The 1987 Juicy Fruit Gum TV ad is an essential time capsule. The stars of 80s snowboarding—Craig Kelly, Terry Kidwell, Tom Burt, Jim Zellers and more—rip on proto-freestyle equipment, juxtaposed against footage of beautiful people having fun in the sun and of course, chewing gum. No hats or goggles were worn in the making of this. 

Jen and Tricia bring in a triple threat of live human experts—famed filmmaker Greg Stump (who shot the action), plus Tom Burt and Jim Zellers—to do a forensic deep dive on this relic of 80s exuberance. They unearth how the fresh subculture of snowboarding got in the mix on such a big-time Hollywood production. They divulge who the players were, how legit the riding was, and how much everyone got paid. 

Finally, lest the ad be dismissed as pure nostalgia-core, they discuss the seismic impact showing snowboarding on prime-time TV had on spreading the word to a new generation of would-be riders. 

This is an origin story and ode to the gone-but-not-forgotten summer snowboarding scene on the Blackcomb Glacier in Whistler B.C. How did the summer camps emerge? Who ruled the day, back in the day? Tricia and Jen dive in after downloading from a gang of Canadian legends. 

Up on the glacier circa ’92 few things were better than getting to see Marc Morisset, Kevin Young or Jamie Lynn bust. Wandering Whistler Village, young campers could see stars like Palmer and Salasnek, and certainly everyone was imbibing the spirits of the day. Climate change has a diabolical thirst, too, though. The talk also traces the melt and demise of the glacier that hosted this magical summer playland.  

Later in the episode, Jen and Tricia sit down with iconic pro rider and cultural shaper Jess Kimura to talk about the summer-glacier vibe when she was coming up in the 2000s.  

In the snowboard timeline, ’96 was a heyday. The scene was popping in Salt Lake City, where a newly relocated filmmaker known simply as “Whitey” documented a gang of talent riding under the radar—including soon-to-be-god-tier Brighton local JP Walker. Welcome to “The Warriors.”

In this episode, Jen and Tricia sit down with Whitey to expound on the making of this fun and raw mid-90s cult-classic snowboard film. Stay tuned for talk of technical powder tricks, pirated music, Blunt magazine hijinks, Brighton backcountry, Ingemar Backman, Timmy Ostler, Mikey Leblanc and many more. 

They dive into snowboarding’s real-time evolution from a jib-fueled frenzy to freestyle with a taste for powder. They divulge what it was like to be a rider in 1996, when no one was getting rich—but a gravy train of rent and beer money was free-flowing amidst scene. 

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

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.  

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

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.

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.

In the early 90s, 2 counties in Central Colorado became the unlikely breeding ground for a snowboarding style revolution. This is that story, so gather round the fire. 

Armed with intel from tons of CO OGs, Jen and Tricia trace how the “new school” scenes in Breckenridge and Vail first kicked off. They dive into early jibbing, equipment mods, rider-generated videos, Super Mario Land, big-pantism, Burton’s famous Lucky Strike ad, aspen-tree rainbows, DJ culture and more. They discuss how this movement helped fuel what was one of the biggest reinventions to ever happen in snowboard culture—as the sport’s second gen of pros sought to make it their own.

At the end, Ali Goulet—certified snowboard icon and former Vail resident, joins Jen and Tricia to expound on what lured him to Colorado, what went down when he got there, and why everyone moved to Utah when the era ended.

Image: 1992 Burton ad featuring Jason Girardi, photo - Justin Hoystenek 

Was it the fat-stance fat-pants period? The era of the big film star? The wild pioneer days of the 70s and 80s? Join the snowboard history debate team as they dive into our sport’s primordial stew. The mission: to unearth which time in snowboarding lives on in our collective imagination as the true golden age. 

After a fly-by-night tour of our sport’s history to date, Jen and Tricia identify a specific season that dons the golden mantle. Later in the hour, snowboard-media-luminary Pat Bridges taps in with an informed rebuttal—suggesting a different era entirely. Facts, opinions, controversy, and nostalgic rants all abound in Episode 8 of Going Off. What’s your take? Let’s keep it going in the chat.