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The First Pro I Ever Met... Thanks Marty Carlson!

The First Pro Rider I Ever Met:

In Northern Minnesota (Duluth to be exact) there once was a snowboard shop and it was called "The Underground Board Shop."

The Underground was a place like no other...and at its point in time was the Mecca of snowboarding in most parts of the midwest. I spent my younger days as the "shop rat."

I was the kid that would do anything to get a discount, pro-form or an opportunity. In a short period of time I ended up running the entire operation. After selling Mason one of his first snowboards... (A Nitro Hazzard 132) I left The Underground to my good friend Andrew Pettis in 1998 for a move to Colorado to work with Perry Gladstone and his re-located Limited Snowboards.

I'll never forget the day I met Marty Carlson...

There was a local snowboard company (In a town 50 miles up the Lake Superior shore from Duluth named Two Harbors Minnesota) called Kingpin Snowboards. Doran and Rodger (Kingpins Owners) had created a monster... and had no idea how to control it.

Their initial company was based upon loose recreations of the Morrow Lunch Tray. Doran and Rodger had re-engineered it and branded their design as a snowboard company called "Sodian Concepts."

From those original designs and ideas they created a snowboard company called Kingpin and enlisted the help of young Minnesota Rippers Marty Carlson and Chad Otterstrom.

So one day...Marty and Chad walked into my snowboard shop.

It was an unannounced event to help promote Kingpin Snowboards. I guess Doran had let the owner of the shop know... but no one relayed it to me. Respectful, Polite and Humble... exactly the way one would expect of any pro... but Marty and Chad went a step further. They actually cared! They were not full of shit... just looking for the next dollar. They actually cared!!!!!

It was this initial involvement with the retail, pro and human side of the snowboard business at a young age that made me fall in love... and want to take care of and respect it for others to learn and love the same way!

Thank you Marty Carlson for shaking my hand that day like a friend.... and being a snowboarder that people could truly look up to! I'll never forget that day in Duluth!!!

More then half the reason I do what I do every day... to support snowboarding the way I do... is because of that day I met you Marty!!!! I will never forget the contribution that good people like yourself have made to make snowboarding a better sport....

**Now..you tell the story of how a pro-rider has impacted your life**

Rest in Peace Marty!!!

Daniel

For more information on Marty Roy Carlson go here:

Marty Roy Carlson's MySpace Site

95' Chair 22

I can't remember the first PRO I met but I cant tell you the first pro's I saw....a couple young Scandonavians named Ingemar and Daniel. It was the year after Meltdown Project so I was uncommonly familiar with their style.

It was a stormy day riding Lincoln Mountain back in Mammoth when I spotted two little fuckers just killing it, riding side by side, playing a game of who can rip the hardest. I had never seen riding of that caliber before and certainly hadn't seen anything that creative. They wouldn't shred more than 30 meters without finding something to ollie or jib. That alone opened my eyes to the creative possibilities that were all around you. Previously the school of thought had been whoevere gets to the bottom fastest is the best. Now I saw the endless options that were littered around the hill.

I remember front-flips and cab 5's going down of the cat-track, fence ollies and a level of riding I had only seen in movies and really wasn't quite sure truly existed.

Later that year Ingemar returned to Mammoth for some spring riding in the still fledgling little park we had. Also there was a aspiring photographer who would later become one of my best freinds, Jeff Baker. There was something called 'The Loaf' which was looked like, yep, a giant loaf of bread. Most of us would just transfer over from side to side or hip it...anything but try and go the full distance which was about 45 ft, a serious jump back in 95. then Ingemar showed up and without even trying started clearing the whole thing with big ole indy pokes and backside 180's forever changing the way I saw snowboarding.

Baker also got some pretty sweet guy-in-the-sky shots sparking a career as one of snowboardings finest photographers and magazine editors allowing punks like me to keep the dream alive.

Wave Rave.

The first pros I ever met was about 15 years ago or so. It was at an OP pro party at Wave Rave. Everone was there and I was so star struck. I got to actually talk with guys like Damian, Lamar, Palm, Steve Graham, Brushie, and on and on....

The next day was the contest. I was only 14 and worked at McDonald's. I called in "sick" that moring. It was awesome. Palmer was bonking the speakers that were blasting nirvana, I got to take a run with Rob Morrow (or at least next to him), Klassen was spinning 7's in the pipe and I remember falling in love with Tina Basich that day.

Awesome.

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klassen can/could do sevens? i thought that guy was all about going straight and making powder turns in verbier.

Craig Kelly (and fat girls) Forever.

STEVE

KLASSEN IS THE MOST UNDERRATED SNOWBOARDER OF ALL TIME!

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apparently or he would not have taken out ads in tws and snowboarder offering to go against any other snowboard team for 10k. i always thought that was a lame ploy to hype backwater (or whatever his snowboard company is/was called)-straight jock shit in my book.

Craig Kelly (and fat girls) Forever.

i remember...

being at the us open in 1990, i ended up in the gondola with ranquet, roach and duckboy. at this point in east coast riding, there were not any video's you could watch to see what was going on in the scene across the us. i just sat there in awe as those guys went down suntanner half cabbing off all the rollers super slow motion style. the dudes on the east, at that time, were total air spazzez. there was no holding grabs just slap and arch. so when i saw the way those turkeys rode i was blown away totally. they were actually really cool too, but maybe thats because they just took some pot. . to this day i can almost remember the stench that ranquet permiated from his person in the gondola. heres me a total east coast snow dweeb getting a cup a fart from mbhc mike ranquett ! ahhhh, the memories