When Inverts Were Illegal: The History of Getting Upside Down

When Inverts Were Illegal: The History of Getting Upside Down

In 1992, pro snowboarder Dave Seaone did an inverted aerial at a world-cup halfpipe comp in Japan. He was DQ’ed and fined $100. Welcome to the prohibition era, when riders had to hide their McTwists and triple check for ski patrol before throwing a backie.  In this episode, Tricia and Jen track down the first flip ever captured on film (allegedly), they delve into fun handplant variations and trace the origins of early tricks like the J-Tear and Crippler. After a deep dive into “hotdogging” (later known as “freestyle”), they unearth the source of the inverts ban—and why it plagued snowboard-dom well into the late 90s.  Finally, they bring in live human expert Keir Dillon—legendary rider and inventor of the PA Roll—to describe WTF that trick is, as well as delivering some opinionated conversating on all things upside down.  Cover photo: Bud Fawcett

The Snowboard History Variety Show

Get prepped to go down the snowboard history rabbit hole in this casual, made-for-the-heads spring special. Jen and Tricia go BTS on the birth of jibbing in Colorado, do recon on an alleged parking lot brawl with the Burton A team, and drop in deep on the early 90s tech that enabled the ultimate tweak.  From Trent Bush talking about the death of the “surf turn” to Jason Ford’s tale of the first time he saw Roan Rogers ride, this episode is a spring bouquet of unsolicited (yet highly interesting) information—plus bonus stories from previous episodes. Thanks for listening—it’s been a great ride. Stay tuned as we sprout some new shows for Going Off Season 2.

Why do people say “Craig Kelly is my copilot”?

In historical snowboard time, “B.C.” stands for “Before Craig.” A god-tier talent in snowboarding’s early years, Craig Kelly helped forge the path of style, gear tech, and where riding could go. In this episode, Tricia and Jen examine the legend of CK and why a certain sect of core snowboarders still invoke the line “Craig Kelly is my copilot” 23 years after his death. They regale 2 special heads: Eric Blehm—author of “The Darkest White” and the definitive expert on CK, and Erik Traulsen of FnRad Podcast—a respected curator of many conversations about Craig. The gang dips waist-deep into 3 parts of snowboarding Kelly changed forever: riding style, “pro snowboarder” as a job description, and the world of freeriding and backcountry. Finally, they discuss how even in death, he’s still helping us navigate our path forward.Cover photo: Trevor Graves

Pioneering “Skate Style” Snowboard Art: Jon Boyer & Geoff McFetridge

In 1992, Canadian pro Jon Boyer hired his friend Geoff McFetridge to create some unlike-all-the-other-shit graphics for his new pro-model snowboard on Barfoot. They were loud, expressive and created to hang on the snowboard shop wall.  In this episode, Jen and Tricia sit down with Boyer (now an LA director) and McFetridge (now an acclaimed illustrator and artist) to talk about how Boyer’s boards challenged conventional notions of snowboard graphic art—bringing a skate ethos to a surf and ski driven world.  They dip into the rise of the pro model age, the very first digitally created board graphic, techniques, inspirations, production fails, and of course—what the piles of royalty cash bought for these two young hooligans from Calgary, Alberta.  Follow Going Off for more snowboard history.

Behind the Boned Out Era: Snowboarding in 1990

Once upon a time the colors were freaky, and tuck-knees and tweaks ruled the day. Going Off dives behind the scenes on an iconic 1990 photo of Jason Ford shot by Rod Walker—to learn from one of the masters what it took to be a snowboarder in the Boned Out Era.  In this episode, Jen, Tricia and legend Jason Ford talk about how riders were riffing off what the 80s vert skaters were doing—styling out their straight airs and achieving levels of poking and tweaking that have never been seen again in snowboarding. They dip into the equipment of the day, and being on the Burton A team with Craig Kelly and Brushie. After 36 years of gossip and conjecture, Ford finally reveals how he got his tricks so totally boned out. They also tackle what it takes for an image to hold up after 3 decades of progression, and why this era remains so beloved to snowboarders in their ibuprofen-popping years.