Scientific research confirms the correlation between the frequency of snowboard clips and the evolution of iPhone technology. Our ability to document our snowboarding has never been easier. Gone are the days when we relied solely on professional filmmakers or family members with camcorders to capture our snowboarding stunts. This accessibility not only fuels professional riders to always be sending, it amplifies our exposure to the snowboarding community and beyond. A snowboarder's new favorite hobby and one of the most important parts of their job is to be filming each other on their phones. Red Bull is leading the way in incorporating this into a contest style format by creating events such as “Bonus Track” at Trollhaugen, and now “Landing Gear” at Mt. Bachelor.
Scientific research also confirms that side hits are one of the most fun and attainable aspects of snowboarding. "Landing Gear" was created to test a theory: By assembling top all-around riders to collaborate and capture each other's side hit sessions, can we ignite a viral explosion of internet snowboarding?
The creators aimed to keep this side-hit science experiment discreet, shielding the world from the secret ingredients that these riders blend to craft their iPhone masterpieces. The event format was simple: film with your teammate for 3 days at Mt. Bachelor, make an edit that's about 80 seconds long, and submit the final product to be judged for a chance to win $10K. With a format like this, it was an easy YES for the riders. The teams participating were:
Valentino Guseli & Dane Menzies
Brock Crouch & Sean FitzSimons
Cannon Cummins & Jadyn Chomlack
Arthur Longo & Olivier Gittler
Ben Ferguson & Gabe Ferguson
Craig McMorris & Mikey Ciccarelli
Jared Elston & Dru Brownrigg
Nora Beck & Kai Huggin
Alissa Alieva & Max Reger
Watch all videos & team profiles here!
The research directors, aka the judges, were Chris Grenier, Scott Stevens, and Annie Fast. They had a very tough job. The entire mountain was inbounds and every team was off in different zones, hitting different features. There was no way to tell what these teams were up to over the course of three days. But all would be shown on the big screen in front of a 300+ audience at the closing party.
T-Bird brought each team on stage to present their project. Each video had a different soundtrack, hit selection, and overall vibe. Some were full-blown skits like Craig and Mikey’s Canada Golf performance. Some were raw and straight to the boarding. All had insane snowboarding and all made you wonder what you would do on that feature.
What started as an experiment ended up being a celebration of friendship, side-hits, and clipssss. The judges had been glued to the screens and when the decision was made, it was Jared Elston and Drew that were given the research grant of $10K. It seemed fitting since they are Bend locals and great friends.
All in all, the theory of viral explosion is still in the workshop. With social media, it is hard to quantify the exact impact that this experiment produced. But for those there and for fellow scholars, we know that events like these are the future. And a special shoutout to one of the younger scholars at the event, Cannon Cummins, for officially becoming a part of the Red Bull family. Your future is bright.
