Product Review

Nikita Clothing
Retail Jacket $55, pants $65
I was super psyched on this company and its line of clothing before I even received the box o'goods. Nikita is "street clothing for girls who ride." Nikita is owned and designed by the number one female snowboarder/surfer/skater in Iceland, Heida Birgisdottir. Nikita offers some of the freshest styles with unique twists to color and textures while staying true to the shape of the female and functionality for skating and snowboarding. Everything was a huge hit with the girls I live with. If yer not down with ass crack like I am and it seems like you can't get away from it because everything is low waist now, the Ellen cord and twill military pant provides a high (but not too high) waist, plenty of room in the hips and thighs to move and durability for any bailage that might occur. Not quite a snowboard jacket or a basic hoodie, the Natasza ripstop hooded pullover made of ripstop nylon with quilted insulation is the perfect in between item. It is warm, comfortable and yes, it has plenty of room in the arms. When so many companies geared towards girls have forgotten that functionality is just as important as style, Nikita remembers what's important, the demands of the rider and her sports.

Adidas Lance Mountain
Retail $100
Lance Mountain is a living legend in skateboarding. He has been on virtually every aspect of the biz, from a young skater to company owner, he's been inside and out of skateboarding. When Adidas came out with the Gonz and Mountain shoe about two years ago, our whole staff was stoked to check them out. To our dismay, they weren't that great to skate in. Now that's all changed. The new Lance Mountain shoe is quite a departure from the first one. The sole is very grippy and the material is tough. It's a perfect tranny shoe. They were instantly comfortable. The lacing system is smooth and sucks into your foot nicely. The shoe is a little bit clunky for skating street, but what do I know? I'm just a tranny killer and these shoes rule for that!

Hollywood Skateboards
Retail $45-49
Hollywood Skateboards..."Who?" I know exactly what you're thinking but I'm sure that'll change soon if it hasn’t already. The newly established skate company is one of many offspring produced by Tum Yeto. And like most of the other Tum Yeto companies like Pig Wheels, Toy Machine, and Foundation. I'm sure Hollywood Skateboards will hold its own in the skateboarding industry. I also understand that their first rider was recently snaked from the Foundation team...Justin Roy. That kid rips! If you haven't seen the Foundation video "Art Bars and Seagulls” then you don't have a clue what I'm talking about. As for the product, I've only had about a week to ride the deck but I'm definitely stoked on it. It is a solid deck with mad pop, good concave, and a sick shape, what more could I ask for. So for all you rippers who skate park or street don't hesitate to break yourself on a Hollywood. If you want it sooner rather than later you can check them out at www.hollywoodskateboards.com.

Savier Footwear Raliegh
Retail $90
Give it up for the fine folks over at Savier for creating such awesome products. In fact, this is the most comfortable shoe I’ve worn all year, and could easily qualify for “most comfortable of the last two decades” behind the Jordans II, of course. What does Savier do right that all the shoemakers do wrong? Style, function, and comfort, they’re all here in the Savier Raliegh. A shoe that looks as good on your feet chillin’ as it does stuck to a piece of grip tape, you will want to wear these a lot. They will quickly become your most popular shoe because of their low profile, and did I mention comfort factor? Did you see the color scheme on these babies? A shout out to the New Orleans Saints? These shoes have soul, and you will too if you put your money where your mouth is. You want old wrinkly, nasty, bunions and corns on your feet? Then skate in the competitions product. If you want a good looking, durable shoe, that will probably last longer than your skating career, slip these puppies on. www.savier.com

Etnies Oracle
Retail $95.95
Some of us aren't so lucky. Got flat feet? Good neither do I, it’s a trait you don’t want, especially if you like to push wood for recreational activities. My friend Scott has flat feet. Basically, you have no arch and it puts a ton of pressure on your poor, little feet. It’s a major bummer, and for those of you who skate who have this, the desire to go skateboarding can sometimes be blocked by the painful activity in your feet. While you weigh the options of suicide, and or zoom booting, there is an easy alternative to avoiding the painful, debilitating aspects of flat feet. Good, high quality skate shoes. Now, I just recently got these pair of Etnies and was enjoying a good pipe with my Grandpa and my pal Scott, when he noticed the shoes upon my feet. Sure, they were good looking and highly appealing in this age of shine-sparkle-shine shoemaking, but put these on your feet before you skateboard and you'll notice the difference. Nice arch support, solid, well constructed leather upper, no slip design, basically, a flat foot idiot’s wet dream. Did I mention the ollie protection? This shoe was designed with you and skateboarding in mind. Do yourself a favor and get on the boat. www.etnies.com

Randoms Hardware by Griptek
Retail $4.95
A big thumbs-up for this freaky hardware. What makes these bolts unique is that they have no screwdriver fitting in the head - instead, you hammer 'em into the mounting holes and bolt on your trucks as normal. I know it sounds kinda gimmicky or flakey, but hear me out. There's these flared fins in the shaft of the bolt, so when you tap 'em into place they actually cut into the holes a bit which keeps them from moving or turning at all. They ride really solid and with this design I can't imagine the bolts ever becoming loose. It's like fusing your trucks to your board with some supernatural power. But don't freak out because if you don't like 'em you easily tap them out and put regular bolts back in without messing up your deck. I also tried installing them on an old deck with worn-in mounting holes and the fit was just as solid. The bolts I got came with two bolts with skulls embossed on the head, which, y'know - is hella hardcore. If you've ever been irritated by hardware that comes loose then you should really give Randoms a chance.

Tracker "Axis" Trucks
Retail $17.95 per truck
These trucks are like a confused middle-aged European tourist who wears parachute pants and tight fitting day glow shirts. First of all, these trucks are neon green. Now, I realize that Tracker must make trucks that aren't neon green - but the fact that they even manufacture trucks in this unholy color has me convinced that Tracker is not exactly on the "cutting edge". But color scheme aside, these trucks have no kingpin clearance whatsoever - so you are grinding bolt the second these trucks meet concrete. Lame. Aside from the color and the kingpin clearance, these are a pretty average truck. But with so many other (better) trucks to choose from there's no excuse for compromise.

Chorus Grace 157
Retail $399
The Chorus Grace 157 board was definitely designed with the aggressive intermediate to experienced freestyle rider in mind. Someone like Leslee Olson maybe? Who is one of the best "all around" riders and can shred the pipe, the park and the entire mountain with the best of em'. Yeah you wish. Even though this board has Leslee's name on it, it's not a pro model with input coming from all of the other Chorus riders like Cara Beth Burnside, Tomo Yamakoshi, Janna Meyen, and Roberta Roger. The Grace offers a stable clean design with full wrap edges, a sintered ptex base and dual progressive sidecuts to ensure performance on those cliff drops, big air jumps and rail slides, I know you girls and boys hit every weekend.

K2 Clickers-
Magma HB bindings
Retail $199
T1 HB Boots
Retail $239
The set up I went with was the T1 HB boot and the Magma HB Pro. Sometimes it’s the little things that impress me the most. With the T1 boot the first thing I noticed was the inner boot; it is sooo comfortable. The tongue in the inner boot has a lot of flex, which makes it easy to get my foot in and out every time. With some boots it’s been a struggle just to get them on. The only down side I can see with the inner boot is the drawstring which is supposed to pull everything nice and snug. It works great to pull it snug but the lock on the drawstring tends to loosen during the day; no big deal I just re-adjusted at lunch. Next I noticed the very easy to use lacing system. It’s really not a system though because it’s so simple; lacing was effortless, the nubs from the ankle area to the top of the boot made it super easy and fast to lace up. Finally on the T1 boot is the heel/ankle strap. This was great because it eliminated any heel lift, and on the strap is a very easy to use ratchet system. K2 used some forethought on this because it’s one thing to have a cool feature but it’s another to have a cool feature that actually works while on the hill. No more taking off my gloves just to adjust, this ratchet was way easy to use with my gloves on. The binding system I used was the Magma HB. I like the reaction time of a heel to toe step in vs. side-to-side step in. This made for effortless carves in the deep pow. One drawback is the high back. Since this is a heel-toe system, the high back actually gets in the way of clicking in. If you’ve got a stiff boot, I’d suggest going with the flat bindings as opposed to the high back. But you know, with a few modifications I was able to turn them into flat bindings. This set up definitely gets two thumbs up both in fresh white and park.

Allian Snowboards
Soderqvist Pro model size160
Retail $425
So, now I’ve got my K2 clicker set up and this M.A.S.H. 4077th, green Allian snowboard and 3 feet of fresh! Sweet!! Even before I made it out of the parking lot to go to the hill, people were actually coming up to me and asking what kind of board I was riding. After I gave them all the info I could on the company they walked away intrigued and impressed. With a shorter tail than nose and the sintered 2000 base, this shit kept me floating on the fresh white and through the trees all day. The smooth side cut shape made navigating through the trees effortless. On the next trip out it was a nice spring-like day, perfect for hauling ass. Except for some reason I seemed to be a magnet for unpredictable, slow skiers. Needless to say, I took one of ‘em out. Stupid mother fucker! I was however, able to get a few speed runs in despite all the stupid people that were on the hill that day. Once again, I was thoroughly impressed with the versatility of this bad unit. With the few hauling ass carving runs I did get, I was in total control from the top to the bottom. While this board seems to be better fitted for the floatie, fresh white pow and the hauling ass hill races than the park I still consider this to be one of the best all around boards I’ve ridden. This set up is definitely a keeper! Two thumbs up and a hells jeah, nucka!!