Handcrafted
Something we don’t see very often in this sport are innovative designs that stray a bit from the norm. Japanese designer Taro Tamai has been designing hand-made boards for over a decade. An answer to the homogenization of board shapes that happened as snowboarding gained mainstream appeal.
Tamai’s goal is no less than to “perfectly blend into the terrain miraculously made of snow and wind, just as if birds flying in the sky or fish flowing in the stream.” The end product of his philosophical approach to the sport is a line of boards renowned for their flexible fins, oversized sized fish tails and ride-ability in almost any snow condition.” More information on these special boards at Gentemstick Snowboards.

Image source: Selectism

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Future Classic from the mind of Shaun White
Shaun White, Olympic Gold Medalist and veteran Oakley rider for over a decade, has collaborated with Oakley to create a new lifestyle sunglass called Holbrook™. With his brother Jesse as his creative director, Shaun worked with Oakley designers to crystallize his vision of classic American cool, and Holbrook was born. The name “Holbrook” comes from a small town on Route 66, a place in the badlands with all the grit and glory of the open road. It’s the perfect moniker for a salute to vintage sunglass designs, a fashion-forward creation that takes style to a whole new place. More information and additional colorways after the jump.

Image source: Oakley

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Go Incase!
Let’s face it, one of the big parts of living the snowboard lifestyle is travelling around. Hopping on planes and spending more time waiting in the gate for a flight to board is something we’ve all done. The only difference now is that we’re lugging around a whole lot more gear. Incase has been around for a while and they’ve perfected the art of harmonizing form and function into each of their products. The Nylon Backpack is a staple if you have ever found the need to bring your laptop with you when you travel. Offering the right amount of storage for everything from an iPhone to comfortably fitting a 17″ Macbook Pro with enough room to spare for all the cables in organized compartments. This Spring sees the Nylon Backpack available in some bright punchy colors like Royal purple and Red. Pick one up at Incase. More images after the jump.

Image source: Incase

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Harajuku Stylin’
For the warmer weather out there this (upcoming) Spring, Columbia is putting out some exclusive jackets with Japanese label Kinetics. The Faraday Jacket features Columbia’s advanced Durable Water Repellant material, and comes in dark blue or purple with detailed multi-colored accents. Pick one up if you happen to be in Japan.

Image source: Hypebeast

Congratulations!
We had a tough time coming up with a winner for the Forsnowboarding x Grafik Armor Snowboard Graphic Design Contest. There were a lot of great entries submitted over the course of the contest from many talented people, but at the end of the day it was Zsolt Varga AKA Sekond who took home the grand prize. Zsolt will get his design turned into a custom one of a kind Grafik Armor decal wrap. Second place goes to Matt Fisher of Provoke Creative, with a great sketch design. Matt will get a Grafik Armor decal wrap of his choice from current lineup. Thanks again to everyone for participating! Better images of the board designs after the jump.

Image source: Forsnowboarding x Grafik Armor Snowboard Graphic Design Contest

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Not Olympic gold, but close enough.
Straight from the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, Oakley put together some Olympic cheer in the form of a limited edition co-branded Nokia N97 mini for 200 of their sponsored athletes that made it to the games. The N97 was given a laser etched “Thunderbird” logo, specially designed for the Vancouver games, and loaded with exclusive Oakley team videos and photos. A great souvenir for some of the top athletes of the world.

Image source: WRG?Mag

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Return of the Kass
Next season’s Nike Snowboarding lineup debuts their first signature model for none other than Danny Kass. The Danny Kass Signature Boot was designed with Danny and features artwork and branding by Mark Dean Veca. The boot has a more streamlined appearance and features ergonomic shell contruction, premium compression molded, synthetic leather wrapped phylon midsole with embedded zoom air in heel, heat Moldable Liner for custom fit, and a ton more features that you’ll have to wait til the Fall to find out. Bonus points go to the Dunk inspired “winglike” ankle strap for added style. Look for this model in two colorways releasing in September and October this year.

Image source: Nike Snowboarding

Thanks for Participating!
The Forsnowboarding x Grafik Armor Snowboard Graphic Design Contest is now closed. We’ve received over 300 submissions to the contest which can be viewed at the official contest website. Now Forsnowboarding, Grafik Armor, and guest judge Mike Orduña (Fatoe) will look through the entries and officially announce the winners on Friday, March 5th. Check back soon and thanks again for taking part! Good Luck!

Image source: Forsnowboarding x Grafik Armor Snowboard Graphic Design Contest Website

Yes Now Board
2011 looks to be a strong second year for YES Snowboards. Hot off the heels of their inaugural season, JP Solberg, DCP, and Romain De Marchi look to have more options for the next year of shredding. More to come from YES.

Image source: Rad Collector

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Made in Japan
Burton Japan, FYi, and Fragment Design have merged forces to work on a joint collaboration project to develop high end technical outerwerar. The result is the [ak] 457 jacket, which can be best described as technical equipment for mountain enthusiasts. It’s the most functional and technically developed outerwear coming out of the Burton camp, and for now it’s only available in Japan.

Image source: FYi Design Department

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