Since 2002
One of the brands that I am most interested in seeing year after year is Vancouver Canada’s own Endeavor Snowboard Design. Coming into their 8th season in 2011 and looking to drop an impressive catalog of both hardware and softwear products, Endeavor is still hitting strong with their attention to detail and collaborations with some of the world’s best artists. Mr. Jago, Hydro74, Vince Chan and Derek Stenning are only a handful of the artists that have done work with Endeavor for 2011. New for next season are two models of bindings to round it all out and complete your kit. Keep your eyes out for these!

Image source: Endeavor Snowboard Design

 

YES, you want a pair!
Independent snowboard brand YES Snowboards, backed by riders David Carrier Porcheron (DCP), Romain de Marchi, JP Solberg and Tadashi Fuse, have now partnered with premium headphone brand Aerial7 to collaborate on a co-branded headphone that will feature premium acoustics, signature styling and superior functionality.

Available in Tank (over-ear) and Sumo (in-ear) models, the limited edition Aerial7 x YES headphones will be available at YES retailers worldwide beginning August 2010. They will make their official debut at the SIA Tradeshow in Denver, CO, which kicks off on January 28th.

Image source: Aerial7

 

Spotted at Agenda
Radcollector brings us some photos from the Agenda trade show in Huntington Beach, we get a first look at the ongoing collaboration between snowboard power house 686 and long-time sneaker manufacturer New Balance. This time it looks like a hybrid boot/sneaker is in the works, or some type of hi-top complete with a massive 686 branded tongue. More information on this to come, something is bound to surface at SIA.

Image source: Radcollector

 

Now With More Betterness
Automaton has gone through some major hardware retooling to make their 2010/11 line of awesome award-winning snow swords even better. Their goal was to create the world’s finest and most fun freestyle snowboards. The end result are two new models for 2011 from Automaton, the Babble and the Manimal,with the graphics side of things held down with designs from Alex Funderburk and Eve Duhamel, giving some unique flavor to each. Keep your eyes out next season for these bangers!

Image source: Automaton Snowboards

 

Making snowboarding a leisurely lifestyle.
To add some flavor to their already impressive lineup, K2 Snowboarding got together with clothing brand Original Penguin to work on a special offering for the 2010 season. A freestyle-oriented board, boot and binding were done up in Original Penguin’s distinct vintage styling and K2′s high-performance technology. Refreshing design, clean and simple. Available at select K2 retailers this Winter.

Image source: John Simon Daily

 

Artist Series
K2 Snowboards and Matt W. Moore of MWM Graphics collaborated on a 2010 K2 Astar snowboard. The deck is a European only exclusive and is based on a 4 Seasons theme that focuses on nature, geomety, pattern and the flow of a perfect pow turn. Lots of detail has gone into the topsheet graphics, which use metallic ink, die cut knock-outs and hologram detailing.

Image source: MWM Graphics

 

Everybody loves the Weekend
Weekend Snowboards debuts its highly-anticipated snowboard line this season. Weekend’s introductory “Lodge Series” features one all-mountain board in three sizes (153, 155, 157) with intricate hand-drawn graphics by Steve Nazar who is best known for his illustration work in the ’80s for T&C Surf Designs. Made in Austria, only 450 boards are available worldwide this season and each is hand numbered.  When the three LTD ”Lodge Series” boards are put side-by-side they reveal a gigantic graphic that’s packed with Steve Nazar’s signature characters. MSRP: $449.95 (USD). Find out more at Weekend Snowboards.

Image source: Weekend Snowboards

 

Sneaker Freaks get Hyped
Colorado-based artist and designer Evan Hecox has collaborated with Technine once again for their Mass Appeal Freestyle boards. This time the boards get the sneaker treatment with basketball high top inspired graphics. The Mass Appeal is built for all types of riders at all riding levels. The Tri-axial fibreglass gives this board soft yet responsive flex that is perfect for new riders but will still hold a solid edge at high speeds for the more advanced. The board’s graphics feature High gloss and rough touch effects with foil stamp lace lock on the sneaker. Dope. Look for the matching Technine Mass Appeal bindings to match up the kit.

Image source: Technine

 

Artist Series
Since the Vapor™ snowboard was released, there have always been little surprises along the way that Burton has dropped in the form of artist limited editions. The Futura Vapor™ last season for example. This year is no different as Burton has come out with a special version of this board with its graphics derived from the works of Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat. A culmination of fine art and high technology, and at $1200 MSRP it would fit in just as well on the slopes as it would on your wall. Available at Burton Flagship stores.

Image source: Radcollector

 

Don’t Scrap It! Wrap It!
Grafik Armor, an art-driven independent lifestyle brand, is doing something a bit different in the snowboard industry. They’ve teamed up with emerging and established artists to produce high quality self adhesive vinyl graphic products that can be wrapped over your board to give it a totally new look and some extra protection in the process. Installation is easy and only takes 15 minutes.

Chuck Anderson (NoPattern), Fatoe, Revise, and Troy White all have signature designs for Grafik Armor’s initial launch. And if you’re feeling creative, Grafik Armor also has The Grafik Lab, a custom interface where users can design their own snowboard graphics using a variety of shapes and designs.

Image source: Grafik Armor