Monday, May 6, 2024
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Nicolas Muller Admits to Being Snowboarding’s Problem

Written by Brooke Geery

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It seems you can’t open Facebook these days with out seeing another an article about the poor snowboard industry and its dwindling budgets. What will the super pros do now? How will we ever exist without 40 movies a year explaining to us what snowboarding is? This week, the Board Sports Source poses the question “what does snowboarding need” to Nicolas Muller, who is currently struggling to fund his two-year film he feels will ” help steer the industry out of these troubled waters.” His answer:

It needs more of Jay Adams, of people who really live the culture and don’t sell out. You know now there are brand teams full of people who now have 300,000 followers on Facebook thanks to the Olympics. I’d rather have 1,000 likes from people that really care, rather than 100,000 likes from people watching for a couple of days during the Olympics. This is just my opinion, but there were phases where skateboarding looked like it was dead – but now look at it! If something’s real, it’ll never die.

In other words, Nicolas, who rides for Nixon (Tri-Atlantic Capital Partners and Billabong), Oakley (Luxottica) , Nike (NKE), and is rumored to be on the verge of riding for a wakeboarding company, thinks snowboarding needs to be more punk rock. Well, how about this. You don’t want to be a sell out? You don’t need funding for your movie. Ditch the heli, hike for your turns, craft your own no boards out of wood you found in your backyard, and film your two year project about your meth addiction and jail time, not your boarding.

From the sound of things Nicolas thinks people doing what he’s doing are the problem with snowboarding. To us, this all sounds like one big über entitled first world issue. Now, for the last time, is it fucking winter yet?

Read the whole interview here for even more glorious contradictions!

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142 COMMENTS

  1. Nothing says punk rock like trying to find funding for your latest film glorifying a rich white person activity.

    • Why be easy? Yeah, he’s a legend and a great snowboarder, etc. If you can’t even fund a video project, maybe that’s saying something? And also, who gives a fuck about your video project? Is that going to help get new kids on snow? Is that going to bring insane pass prices down so more families can actually get out there like it used to be? Is your video going to show people that all you need to snowboard is a hill, some snow, and a glorified piece of wood? Nope. It’s going to be you traveling the world, burning incredible amounts of fossil fuels and money on planes and helicopters and sleds so you can get some fresh snow. Who gives a shit. Not me. Seen it before. If you took that money and went around riding icy resorts and buying passes for kids, showing them how fucking fun it is just to dick around with friends on snow…then maybe you would be on to something. I’d watch that video. Shit, I’d even buy it knowing my money was going to a good cause. People like Nicolas are influential and great people, maybe it’s time they started actually giving back to snowboarding in other ways than just spending $20k to get a picture for some corporations next shitty magazine ad.

      • This is the dumbest shit ever written, talk about white people problems! Money makes the fucking world go round, if you don’t like it then shut your salad garage. Everything has an economy, the us, your community, and the fucking snowboard industry as well. People are gonna buy snowboards regardless, being sponsored allows snowboarders to take some of that money back.
        We do it cause we love it, which attracts the kooks, who buy from mega brands, who then write checks to their teams, who can then get their filmer friends jobs and bring some of their non sponsored friends on trips and spread some of the love to the rest of the people who made snowboarding cool in the first place. Whether or not people are sponsored by these big brands, the brands still get caked up. Sponsorship is a way to bring some of that money back around. Jesus h Christ take a fucking economics class. I’m sure Brooke hasn’t been dicked down good in a minute but you have no excuse mike.

      • Upstate. You’re officially #core. Now lets see how well the industry stays afloat without the market that these corporations support…the brutal truth is, the average snowboarder doesn’t even know why Nico is as influential as he is. They just see that big corporate ad, say “whoa sick, can’t wait to shred” and buy a full price setup. There’s your paycheck.

      • I’m very familiar with how the industry works, but thanks for the “lesson”? You think companies sponsoring people is a way to “ring it back around?” HAHA. It’s how companies use people to sell their shit. Without it, companies would not still their shit. It’s a business relationship. The companies aren’t doing it to help a homie out. What I was saying is, for someone that is so highly regarded in the snowboard world, maybe he shouldn’t be bitching that we need “core” without doing something about it? A fucking video project is not the answer, even though every company seems to think it is. Snowboard shops are dwindling, while REI and Dick’s snowboard sales are up. Pass prices are fucking laughable. People still somehow think they need to start kids on skis when I’ve seen 18 month old’s snowboard. The fact that I can name 20 people off the top of my head that had to quit snowboarding solely because they can’t afford to do it anymore. These are some of the issues with the “industry” and not that there aren’t enough Jay Adams. Sure, snowboarding is 90% kooks and I more than anyone want to see more rad shit…but until the people that can actually make a difference decide to do something instead of trying to pretend it’s still 2004 and that people “just aren’t buying the stuff”, then we’re still fucked.

      • i see what you spittin on the hypocritical vibe nico is giving off but the truth is filming those $20k shots are the compromise he has to make to get paid to do what he loves. The company requires certain media from him for marketing and he’s gotta provide that while still having fun. of course the companies aren’t doing it to help a homie out but it’s business. They get theirs, he gets his. also stop it with the “if no one was sponsored the companies would not sell anything” they’ve built their brand already, that’s why coke and micky dees can stop advertising today and it wouldn’t really hurt their sales. once your name is out there people gonna buy the shit regardless.
        oh, and staying “core” is great advice, if you wanna live in a van down by the river.

    • Seriously, between this and the wakeboard comment how could you not see this as being hypocritical? People need to make money and if big corporations are going to pay rad dudes tons of money to snowboard, who cares? Certainly shouldn’t be the people who make money off these same fucking companies. Support real companies with your money but don’t judge guys for milking the shit out of Nike.

      • Nike is a fucking disease that for some reason is successful in brainwashing kids into paying double the price for that swoosh and putting money into some wall street dickheads pocket. It blows my mind that so many pro’s are jumping at the opportunity to ride for Nike and Adidas. People say “oh well everyone involved with Nike Snowboarding is a snowboarder”. Well why the fuck are they working for Nike and not a less evil company? They can ride out their contracts all they want. I personally hope Jed, Nico, Austin Smith, and the rest of them are never able to pick up a boot sponsor again. Fuck them. Fuck them for bailing on snowboarding.

  8. Hate to break it to Mr Mueller, but snowboarding is pretty much inherently corporate as fuck. Somebody has to build and market the equipment that is completely out of the price range of most working class people. Also, somebody please try and sell me again on the idea that the average snowboarder gives a fuck about a “diy aesthetic”, except for all the “core” bros and hoes, who in my experience are never spending their snowboarding dollars in a way that will benefit the companies producing the equipment or maintaining mountain facilities. Want to actually support snowboarding? Get a full time job and spend retail price for your equipment. Accept snowboarding for what it is and stop acting like a sport that has been built on rich fuck and corporate money since day one is anything but.

    • It’s also hilarious he’s talking about companies “staying true” to snowboarding, while simultaneously being completely ok about Nike dropping out after a handful of seasons. Also, nice quote here:
      “So, for the team, nothing’s going to change. There will be support for the riders, which is really great because it shows they respect the art of snowboarding by HONORING OUR CONTRACTS.” As if that excuses them for flooding the market with equipment then dropping out because the bottom line wasn’t there. Jesus, this interview got me heated. Mad respekt for Nico but this interview puts him firmly in HYPOCRITE TO THE MAX territory.

      • “Honoring our contracts” AKA Nike knows the pro’s salaries cost less than a lawsuit for breaking contracts would.

    • “Want to actually support snowboarding? Get a full time job and spend retail price for your equipment. Accept snowboarding for what it is and stop acting like a sport that has been built on rich fuck and corporate money since day one is anything but.”

      quoted for truth

  9. Wow. Kettle? This is the pot. You’re seriously going to call out Nicolas Mueller as a hypocrite? That man is one of the most roots dudes in snowboarding. He gets paid to ride because he deserves it, and if he stops getting paid he’ll still snowboard every day because he’s the real deal.

    Getting paid doesn’t mean you’re a sell out. And that’s not what he’s saying. He’s saying that despite everyone bitching about the death of the industry, snowboarding can’t be killed, and when the dust settles from this current economic crisis the people who will be left standing will be the ones who were meant to be there.

    And he’ll be one of those people, despite your assertions in this bullshit call out article.

    I’d rather be liked by 1,000 people who know what beautiful style looks like because they snowboard every day and can recognize perfection than one million people who know what my name is because they saw me on TV and I have really recognizable hair, too.

  10. What makes snowboarding so core? The fact that you have to pay +300 for a season pass and that we all probably started on a family vacation? Paying thousand of dollars for heli flights and getting bought into a snowboard video that your friends make? Living in a rich mountain town or in a house that your parents have paid for? Snowboarding won’t have any Jay Adams, because he is the exact opposite of everything snowboarding portrays. Remember when Jon Cardiel use to snowboard, “snowboarders, they just don’t know hard times.” Snowboarding to me is a gloried hobby that were all lucky enough to do, and it’s fun as hell, but no where close to being “core”.

  11. core is the dude who works 40 hours a week to drive 3 hours in traffic on the weekends to ride icy trails with 7 million other people all the while knowing he has a 6 hour commute home. Did we forget jay Adams murdered someone ? Do your homework

  12. It’s about time someone called out this self-righteous blow-hard. I’m so sick of listening to this guy but man do I love wathcing him shred. I’d flick $29.99 at his – on the horizon – kickstarter for a blu-ray copy when complete (fall 2017?).

  15. Whatever, i bought some nike boots this year because fuck they fit snug and super comfy, let’s be real, nobody is core we are all robots to the man. I ride and spray skiers cause its fun

  16. I was pissed right until he stated the movie would be put together with the guys from absinthe. Gigi and nico both need to stick with absinthe. Those were the best movies ever made and took snowboarding in 100% the right direction.

    I’m pissed he’s going to try to incorporate lifestyle bs into his movie. That’s not what we need right now. We need banger movies. Fuck all this trip segment lifestyle web edit bull shit. Oh here is the teaser for part 1 of 10 series that I’ll never get around to watching. Fuck fuck fuck

    • Absinthe were the best movies ever made?!?! Are you kidding me? Have you watched an Absinthe movie in the past 10 years?

      You think the “right direction” is winch-in street gaps, follow-cam drones, heli-boarding, and butt-rock?!

      Not to mention Primus songs, terrible street filming, and awkward as hell editing. Absinthe films feel about as connected to “core” snowboarding as you are to your brain, i.e. not at all.

      • Hehe…butt rock. I like Fugazi personally. Primus too! Have you ever seen Les Claypool live? Incredible…..Anyways Absinthe, Kingpin, and Standard films are the killers man! At least the Absinthe guys still shoot on film too. I understand what you mean but Standard had to get out because there’s no money in making movies anymore. You have to take the sponsor money to stay alive. Nowadays anybody can make a film. I’m sure they are core to the bone too. But that doesn’t mean I shit on the guys who make some of the most memorable video parts ever!

  19. What snowboarding needs is some fucking salt. Some shit talking, more fucking rap music, more Midwest, more Too Hard, more Brooke, less Stan, more ICKS, Tre Squad, Yawgoons, dinosaurs will die, less highbacks. Fuck Nike, fuck halldors shoelace belt company, fuck high cascade, fuck the art of flight, fuck JP walker, fuck 2 year videos that are only powder shots, fuck rossignol snowboards, fuck the US open being in vail and fuck TWS buying guide issue.
    Snowboarding doesn’t need to be core, but it needs to be supported by itself. snowboarding needs an edge (again)?, I dunno if it ever had one in the first place. Let’s go back to being hated. Skiings getting big again? Good, take all the fuckballs who didn’t think that snowboarding was tight as shit , we don’t want you. I’m with upstatemike, let’s share some turns with some board virgins, let’s go back to the mom and pop resort without the on hill photographers and fucking vertical ft tracking apps. Lets see some board graphics that are edgier than buck furton and Corey smiths gothic girlfriend with a AR15. snowboarding is fucking wack right now and Nicholas muller is why, people’s court is why, mark mcmorris’ reality TV show is why, burtons muppet collab boards are why, Dennis leontvishoweverthefuckyouspell it is why and the epic pass is why. More shit talking Brooke, more shit talking Internet goers, Snowboarding won’t ever be cool, but we can try

    • Arbor snowboards is now being supported by some wake company. They are basically feeding them money to keep it alive.

      • WHO?

        Vague catty rumors with no source, what is this E news?

        I just want the 411. It’s not like taking some boat riding “chad” fathers money to keep the production line going will destroy snowboarding.

      • Yes I would like a source please. I was under the impression Arbor was one of the more respectable companies out right now so this could be a big deal.

      • The parent company is called motion water sports. They are handling the finances and credit apps for arbor, I know this because every arbor dealer had to fill out a new credit app this summer. Liquid force, a wake brand under the motion water sports umbrella is handling the international distribution for arbor. Not to mention after they started manufacturing boards in Dubai, the quality went down drastically. And they had waited until everyone already did their pre season orders to announce they changed factories.

  21. You want a real snowboard company? Bluebird Wax and Snowboards is as real as it gets. Support them.

  22. Videos need more slow mo breakfast shots, more completely unobtainable adventures and more explanations of what snowboarding means to people who get paid to do it.

    Honestly I’d rather watch a half hour of Uncle Russ™ taking a shit.

  23. well if I grew up in Switzerland I too would think its core to get to ride epic powder all of the time, reality is 99% don’t have that chance

  25. Brooke.

    This is truly hypocrisy at its finest.

    – If you actually embodied this glorified punk rock idealism that you are preaching about, you would run this site as a blog without ads and and say fuck you to these “big corporate sponsors” which which you take money from to advertise their products

    – the only reason this site survives is from add revenue of from these “big corporate brands”

    – the only reason you are not homeless and broke is because these “big corporate brands” pay YOU money to advertise their products

    – at the end on the day you are just a glorified advertiser and without the advertising revenue this site would not exist

    So don’t preach about how Nicolas Muller isn’t “punk rock” enough or “anti-capitalist”, because no matter how edgy you think you and this site are you have no basis to preach about being a sell out to big corporate sponsors.

    • “core” stuff is usually shitty. I wish Toyota made snowboards. I bet they would be good quality. i’m drunk. and u mad.

      • I’d totally buy a toyota snowboard. I could ride it for 15 years and then sell it and people would still pay 300 for it.

    • yeas this is all true, but in any industry no matter what if somebody is making money it has to be capitalism. not all capitalism is bad. i like snowboard companies and would definitely support them, their logo, and them stacking some bills if theyre doing things right (maybe not nike but you get the point)

  26. reasons why snowboarding sucks: 1. lips to rails 2. everything has to be super HD filmed by hollywood and has to be on vimeo(so core) 3. heli trips 4. olympics 5. the fact that park riding is at “resorts”

  27. To Nicos credit : he always refused looooots of money from red bull.

    But still went to supernatural.

    So now he only has Oakley As sponsors ? Got kicked out from nike and Burton !

    Remember that without nike’s money, absinthe would already be dead now. The least Brusti can do is giving nico a movie.
    And film it HD. Please. Stop the blurry ak vlad shots !!!

    (This Vlad guy is a drunk, stoner and pain in the ass / shame for whole snowboarding)

  28. yo, this dude could be the fucking spokesman for pro puppy abuse and I would still look at him as a fucking God. You look awefuly silly when you take shots at actual living legends of our sport. A snowboarder that im sure in some way has put money in your pockets.

  33. What a load of asinine, ignorant, hypocritical bullshit, Brooke Geery.

    It’s ‘punk rock’ as fuck for any pro rider to milk the corporate world for all they can get!

    It’s up to the average snowboarder not to ‘sell out’. Just because non-snowboarding companies like Nike are willing to pour craploads of money into snowboarding, does NOT mean we have to buy their products.

    Want to be ‘core’? Then no matter how or where you ride, do it with products made BY snowboarders FOR snowboarders – so the money (no matter where it originally comes from) stays in snowboarding.

  34. What Nico meant is that the industry is throwing money in the wrong direction i.e. Olympics/espn/xgames.

    Him riding for Nike is not being a sellout, neither is Austin Smith, Jed anderson, etc.etc.

    We want our favorite athletes to be well compensated because we want them to continue to do what they do.

    Anyone who talks shit on Nico is an idiot.

  36. Nicolas Muller is just being honest. We should reward him for it. Nico would do the same shit for free. he also sets a good and encouraging example for kids looking to take snowboarding to the next level. In Travis Rices last movie- one of the most confusing and complicated tricks was a 360 done by Nico. The reason he needs his own movie is because people can’t understand him in between people getting lucky on triple corks, when a ton of them are just as lucky to make a front 3 on the same jump. Nicolas is an artist and needs a gallery. The dude could have rode for any company he wanted to, but choose to stay at Burton because he didn’t like the flex of some other big brands. He and Jake Blauvelt are setting a standard people should recognize. They hit obstacles that most filmers wouldn’t even take their cameras out for, yet they make them iconic Magazine covers or unforgettable video shots with there style. And don’t forget, the Olympics are corrupt as fuck, hence no country will even host the next one.

  37. Brook Geary is a journalist. Which means some times playing devils advocate to generate public discussion; like this long ass thread here. journalist don’t only say their personal opinion(well the ones on Fox News and Huffington post do)(fucking dolts). A real reporter states what they believe some of the readers questions/judgements may be to open a dialogue. A person who only writes what they believe is a novelist or crackpot. Brook is highly ironic and well educated, some of which flys right over the heads of many snowboarders. Sorry but it’s true. This is why Yobeat has been around for fucking ever. Ads or no ads.

    • someone has to take a hit for the team. Heck, no other magazine is pulling shots like this (partially because it’s one of the most fucked up things ever to actually talk shit about Nico, especially when he’s done nothing wrong. Unforgiven.) Brooke, you may have dug your own grave, but at least you won’t have to lay down in it for a little while. Keep it up, but you’re still super annoying. SO props I guess. Someone has to keep the kooks in check. Maybe next time make sure it’s the real kooks, not fucking Nicolas Mueller.

  38. snowboarding sucks because of this ^. Snowboarders put themselves into margins, then hate on the others who fall into different categories. We suck thats why snowboarding sucks. As a skateboarder i’ve noticed there’s an underlying quality that ties us all together, appreciation for art wether that be a no comply from mark gonzales to a 9000 yard fifty by nyjah, skateboarders appreciate skating and everything that comes along with it. when will snowboarders live breath and appreciate snowboarding, where all bunch of dress up kooks buying next years hipster facemask.

  40. Brooke has been witty and harsh since she started in K-ton in 1997. Actually, I might still have an old sticker. Probably not because I seem to remember they were cheap paper ones. 😉
    Yeah, anyfuck… Bobby Meeks rulez, Nike can piss off, Nico snowboards for a living and does it well.
    Support snowboard companies, local shops and buy good gear.

  43. Or everyone could just pay full price for a board ect and stop trying to get sponsored to keep companies alive

  45. Can we just establish once and for all that it is impossible to “sell out” in snowboarding because it is so goddamn corporate to begin with? I mean almost 75% of the board companies currently with uber-cool-awesome team riders were founded out of ski companies, i mean seriously, a lot of you core fags need to take a step back and realize that your favorite snowboarder most likely rides for the snowboard division of a ski company, or for a company that is able to maintain a snowboard division by operating in business categories outside of snowboarding.

  46. AK heli trips are so core bro. Getting dropped by burton but still getting $50K a year from nike is as core as it gets bro.

  48. Screw the industry. Let’s start a community that grows veggies and makes snowboards out of recycled milk cartons and make outerwear out of humanely annihilated overpopulated rodents, like raccoons

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