Shred Optics

There is something uniquely freeing while simultaneously empowering about standing alone at the top of a line with solitude stretching as far as you can see. The fear excites, the endless possibilities of a rare blank canvas invigorate, and the exclusivity resonates in every part of your body. These are the lines we all dream of. Unfortunately, wake up to find that they are rare and illusive moments frozen in time, memory, and fantasy. Maybe it’s the freedom to choose your line, maybe it’s the seclusion, maybe it’s the remote peaks and lack of recognizable civilization, but one thing is certain: in that moment the emotion can be eternalized and will undoubtedly echo throughout your consciousness. For many of us, the same feeling we experience in the mountains is transferrable to our time in a lineup waiting for the perfect wave to have an interaction with a force bigger than ourselves. Feeling the isolation and relationship of our own souls and a wave, a mountain, getting first chair, is an ever sought snapshot of our own unquenchable passions. This is why we travel, this is why we adventure, and this is why we live.

Waves For Water’s mission edit

As riders and surfers ourselves, there is no reason why anyone should die from a lack of clean water in these contemporary times. Waves for Water is an organization that begins to address this incomprehensible, but tremendously widespread issue. Shred Optics, alongside its team riders, is dedicated to “get clean water to every person that needs it.” So with the purchase of every Shred Smartefy Roller and Belu$hki Rollerwood, you can also become an ambassador for this cause, and help Waves For Water expand its mission.

Here is why Shred’s riders are involved, and why you should be too.

WavesForWater.org
ShredOptics.com

An interview with Swiss backcountry guru Stephan Maurer

Stephan “Mu” Maurer, photo: Silvano Zeiter

What made you start snowboarding and why do you still continue to ride?
I started out of curiosity. Growing up in the mountains it was natural to start skiing. My parents put me on skis since I was 2 years old, and when I was about 11 I saw the first snowboarder in my home resort. I didn’t have any idea what it was or any other information about it. It just looked like another fun way to explore the mountains. Nowadays the approach is a little different of course. But still, after all those years one of the main motivations to keep on riding is still the exploration factor of going to new places and discovering new spots. That doesn’t mean you always have to travel to the other side of the world, it can also mean looking at terrain you already know in a completely new way and trying to come up with a new line. I guess in general what still draws me to snowboarding is that creativity and freedom you can have with it. Whether that is with lines, tricks or anything else.

What’s the most remote place you have been to?
It must be the Tordrillo Mountain Range in Alaska. We went there last April to film for the new True Color Films movie, Nipple Deep. We traveled all the way to Anchorage and then from there we had another little plane that flew us about 1 hour out onto this huge glacier field where we setup a basecamp for the next two weeks. Winter camping and hiking lines in such a remote place was an unbelievable experience and made for the trip of a lifetime. There was no cell reception, no TV or any other distractions. It was nice to be reminded how few things you actually need to be happy and how a more simple life could maybe be the answer to a lot of our modern problems.