January 18, 2016—Los Angeles, CA
There is no better way to celebrate Boarding for Breast Cancer’s (B4BC’s) 20th Anniversary than with a fundraiser featuring the 20 Most Iconic Snowboarding Images of All Time, and an opportunity to own a piece of history. Trevor Graves, founder of NEMO Design and celebrated snowboard photographer, and Kathleen Gasperini, co-founder and Executive Director of B4BC and pioneer of snowboarding journalism, have teamed-up once again to create a unique photo and art exhibition in honor of snowboarding and B4BC’s 20th Anniversary.
The X Games Aspen 2016 will be the first stop of this 3-stop Photo and Art Exhibition tour throughout 2016, starting with a live online auction that is open for bidding now and running through the kick-off evening bash in the exclusive X Games Athlete Lounge at Buttermilk Mountain on January 27, 2016, ending at midnight. (You do not have to be present at X Games to participate. Pre-bidding starts http://b4bcxgames.auction-bid.org and will also be live online throughout the X Games.)
“I’m incredibly stoked that the X Games thought our Photo and Art Exhibition was a good idea, and wanted to host this event in Aspen and make us a co-beneficiary of their opening night party,” says Gasperini. “I spoke with Trevor who I’ve worked with before back when we were at Snowboarder Magazine, to see if he could help us with this fundraiser, and it’s turned into an exciting exhibition. His idea of curating the 20 most iconic snowboarding images of all time, and then letting people know the stories around the images, will really put this exhibition on the global map.”
Given the epic amount of snowboard photos that have been published over the years, there are some that have risen to the top to be considered truly iconic and inspiring. These tell some of the best stories about the incredibly talented, rebellious, and spirited nature of snowboarding, and those who captured its global growth that has forever changed the world of sports and photography.
B4BC was borne from this tribe and continues to celebrate the spirit from where it all began. The combo is a potent reminder of what can happen at the right time in the right place for the right reasons: the stoke of snow and making something different happen.
An online auction will give people around the world the opportunity to bid on the iconic global images, all in support of a good cause. This means the opportunity of owning a piece of snowboarding history, like the classic Ingamar shot at Riksgransen or the Terry Kidwell rocker air from Tahoe.
Epic photos and stories are guaranteed as seen here:
Photographer: Adam Moran
Snowboarder: Kevin Pearce
Location: Aspen, CO, 2008
“I have such fond memories of that one and drawing it out on a napkin where to set up flashes and telling KP to just slash since we were on a deadline for an ad. Then, ironically, I was told the next day it was ‘too set up,’ and they didn’t want to use it. And we only had four chances to try I think before we were thrown out of the pipe too! But it all worked out in the end.” — Adam Moran
Photographer: Trevor Graves
Snowboarder: Dave Downing – The Wire Walker
Location: Las Lenas, Argentina, 2000
“I got some angry calls on this one from my pier group. They thought this shot was Photoshop-ped. No Photoshop required. It was created with old fashion elbow grease.
Dave, Mark Egge, and myself saw this shot and worked all day on digging the perfect in-run to the cable. The secret recipe was that this lift was closed due to an avalanche that had taken down the lift tower. The cable fell down and stretched across the top of a knoll on the ski slope. There was a decent landing about 20 feet down the cable. We pushed snow for what felt like about 6 hours to get the incline of the in-run to meet with the cable at a very slight pitch. This low angle was required because when Dave would “hop” onto the cable it would flex and bounce him off. It was very important to Dave to make sure that he could actually and officially jib this cable or the still shot would be bogus and un-useable. We used a 14mm lens, Fuji Velvia film, f5.6 at 1000.
Dave actually slide the cable perfectly a total of about 4 times. I am literally just standing with my head next to the cable to get this shot. In the meantime the other 20 Burton riders were sessioning a 20-foot table top, seen in the lower right of the frame. They were done for the day by the time we were able to get this image.” — Trevor Graves
Photographer: Jeff Curtes
Snowboarder: Ingemer Backman Air
Location: Riksgransen, Sweden, 1996
“I love how photography be a catalyst for curiosity, and an archive for the unexpected defining moments of life, or a sport in this case. This shot of Ingemar Backman’s legendary 1996 backside air taken just down the tracks from Riksgransen, Sweden, in 1996 embodies that better than just about any of my snowboarding photos taken over the past 20 years, now compiled in Ammo’s new release Chasing Epic.
Riksgransen was definitely a hotspot in the mid-90’s, long days, nearly endless light, and perfect trannies scattered throughout the backcountry made it a perfect Spring fling go-to for international shredders. I was there on a shoot with the Airwalk team and near the end of our shooting day in the backcountry on snowmobiles, we had heard about a small local contest happening a short walk down the train tracks west of the resort. Curious to see what the scene was, camera in hand, I approached just as Ingemar was strapping in. Friends told me to hurry-up, pull out my camera, as this was gonna be IT. With no time to consider an angle other than from where I was standing, and my film counter on 32, Ingo dropped in and I pushed the button. BOOM! History made, and without a doubt one of the most defining moments in freestyle snowboarding’s now extensive history of ‘epic moments.’ Unplanned, unposed, unexpected. I love that. That’s why I keep chasing.” — Jeff Curtes
For the X Games Aspen Opening Night Bash, a limited number of tickets are available for $150, for this unique experience at https://xgamesaspen.frontgatetickets.com/event/o8goarykv92fsjkv
Stay tuned for more from B4BC’s 20th Anniversary plans, which will include the return of the B4BC Snowboard + Music Festival, at Sierra-at-Tahoe on April 2-3, 2016; 2nd Exhibition: April 2, 2016; B4BC’s Snowboard + Music Festival, Sierra-at-Tahoe, CA; and 3rd Exhibition: October 2016; BeCore, downtown Los Angeles, CA. www.b4bc.org
About B4BC:
Boarding for Breast Cancer (B4BC) is a 501(c)3 non-profit foundation that advocates early detection and a healthy, active and sustainable lifestyle as the best means for breast cancer prevention. Founded in 1996, B4BC empowers young people to make positive choices that promote lifelong wellness through outreach, prevention, sustainability, and support programs.
The inspiration for B4BC was a young woman named Monica Steward, who started her battle with breast cancer at the age of 26 and passed two years later of complications that arose from delayed diagnosis. B4BC’s founders – Lisa Hudson, Kathleen Gasperini, Dawn Kish, and pro-snowboarders Tina Basich and Shannon Dunn – hoped to honor their friend Moni by creating an event that centered around their passions of snowboarding and music while communicating the urgent importance of awareness and education.
In 1996, the first ever B4BC Snowboard + Music Festival was born with tremendous support from the action sports industry. Sadly, Monica passed away right before the event but her spirit shined on that day in a celebration of life and love. The Festival drew internationally-acclaimed acts, including the Beastie Boys, Blink 182, Foo Fighters, Linkin Park, Moby, Less than Jake, Luscious Jackson, Ozomatli, and more.
With the success of these events, B4BC decided to take its show on the road, literally, and launched B4BC board-a-thons in 1998 as a platform to advocate healthy, active lifestyles while building communities and benefiting local organizations. Shortly thereafter, the B4BC traveling educational outreach experience began touring nationwide to school campuses, local communities and youth lifestyle events like the Vans Warped Tour, X Games, U.S. Open of Surfing and Snowboarding, the Dew Tour, and more. These programs continue to this day as B4BC moves into its 20th Anniversary. To learn more, visit B4BC.org.
About NEMO Design:
Nemo Design was founded in 1999 with the vision to build an agency that didn’t rely on any one person’s name on the sign, but instead on the power of collective progression. Nemo comes from the Latin word for “no one” and we champion the idea rather than the individual.
Our inclusive attitude has taken us from the three original founders to a Portland-based office of 39 full time employees. We’re a cornucopia of ultra-relay runners, expert brisket makers, skateboarders, cyclists, gearheads, and artists.
The principals are Trevor Graves, CEO and renowned snowboard photography pioneer; Jeff Bartel, executive art director and one of the originators of board sports graphic design; and Mark Lewman, executive creative director with a lifelong list of cultural contributions from Grand Royal magazine to MTV’s Jackass and ESPN’s 30 for 30.
