How's The Air Up There?—Innsbruck x STRT JAM

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“All good?” Asked every European upon seeing me each morning outside the Montagu.

There’s probably some cathartic adage about how nice it would be to have the ability to realize when you were living your best days as they were unfolding.  And if it were possible to have that clarity amidst that many local beers that were so graciously available this weekend, I’d say the week of DIYX was one of those times. An undeniable example of an event of magnificent proportions. 

Ethan Morgan is someone who is under-appreciated as a true character in snowboarding. His movie the Freeman show was nothing short of genius, and his creation of DIYX has gone from a local level indoor event, to the single best event in snowboarding. Bar none.  We ended up in Innsbruck because, simply, we felt like complete numbskulls after turning down an invite last year.

The man, the myth, the freemo.

This year’s event boasted an even higher standard of spot selection as well as a heightened use of fire. The rider roster also proved to be much more international with the introduction of some key riders from North America including Louif Paradis, Marty Vachon, Danimals, Riley Nickerson, Seb Picard, Benny Milam, Mike Liddle, Drayden Gardner, Garrett Mcenzie and so on. Big Euro names in attendance were Halldor Helgason, Rene Rinnekangas, Sven Thorgren, Benny Urban, Sebi Springeth, Simon Pircher, Fridge, Max DeVries, Hrund Hanna, Rachida Aoulad, The list goes on.  

Que from Day 1

Day one warmed up on a long down rail next to a soccer field.  Free tattoos, food, beers, and sightseeing all a growing fixture of the event. Hysterically, there are so few riders who were able to hold the energy they had on day 1- through the whole event. An undeniable factor in Rene Rinnekangas and Hrund Hanna in taking the overall victory.

Grant Giller Rado Style

Whether it be the hangover, or a flu that seemed to be passing around, the number of riders seemed to drop each day–The pinnacle of the event was surely day 2. Where two features directed the landing zones directly into each other, one feature, the down flat down ledge, the other a line of sorts ending in Ethan Morgan’s gaper van.

The air was electric that night, as Ethan lit the circle with a cigarette, Danimals smashed some windows, and the olympic stadium was packed out witnessing what the olympic snowboarding committee COULD never. Hell, America COULD NEVER have this event. And I couldn't stop thinking about that.  Though I must imagine that Innsbruck would NEVER have this event again either, as the final day was actually shut down early due to too many complaints.

 

Many people asked me the craziest thing that happened at this event and I never have had a harder time choosing one. Was it Halldor peeing in front of a stadium of people? The backflip through the fire? The realization that Ethan Morgan had a boner when we were chairing him around the set up chanting his name? The random 5 am meetups leaving the club, laughing on the way to the pool party that always seemed to break out in Hotel Innsbruck around 6 am? Too hard to call.

Thank you Ethan Morgan, Thank you Method Mag, Monster Europe, thank you to the crew of riders who built the set up, thank you to the kind workers of the Montagu who had what I can only imagine was their most hellish two weeks of the year, and thank you Max Warbington for making better social media recaps than any single media outlet on the ground. 

 

MORE PHOTOS:

How Innsbruck felt after the event.The Montagu.

Dillon getting game-ready.

Master of media, Max Warbington.

Have you ever been Katfished?

I spy Mike Liddle

Zeb and Hasi.

Darcy Sharpe, never saw him again after day 1.

 

Zak Hale

Video: Ted Borland

Words: Stan Leveille

Photos: Ted Borland and Stan Leveille