Max Jenke / Managing Director, Endeavor Design Inc. / endeavorsnowboards.com
One half of the driving force behind snowboard brand Endeavor, Max Jenke has grown from professional snowboarder to becoming brand owner and design connoisseur. We find out more about his background, how Endeavor came about, and how design plays a role in this snowboard powerhouse.

To start things off for those that might not know who you are, what’s your background and how did you get started in the sport?
Max Jenke – I was a professional snowboarder from 1997 till 2002, sponsored by World Industries, Dub Outerwear, IS Goggles, Drop Gloves, Northwave Boots, Drake Bindings, The Boardroom. I started snowboarding when I was twelve and all my friends at school were up on the local mountains or in Whistler on the weekends. My friend took me up one day shredding at Seymour on a Blacksnow board (plastic with metal edges) and I was hooked from then on. My first real board was a Gnu Kaos that my grandpa got me for my 13th birthday…that was 17 years ago!


 
How did Endeavor come about?
In the fall of 2000, World Industries canceled their adult series of snowboards to focus on their kids program. I had the opportunity to ride a lot of decks in the 00/01 season, even did the Transworld Good Wood board test that year as a tester. With a year of trying other brands boards, I found there were some key ingredients to making a good deck. I also found that none of the brands rep’d what I was feeling – I felt like there wasn’t one that I really fit with. In the summer of 2001, I had the opportunity to make some boards at a factory in Oregon. After a bunch of testing in Europe and New Zealand, I came home and grabbed a crew of friends to help me start Endeavor: Scott Serfas (staff photographer for Transworld Snowboarding), Paavo Tikkanen, Randy Ross, Rob Dow, and Chris Martin. We launched the first Endeavor line at SIA in March 2002.
 
The name Endeavor was perfect for what we were doing: an earnest effort to achieve a goal. Our goal was and still is to make the best snowboards in the world.


 
I once saw a video a while back about a tour of the Endeavor office, and the thing that struck me the most was the fact that you guys had Barcelona chairs. Not exactly something you would typically find at a snowboard company. What’s your background in design and how does it play into the development of things at Endeavor?
Yeah, that video was shot four years ago…time flies. Other than doing art in high school, I don’t formely have any design training. I guess it’s more of a passion. Since I got into the industry when I was 16 riding for Option Snowboards in Vancouver, I was interested in the the behind the scenes stuff – one aspect was design. Whether it was board graphics, clothing designs, or ad layouts, I wanted to have a stab at it. That’s transcended into things like furniture, etc. hence using barcelona chairs for our company video.
 
Design is a huge part of our company and I’m proud that we’ve always had it as a priority. Most snowboard companies focus on team to market their products – I feel that design is the most important, after all it is what you look at when you’re on the chairlift. We put a lot of time into working with innovative artists on making the best graphics. I spend a lot of time at our factory making sure the artwork we create has the best processes used to make the aesthetic perfect. By doing all of this, we also have the best quality boards because of the raw materials used. The function comes from my experience and ideas from our crew and has been proven true, as we won several board test awards with Transworld, Future Snowboarding, and some overseas publications (the UK Times ranked our Colour Board as the best snowboard to buy recently).


 
How’s the office looking now?
It’s actually a mess right now. We just moved a bunch of stock in to organize and ship out, so its hectic. Otherwise it’s usually a really nice space to work out of. The high ceilings and lots of natural light are essentials. Gastown, where our office is located, has turned into the SoHo of Vancouver. We had our office there seven years ago because it was the cheapest rent…now people are lined up for lofts like ours.

You have a lot of talent behind your board design, It seems like a big portion of the line is designed by established and up-and-coming artists. Was this a decision from the start to base the company around? How did you go about selecting the designers?
From the start we wanted to design graphics that represented us and what we were stoked on. Randy Ross did the majority of graphics for the first three years but he did have some help. Joshua Smith who did the BOD for 09/10 did the RCP Series in 02/03. Whether the artists were in our network or we found them online, we wanted our decks to have the best graphics on them. I suppose that’s why our artist network is so big. We also wanted to feature their names on the decks and have done so since day one – I’m confident that we were the first to pioneer the artist collabo on snowboards.
 
Designer selection is pretty open. A lot of times it is artist referrals within our own community – whether it is from friends, other artists, etc. I spend a fair amount of time online getting lost on sites where artists put up portfolios. There is so much amazing work out there.


 
You guys have also done collaborations in the past with some big names in the streetwear game, namely the Addict Clothing board with SheOne and the Ransom Kemper-style throwback board. How did these come about? And speaking of streetwear, what brands are you feeling at the moment?
Collabos are always fun projects. Working with other inspiring brands is a lot of fun. All of our collabos come about through friends in the industry doing like-minded things. The Addict Series was especially exciting because the different camos looked amazing as different topsheets. The whole Addict crew rides so it fit really well.
 
The Ransom deck came about because of my friendship with Matt George (runs United Front) who actually used to shred with our Wildcat crew in 1999 and 2000 when he lived in Vancouver, and Fraser Avey (brand manager of Ransom) who used to be a Whistler pro rider for Stepchild and Nomis.
 
Streetwear brands I’m feeling at the moment…hmmm. Acne, Visvim, Nice Collective, Ksbui, Wings + Horns, Ransom.


 
Can you talk us through a typical day?
Ha, it really depends on the time of year. We have a tight crew at the office and we all put on different hats throughout the year. Right now we’re finishing up design on the Fall 09 marketing programs (websites, ads, online campaigns, etc.) and working on Fall 2010 design deadlines. It’s pretty hectic because its not just Endeavor now – Airhole masks has started to take up a lot of time as we grow it towards its potential.
 
Office starts at 8:30 after a busy morning at home (up at 6am with 11 month old baby). Emails for at least an hour, then into the work day. On top of the design stuff, I’m working through fiscal year end figures tightening that up for the accountant, entering budgets into our system to track the performance for the coming months, and working through strategies and opportunities to maximize our year. Lunch around 1230 or 1, either at my desk or at one of the amazing restaurants in our hood – Momo Sushi, Nuba, Salty Tongue, Social. Leave the office by 615pm. Sometimes some late night emails if I’m doing production stuff with China but that’s handled from the couch and my iPhone.

What kind of board/equipment are you riding this season?
I always struggle with what deck I should be on…I’m running a Live 156 right now but tried a Guerrilla 154 and a Next 157 throughout the season. I find the Live is the best suited board for messing around on the whole mountain. I’m running some outerwear samples we’re playing around with, Oakley crowbars, Drop spring gloves, DC boots, Endeavor 1st layer merino, and of course an Airhole.

Plans for the summer and what’s looking good for Endeavor in 2009/2010?
Summer is going to be busy. Already booked my flight to China for July 5th, so I’ll be doing pre-delivery inspections, reviewing 2010 designs for samples, and looking for new opportunities. Until then, it’s all prep. Everything is looking good for 2009/2010. Product is tight as ever, deliveries are on schedule and earliest to date, and we’re launching all of the new websites in May. Very exciting.


 
Any last words?
Always Endeavor.
 
Thanks Max!
 
Image source: Endeavor Snowboards