“Any board can be fun once you’re used to it because by that point, good or bad, you’re used to it,” laughs ex-pro rider and owner of CAPiTA snowboards Blue Montgomery. “When you can mount up a deck right out of the plastic, no detune, no warm up and rip it, then I feel like a board is well designed.”

Who wants to spend their hard earned cash on something that has to grow on them? That’s why we eat genetically modified foods and walk around with cell phones glued to our grills, so we can experience the fascination of tumors later in life. If you want results sooner than later, get a job in radiology, and if you want to get after it without the pain and frustration of edge whip or orthopedic disfigurement, take a look at CAPiTA.

From its headquarters in the Pacific Northwest, simple and effective principles like building quality products allows CAPiTA to thrive in a diverse market. This small brand is run exclusively by shredders who one, know how to have a good time and two, have spent plenty of hours making the best of some of the world’s nastiest alpine weather. They understand there’s not a minute to waste in the pursuit of awesome.

Citing progression as the key to the company model, Montgomery looks at snowboarding as something everyone should enjoy. “It’s simple ideas that have made snowboarding better over the years. Crashing can be painful and scary regardless of your ability level, so if we can make the snowboarding experience easier and more accessible through good design, then I see that as a key to gaining new customers,” he says.

Utilizing a broad group of friends, team riders, sales reps, shop kids and random internet lurkers, CAPiTA takes the advice of all into the process of design. From there, three guys handle production ­— Sean Tedore on construction and shaping, Ephraim Chui on the graphic design front and Montgomery “hovering over their shoulders.”

See Also: MFG – Archetype Lab by Endeavor Snowboards

Whether it’s the manly, cambered profile of the Black Snowboard of Death or the silky smooth Stairmaster with Flat Kick technology, CAPiTA snowboards has no doubt garnered the respect of the industry with exceptional design profiles and unfaltering quality. Nevertheless, the loose feel of the company is what attracts devout shredders year after year – something plainly visible in the demented artwork. On any given board you might see 80’s ski dudes, pumped up Guidos, hot chicks and a delegate of said representatives wearing safety glasses which, as only a true snowboarder like Montgomery would conclude are, “Beautiful, interesting snowboards.”

All this taken into consideration and shoved into some sort of supreme production line of terror the final product, in Montgomery’s estimation, is as uncomplicated as it is effective. “We make products that we believe are rad and want to share them with the world… simple as that.”