us vs. them

the day before, we had no idea echo mountain was going to be hosting a rail contest. i didn't even think people cared about watching people inappropriately using handrails to slide every which way but loose. the shit people will do strapped to a piece of wood for some cash pretty much compares to a circus of people doing stupid shit until it actually looks cool. Everything else is a direct result to provide content for you tube and America's funniest home videos.  As my father would say "That stunt and 75 cents will get you a cup of coffee".  Whether your getting hit in the crotch with a baseball or hucking yourself down a rail, you most likely didn't come out of it $500 wealthier....Darien totally did, and her style and grace earned her the first place position on the podium. Congratulations lady, the next time you hit a rail and eat some shit, remember you've been paid for it.

there is a "Mike" in T.E.A.M.

Nightmare has a new addition to the team, we're not supposed to tell you who it is.

diehard

summit county is a revolving door of humans, similar to a college town, disneyland, and the frozen arctic tundra. people show up in our lives for a couple seasons then head back "home" like they were on a several month or year vacation. these people are first to call themselves locals, and the last to leave a positive impact on summit county. we have been friends with countless vacationers and some were more important than others, but in reality they all move away, we are here to stay.

then there are the real locals, who have been here for far too long, who know everyone and everything about the county. these are the people that we are stoked to meet and do work with. these people call summit their home year round and are in on the huge joke.
Joe Lock and Key is exactly one of those locals, weather he is showing up to hang, skate, work, or just killin time between appointments, we appreciate his company.
thats why he gets a super rad snowboard to advertise and shred. thanks joe, for keeping summit county real!

oh and if you ever need keys, locks, or anything of that nature we endorse joe fully. call him up 24hrs at: 855-855-5397

ladylurker

While Lisa-Lurks-a-Lot barges her face into the shot, teamrider Ryan McCoy handles an early season millerflip in the mall foodcourt.  Change the photoshop mode to grayscale and call it artistic. Nightmare Don't Care.

tuning_fork

this season we should all strive to spend more time on our own two feet getting to the top of some sick terrain. summit county is full of world class lines, if you know where to hike.
early season snows got us out on the mountain to scope some lines and check backcountry conditions. we still need some more snowpack but this winter is just starting to get underway. nightmare splitboards clocked some vertical today but due to adverse conditions, the summit attempt was thwarted. like scared dogs we were forced to ride the rocky and hardpacked trail back to the car. better luck next time.

shiny side up.

Rick Leech sent us his progress toward his Nightmare board graphic. Colors are being applied as you read this, and new shapes/sizes/snowboard dimensions are underway deep in the presses of our secret location.

nightmare and rick leech.

Rick Leech is heavy metal. More importantly he knows how crucial the letters d.i.y. are. I think I met him in Chicago at a filthy basement show years ago. If his hands aren't bleeding all over an electric guitar they are designing and printing something incredible. Above is a sneak peak at his recent efforts toward his snowboard graphic with nightmare. We're really stoked to be working with Rick, and look forward to seeing the brutal end result.  below is rad poster he did, see all of his posters here:

http://www.rickleechdesign.bigcartel.com/category/posters

d.i.y. or die.

american labor

as we approach our first season with a "product line" we have been faced with every challenge there is in making everything we want to do happen appropriately. patience has been the word of the year, and it gets harder to follow as snow starts falling.... but when the snow falls well have our heads kept warm with our own knit winter hats made farm fresh from one of the coldest places in middle america...wisconsin. My work schedule lately has forced me to repeatedly "sign off" and carefully inspect files for stickers, photos, paintings, drawings,  t shirts, boards, website, and anything else image related. The other day I called this dude, told him my idea over the phone and within minutes i had this gem in my mailbox. No psd files, no wondering what d.p.i. it should be, just a quick drawing of the stuff we want and the way we want it...if we like it, sign the approval included and onward with life we go. simple and easy, the way it should be. fuck photoshop, sometimes pen and paper will be just fine. time to sign the dotted line, new hats 4-5 weeks. once again, patience.

computer eyes.

when i was a younger me my sister received a notification that she was about to get a tennis scholarship to a big name college. she was stoked. however, at the time her english grade was slipping. worried about a loss of scholarship she spent the next few weeks glued to a computer screen diligently working her english papers to perfection. Each word carefully placed, read, and reread in a courier font. When it came time to turn everything in, she hit the printer, went to her room and right to bed. the next morning she woke up blind. her eyes dried up from staring too long at the computer screen or something like that. its actually not that bad, it lasted a few days and she still kept her scholarship. Either way, heres a new board were making at nightmare. i hope im not blind by the time the season kicks in.

losers of the year

Nightmare attended Something Independent's first annual Snowsports Entrepreneur of the year award last night down in the flatlands of Denver. Battery 621 as well as a large group of other businesses hosted this event and it turned into a really awesome time for all.

After dreaming up and shooting a 90 second video last month we were excited to see some videos from the other entrants as well as rub shoulders with some people that we felt were doing their part to change the snow sports industry. At the end of the night, 4 finalists were announced and nightmare was not among them. We were all stoked anyway, stoked to be printed within the program, stoked to have a display at the event, stoked that we had so much energy and enthusiasm. We were also stoked with the companies that were chosen, truly great  Colorado entrepreneurs doing some radical things in the industry. Each final contestant had something unique and special to contribute, and in our opinion, some more than others.  Folsom Custom skis has been a pioneer of custom skis for many many years now, his manufacturing facility is located in Boulder and they do everything in house to ensure quality and style. Loki gear was pioneered in Grand Junction and they are breaking all the rules when it comes to outerwear. you really have to see this stuff to understand why its so rad. Condorcam is an upstart with some incredible ideas, a cablecam that is remote controlled, allowing heli style shots without all the rocket fuel (and cash) . Flylow gear has been around for some time, they make sturdy outerwear with a pleasing color palate. Those 4 finalists got to talk a little more about their ideas before the judges made their decision. However the conversation being "judged" was less about the journey of a "risk taking" entreprenuer and more about managing/marketing strategies. The only question that stood out was  "Why choose your company over the rest in your market?". This was the most obvious question and one would have thought to be the most anticipated, however the answers were not impressive. They did not hold true to the spirit that set the stage when governor Hickenlooper addressed the group.

We saw this as another opportunity in our journey.  We met a ton of other entrepreneurs, everyone had great ideas and has been hard at work trying to break into this game. We look forward to "growing up" with this family of business leaders and developing solid roots here in the state of Colorado. There was also free beer and pizza. just our style.

Flylow gear ended up with the prize for the first annual SI Entrepreneur of the year award. Their booth happened to be loated next to ours for the evening.

The nightmare crew was disappointed, not because we didnt win, but because there were at least 3 more deserving businesses that demonstrated all the qualities that the judges were looking for. they had passion, ingenuity, and integrity.

They are all businesses that are not planning on moving out of the state of Colorado and manufacturing their gear as cheaply as possible overseas in China. Flylow told us last night that they are doing both.

We want to make some promises right now, these are promises that we made to ourselves years ago when our journey began, but its time to put them in writing so that we can be held to them:

Nightmare will be a transparent company (no secrets, no lies, our products and process speak for themselves)

Nightmare will always be owned and run by snowboarders (yes, dirty, mostly broke snowboarders)

Nightmare will always preserve American Labor and Economy

Nightmare products will always be manufactured in the USA, with as many American made materials as we can source

Nightmare will always have presence in Colorado (there is a reason we started here and it is not related to costs)

Nightmare will do everything 100% no surrender/no apologies.

support the HOSTILE CORPORATE TAKEOVER as we take back our sport, our pastime, our life.

USA pro cycling challenge

stage 5 of the USA PCC came through our mountain town this last weekend. we were lucky enough to have one of the nightmare riders competing the event with a NMcustom carbon race cycle.
he managed to stop by the factory to replenish his cigs and beer before continuing on to breckenridge. with the last strength in his body he pushed through the field and made it onto the podium. right before passing out from dehydrated drunkenness.
so heres to winter and the end of roadbiking season.

history

"As for innovation, there is no denying that it is at the core of what we do here at Burton. We’re literally obsessed with making our products better. It started when Jake Burton hand-built over 100 different snowboard prototypes in his Vermont barn back in 1977. At that time he was making snowboards using the construction techniques of skateboards, surfboards, boats, water skis, and even solid wood furniture. He tells a great story about how, since there were no snowboard manufacturing machines, he had do it all by hand, and almost killed himself twice when wooden blanks shot off his hand router and went through a wall." -Greg Dacyshyn, burton chief creative officer

so this puts nightmare right around 1978, finally we are past the wood core dangers and have moved on to bigger problems. the crew is safe and sound for the moment, all of our walls survived the attacks.
do you think his first hundred looked as good as ours do?

handmade on earth by robots.

K.I.S.S.

Keep It Simple Stupid
as the nights get longer and colder up here in summit snow is the only thing on everyones mind. now is the time to prepare for our upcoming season. obviously that means building tons of radical snowboards, getting the tuneshop stocked up, fixing all three broken snowmobile trailers, scrounging up money for season passes, signing leases and talking to summit county snowboard shops.
but it also meas its time to start experimenting with film techniques, trying to get "the shot" in the backcountry without having to rent a helicopter.
so our first step was to build a 6foot gopro camera jib without spending a dollar. this is the result, nothing fancy but it works and it was totally free. now we need a 10-15foot version that will attach to a snowmobile somehow.........
show up on tues night for some skate action and help us test out the new jib and shred the box and the mini.

eternal vows

somewhere in rural tennessee, in a dry county, surrounded by bikers and babes. . . . . . .
our two best friends will embark on a journey, a partnership, one crazy ride for the rest of their lives. Today Mr. Joe Suta and soon to be Mrs. Sarah Suta will exchange words and drinks, and promise to remain together in love for as far as their road goes.
from the beginning we knew that joe had found something special. the proclaimed godfather of the Dirty Dozen had finally found a woman with enough character and style to be a match. joes "secret chicago life" turned into more than just that, and soon we got to meet the cause of all these changes. joe brought her to the mountains of colorado and ran her through the DD initiation tests, which she passed with flying colors. since then she has become a part of our lives, at home, at the factory, and all over summit county.

Joe and Sarah, from all of your family in colorado, we are sorry that we could not make it to your special day, however we are excited to be a part of the rest of your lives together. we will always be with you in spirit and look forward to a proper summit county wedding reception once you get back out here.

be safe, be happy, love eachother.
shred till dead.

-spirit of 44

2012 aintshit

the year after next years model lineup, minus a couple heavy hitters. so maybe around 2012.5. stay tuned for the rest of the goods out this winter. handmade on earth by robots.

rmccoy pro 156
mudseason 151
kattack 151
rastattack 154

CNCtests

hopefully by now you guys know that we have assembled some cool machinery here in the nightmare factory. we are still exploring the potential for all of our machines and are excited by the results every time.
smash it, cook it, bend it, mix it, cut it, paint it, shred it.

tests continue with the CNC router and blocks of foam and plastic, making signs and diecutting bases, all to make sure we can create perfect snowboards!

tonka, the warehouse gnardog isnt stoked on all the dust we are kicking up.

U.S.A.! A-OKAY!

Just when we were all getting "de-sensitized" to the explicit content of our Mudseason orgy snowboard graphic, our artist Cole does it again. We're hit with another graphic to make the general public scratch their heads wondering with question "is that snowboard graphic allowed to happen?" and "how do you expect snowboard shops to carry that shiiiiiiit?". There is nothing more fullfilling than telling our friends and supporters that with nightmare we will do anything we decide. However, the only thing that beats that is pushing that idea even further, maybe bumming some people out, maybe getting some people stoked, and in the end building something of our own that has limitless boundaries... it kind of feels like freedom, so I guess that makes us real live patriots. NIGHTMARE HOSTILE CORPORATE TAKEOVER deck coming soon! ebay that shit. 

refreshing

kevin jones (prorider) took some time away from snowboarding, in an interview he said some things that were super refreshing to us at the nightmare factory.

"No, I didn’t take time off snowboarding, I stopped being a tool bag for the idiots that control snowboarding “culture”. I just snowboarded without cameras for three years…. it was very refreshing."

Baby we wont ever come down
Turn on, tune in, drop out, give up, with us.

help nightmare and summit county to recognize the toolbags and kooks, and keep snowboarding true. turn off the gopro and just ride, love it and kill it, video never tells the true story of our culture.

meanwhile work continues at the factory, with lofty goals and dope art we have the rest of our summer planned out.
winter is on the way.

TABBLE / MATTER

The artwork for our jibstick is complete. It's a coffee table, a conversation piece. Sit back, relax, and blow all your rent money on weed and pizza.
148/151/154/156

ARTISTinRESIDENCE

All it took was a shitty light rig, a jank skateboard dolly, some homemade generic beer cans (stolen from the movie repo-man), and the last 9 terrible houses i've lived in to come up with this board graphic. This one hits  home, hope you can relate...

and up jumps the devil!

It's funny how satanic and occult imagery has krept its way into snowboarding. Almost an overnight campaign to "shock the squares". I guess were just as much to blame, meh...whatever. Anyways,  you can call it a youth urgency to rebel against their parents or you can call it marketing genius at work. I wonder if its got the kids thinking about the reality of the pointy looking heart-a-gram. I also wonder if the mall foodcourt is ready for this.

David Snedden- draws NIGHTMARE some shit! ideas from the inside and out

While a lot of snowboard companies claim "handbuilt, handmade, and other sappy logos blah blah blah" we are excited to actually own the machine that "hand builds" their cores and everything else in between. While the robot is working we're busy gathering more and more artwork to put on our "handbuilt" snowboards...here are some ideas sent to us by hand from the handmade hands of David Snedden for snowboards and stuff.

NIGHTMARE snowboard artwork SNEAK peak:

 

So here is a look at some pieces from the  board graphics churning out of the Nightmare Factory. Its just a sneak peak of whats to come as we are anticipating a full release party and world domination launch in november. You can stop in the factory and see the full boards for yourself whenever you feel like logging off the computer, but we all know facebook's got you wrapped up in wrangling "internet hot" babes..... So for now see things through the high eye and wander amongst evil kittens being attacked by dogs of lightning while our cosmos are filled with the fury of bears battling sharks and wolves struggling against the king octopus. If your mind has not had enough, relax and get into your summer groove in Summit Counties "Mud-season Orgy" snowboard graphics....Soon there will be a size, shape, camber for everyone!

independence day shred

after one of the longest seasons on record we get to stop and catch our breath (before the basin opens in 3 months)........... and say thanks to everyone that made it possible this year.

so GIGANTIC thanks to:

our crew, other crews, nightmare, snow, gasoline, our snowboards, vail resorts (koff, koff), everyone who attended one (or more) of our parties, swamp donkeys, wranglers, bartenders, designated drunks, skate night shredders, SUMMIT COUNTY!

we are working through rad ideas for next season and cant wait to see you out there too!

old bot/new trix

we had to road trip over 2,000 miles into the heart of los angeles to pick up this robot. this final piece of technology will allow us to design and build our decks in house (ie. raw materials to finished snowboard). every other company out there wants you to believe that their boards are "handmade", well lets be honest. 

our boards were handmade for the last two years, imperfections existed, it took way too long, and was not a consistent way to build. 

every board is still assembled by a human (and a shredder nonetheless), but now every part is cut and shaped by a robot. this ensures that we can achieve repeatable shapes, high tolerance accuracy, and designs that we could not have perused in the past.  our robot-slave is busy learning all the new tricks so that we can keep cranking out snowboards, skates, and more!

in other news, the site (strangesnowboarding.com) is temporarily down for maintenance while we get ready for next season. if you are wondering what we are up to, stop by the factory and skate for a bit, keep checking the blog or facebook. 

the crew that remains in summit gets to shred tomorrow, in the middle of summer, on a 40in base at arapahoe basin. come join us for the last day of one of the best seasons ever. thanks for the snow ullr!

untitled

we dont have a name for it yet but it is still a really rad snowboard.
156 ultrarev, fresh and new with not many places left to ride.

art done by our friend Dimitri, check out the rest of his stuff here: http://valianteffort.carbonmade.com/

still snowing

out of control snow all season long has left us with a solid base halfway through spring. we find ourselves riding the same lines from early in the season as we drift into the backcountry, equipped with tunes, snacks and lots of high SPF sunscreen. not as deep in as we are used to but just as much fun. the whole crew has been able to test out nightmare decks and learn new tricks, working hard all season long. now its time to sit back, relax and enjoy some primal colorado alpha rays!

morals ideals and bullshit

slippery slope huh?

is this the gateway snowboard that leads men to objectify women?

would putting naked dudes on boards objectify men? (we will try this one)

personally we at the nightmare warehouse think that burton did not go far enough. so we took the next step. art for art's sake, and put that art onto something that we get to ride. full frontal, cartoons, sex toys, deviant behavior, full pentagram.

what happened to the days when skate and snowboarders were outlaws, renegades, troublemakers? now we must conform to please every parent, child and institution before we can create a rad snowboard. 

well thanks to burton (and rome and world industries in reality) we learned something from their "marketing fiasco". the more people that get together and hate on graphics the faster the snowboards sell out, so go ahead HATE hard and we will be stronger. (or show your true colors and appreciate!)

nightmare will always stay true. a snowboarders snowboard, made by shredders for those who cant live without it. we will continue to put the things that we want on our decks, and continue putting incredible materials inside our decks. pushing at the industry from the inside.  

buck furton? just say it already........

FUCK BURTON ride a NIGHTMARE (and bring all those dope protest signs with you)

ad space.

This ad rules... definitely categorized in the "when they were cool" section. Burton used an excerpt from Madonnas uber controversial book "SEX" and replaced the sex words with all that is snowboarding. The first word suggests what many may think...snowboarding is better than pussy.
"The ad outsmarted a culture consumed in one-upmanship with humor and unabashed confidence. By deconstructing the hype surrounding the undisputed Queen of Sleaze, it embraces a hand-made, raw composition that communicates an honest, quality vibe to the company's advantage."- AIGA

sexsells

photos: chris rose