Just what the hell's a jib when it's at home? That was the first thing that came to mind when Burton and Rekorderlig sponsored pro snowboarder Chris Sorman offered to show us show us some of his favourite jibbing tricks on the slopes of Mayrhofen, Austria. Turns out jibbing is the name for on-piste tricks that you can do without ramps, rails or any other potentially death-inducing obstacles. They're basically cheeky little flourishes that anyone who’s mastered the art of hurtling down mountains on snowboards can learn to do. Consisting of turns, hops and a lot of board mastery the beauty of jibs is that you can literally make them up as you go along. After Sorman shows us his favourite simple jibs we prod him to name them, but he basically just laughs at us.
‘They don't have names,’ says Sorman. ‘That's the point, they’re just a combination of whatever you feel like doing at the time. If we bothered to name them you could fill an encyclopaedia with all the different minute variations.’ Well, that's us told then.
Why were we in an Austrian ski resort with a Swedish pro snowboarder? Snowbombing 2014 - the biggest, and by far the best, snow sport and music festival in the world. That's why.
Days at Snowbombing are spent skiing, snowboarding or chilling at the snow park while professionals like Sorman wow the crowds with big trick competitions. At nighttime the resort town at the base of the slopes is taken over by revellers from round the world (though, let's admit it, mostly the UK), as a line-up that reads like an A-Z of electronic music play until the wee hours at venues that range from megaclub size arenas to parties in the woods and even a rave in an igloo. It's crazy, and a must if you even have a passing interest in dance music and winter sports.
Rekorderlig are one of the main sponsors of the event. They also happen to sponsor Sorman, which is why we had the opportunity to spend the day with him exploring the mountains and getting some pro tips. Though he doesn’t' go in too much detail about the specific techniques of each jib he shows you, we hope this video will inspire you to get jibbing yourself!
Chris Sorman is a member of The Rekorderlig Swedish Collective
