Bode Merrill

In pursuit of the best that the winter of 2012 had to offer, the Absinthe crew employed a dual strategy to both hustle & hunker down waiting. In a year of erratic snowfall, there was no other way to slay. But by splitting up and spreading out across the globe in smaller groups, they stacked the odds in their favor. The strategy worked. Tight, agile crews tuned themselves to local frequencies enabling them to tap into record-breaking dumps in Europe, heavy sessions in the Pacific Northwest, Japan, and ultimately, Alaska. It was a winter with Resonance: new riders came on board, new locations were exposed and as always, the Absinthe cameras captured all the action on film.

Dopamine is a naturally occurring chemical in the brain that influences movement and reward. At the core of progressive snowboarding, it is movement and reward that provide a natural motivation for riders like Bode Merrill, Victor De Le Rue, and Brandon Cocard to evolve and innovate. These explorers of mountain and mental landscapes led the charge this year, changing the definition of what can be done on a snowboard, and changing the guard. From the Yukon, Kootenays, Valhallas, Monashees, Dolomites, and Pyrenees, the Absinthe crew proves Dopamine is free, but you have to get out there to earn it.

Travis Rice, un des snowboardeurs les plus doués de sa génération a toujours su trouver la clé de nouveaux possibles, et partir à la recherche d‘horizons lointains. Alors qu‘il explore les pentes vierges de son Wyoming natal avec son mentor Bryan Iguchi, Travis prépare un voyage de 25 000 km qui suit le cycle de l‘eau autour du Pacifique Nord, où la neige et la glace créent des paysages magiques sur les montagnes alentours. Lors de cette odyssée, Travis Rice est rejoint par quelques-uns des snowboardeurs les plus créatifs de la planète, dont Mark Landvik, Eric Jackson, Mikkel Bang, Jeremy Jones, le français Victor de Le Rue et bien d‘autres. Des Alpes Japonaises aux volcans russes, jusqu‘à une nouvel le destination spectaculaire en Alaska, l‘équipe va s‘immerger dans le cycle de la nature et relever tous les défis. Mais les risques sont nombreux, et Travis Rice sait qu‘il doit prendre les bonnes décisions pour mener à bien cette quête.