Oakley’s newest film, Snowboarding For Me, played before a captivated crowd in a small Denver, Colorado theater on this past Saturday night. I didn’t know what to expect as I sipped on a pre-show IPA and listened to the brand’s Director of Action Sports Marketing Matty Swanson introduce the cast and crew in attendance. The trailer gave few hints to the format of the film and then there was the banter of “You can’t define snowboarding” on Facebook posts that populated my newsfeed. After watching this, there is no doubt that Snowboarding For Me is exactly one of the things we need right now: To give the curious an education and the jaded a reminder of why this fickle thing we call snowboarding is so great.

In many ways this is a documentary that focuses on our history and tradition, but it’s also more than that. The archive footage is phenomenal, the camaraderie stories of Mikkel Bang and Kazu Kokubo, of Heikki Sorsa and Shaun White are retold, but perhaps one of the biggest accomplishments is that it is honest. Listen to Torstein Horgmo’s philosophy on style, listen to the tales of snowboarding’s glory days and how they are connected to today, how the influence of legends Terje Haakonsen and JP Walker is present in riders like Ståle Sandbech and Mark McMorris. What it does is brings snowboarding full circle because as much as the movie looks back at our past, there is still a keen eye looking towards the future. In my humble opinion, the future looks fucking awesome.

Snowboarding For Me doesn’t try to “define snowboarding” because it means something completely different to every person that straps in, which is what makes it one of the best things in the world.

Watch the Snowboarding For Me official trailer

After the show, I caught up with the attending pros JP Walker, Eero Ettala and Jake Blauvelt and asked them the question that follows. Each had different a response but one thing was clear, our history has brought us to where we are today. It is vital that we cannot forget it.

This isn’t a traditional snowboarding movie. Why do you think it’s important for the growth of our culture?

Jake:
I just think that in general it’s important to know your history but especially for us snowboarders; to know who has laid the groundwork over the years. It’s important to know where snowboarding has come from, then also to realize why we all do it. It’s all for the stoke. It’s not for any external reasons, at least for all of the people in the movie.

Eero:
I think it’s really important to actually show the gap between contest riding and filming, because I feel like a lot of kids are forgetting what the history of snowboarding really is. In this movie you get to see both sides. Where it all started, like everything that JP has done for the sport. You kind of get to see the legacy that all of these legends have left for snowboarding. Heikki has an amazing part, I don’t think a lot of people even remember him doing the world record air or the Olympic mohawk that happened in 2002. So I think it’s cool to see a movie that values the riders it has on the team, and gives them respect. Even the old stuff they have done and not always looking to the future. So I think it’s a good movie for kids to see and really understand more about snowboarding, where it all started, where it’s headed, and what the pro riders who have been in the game for a long time really thing about stuff.

JP:
I think it’s important because it’s kind of historical and gets into the minds of all the different guys. But the main thing is… You can look at snowboarding right now from the perspective of it’s super saturated and there’s so much content, but this takes a step back, slows down and gives a deeper meaning. I just think it’s a really deep movie. It gives a bigger look into what makes all these different guys tick. All those guys that are in the film and on Oakley all come from different disciplines, so it’s not just a bunch of hardcore rail guys or contest guys. It’s a really diverse mix. Even though everyone is focusing on a different aspect on snowboarding, they all have a similar drive that inspires them to do it that comes from different places. So they’re all doing different things but they’re driven to progress and to snowboard.