to a new level, but this time it's different: This time it's HIS. The Sound line proves Marco's tastes are as diverse as the kids that look up to him. I couldn't be more excited to be involved with Marco and Sound!"

Trent Bush

SoundSnowboarding.com

Sun Stroke - From New Angle

I called it and I went it. Out west was on but by the time I got out to Piha it was crowded and very hard to find a place to park the car. I stepped out and took a couple of shots and soaked in the atmosphere. It wasn't amping, the crowd was too intense and the surfing was about avoidance more than anything else. I chucked the boardies on and headed out for a quick paddle. I was a bit longer than I thought but after a while decided to head in. The light was a bit iintense and the action a bit way out so I started looking for a new angle. I headed around to Lion rock and scaled a few rocks for a good vantage point, here are some of those images... Oh yeah I feel like shit where sun screen and don't hang out in the sun.

A Sea Lovers Wedding

Back in November I was invited to my sisters wedding. Sweet I thought at Porangahau Beach in the Hawkes Bay. Porangahau means strong wind, and from what I knew of the place it got the odd wave but nothing special. The guys I stayed with said they fished there but never had waves. The wedding was at 5am so we were up at 330 and I was too keen on putting the board on the roof at that hour, knowing what I did. (never leave your boards kids!)


As I pulled into the csr park my mouth dropped the sun wasn't up but the light was good and the surf was ranging 3-5 feet and pumping. Spitting Barrells straight out in front and not a surfer in sight. Tears weeped down my face.

Dirty South for 2007

Inspired by Matariki's discovery of the slideshow tool in photobucket, I went through my albums and picked out some of my favourite images from the Dirty South for 2007, in celebration of another good year of waves and the local characters.

Action shots from around NZ

Check these shots out from different beaches from around the North Island

Surf Art...ish

I can't even paint a gingerbread man but playing around with photoshop can make you a Picasso. If you have any images that you have tweaked send them into us at Riders and we will post them up. matariki@hotmail.com

Piha in January

Piha becomes the hub of the Auckland surfing Lifestyle in January. The weekend of the 5th and the 6th are no exception. A swell was forecast to arrive on Saturday of the 3-5 foot range with NE winds all weekend. The bars all over the west coast have been groomed really well over the past two months of offshore winds but I chose to head to Piha. True to form it was pumping and crowded. The best bank had 50 guys on it but DAM it looked like an Indo left. It was too good to photograph and crowded enough without me posting photos all over the net. Any way South Piha has three distinct Banks all working through the tides. I had some excellent waves that offered everything from smackable sections to fast barrels. What a great start to the New Year

One more time... Editors Words

I know, I know, you are all thinking will it hang out this time. Riders has had many changes over the last couple of years. At least I can say couple though. From the full blown web magazine to the now blog format. It has been diffilcult to keep up the motivation of driving an idea that returns little but personal satisfaction. I have learnt a lot and been shown so much that it only seems right to not give it up just yet. After a couple of months I finnally dusted of my camera and lens and got back into action. A little rusty and aided by a some good light, I managed to get a couple of shots off while in Wanganui for the Christmas period.

Is winter over early in 2007

Almost over night the water has warmed up and turned green. With summer comes longer sessions beautiful sunsets and crowds of townies. I love being a solar powered surfer.

Salani Surf Resort- Are Surf Resorts the Go

So are you sick of winter and want to break out of the winter Dero habits that set in when the onshores blow and sun ain't shinning. Well we did and this is what we found. Non of the nine crew had ever been to Samoa so it was the obvious choice to check out. The budget was set at $2000 for an all in package. The boys did some research and thanks to the ever traveled Pete Head at Island Holidays the job was done with ease. With most of us on the strictest of budgets and very little time off work we just needed the closest flight with ease of surfing everyday, Salani was by far the standout spot.

Situated on the mouth of a river is 8 Fales that all look out towards the very fast hollow left reef of Salani. It was the perfect location, with great surroundings and lots of stuff for the crew to do on the down time. I liked the beer, Marty liked the Banana Blasters, but some of the guys actually git active and went fishing but only caught the power lines while others paddled their kayaks upo the river. Mind you wew were up at 6:30 eveyrday and in the boat to head straight out for a wave. Except me, Iliked getting another hours sleep, having a coffee and waiting to hear what it was like. After the coffe one of the Boatman would ask if I was ready and I would nod and head out. No need to rush with boats at your disposal.

The Boatman were all good guys, typical surfers, not much to say unless they were talking about themselves. Daniel came from Hawaii, JP from South Africa (he had never surfed there) and a kiwi from the Mount James Mitchell. The guys were buzzing about the eagerness of our crew. To be honest we never scored the reef epic but we did score waves and the guys surfed at least twice a day on the 7 day adventure. I am a bit more picky and selective but I almost surfed at least once a day.
The Resort had a long hollow left that I never got to surf and on the other side of the pass a short hollow right that packed a shit load of power. There were many trips to the bottom of the reef and many battle stories being told. Every now and then one rouge wave would show the true potential of Salani Rights and rifle down the reef with a gapping chasm.

Like I said we never scored it but we were taken to one of the most beautiful surf spots I have ever been to. Known as a secret spot I won't go in to it as the first American with money would be all over it. The Package we paid for covered everything, 3 square meals a day, boat tramsfers, flights and even all the little tourist things we did. I told you I was on a budget so I watched my money carefully and after a week I had spent $260 on alchol and $4o on Poker. Not bad in my thinking, all that fun surf and sleep for $2000.00.


I know you are probably thinking you can do it cheaper, and you can, but why bother when you can switch your brain off and just go with the flow. No worries just a bunch of mates having fun.
I rate Salani 7/10, it missed a pool to hang out in but the food was amazing. Best time to go according to Nick the manager is In Feb when the winds are settled and the swell comes from the south and the north opening up all of Samoa tobe surfed. We got the nasty trades but we still scored some good waves. Good luck searching.

Riki Mitchell

Winter in Dunnos June - July

Winter 2007 in the Far South, often forgotten.. thankfully, the land of stickerless boards & bad light selfishly basks in tranquil 8-9 degree water. The feature of the 2007 midwinter swell consisted of a series of intense South East swells which gouged out massive bites of our coastline. Bizarre banks have formed, and some have disappeared, but waves were aplenty if you knew where to go.

Above: a fave spot up the peninsular somewhere late on a winters afternoon.
Below 4: Blackhead pumps



Below left: un-named spot past Brighton. Right: just another day in the lineup at St Clair

Below 4: Early morning light up north a bit.




Above 2: St Clair on the inside.

This winter the Otago beaches suffered great change with incredible losses of sand on our beaches up and down the coast. Most dramatically along the sand dunes of St Clair to St Kilda when on the 3rd of July a beach emergency was declared after 6 weeks of South East swells ate out tens of thousands of cubic metres of frontal dunes threatening to inundate the area of South Dunedin. Check out a short video of stills of the 6 week window of devastation.