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There is a buzz for IRS, with more people are talking about the brand. Each week we are seeing more people rockin it. This week I caught up with Tim Tunks the man behind IRS to find out how he got started and what’s next for IRS.

Leearni – Tim tell me about IRS, what is your brand all about?
Tim - I Ride Sideways is about fun. We love riding boards and having a good time doing it and that’s what our label is based on. IRS is different to a lot of other brands because we support the little guy. We don’t use sweatshops to make our gear; we raise money for projects that help people in need and our clothing is cut the way that board riders want to wear.

Leearni – What made you start it?
Tim - In the past I’ve made little brands for myself and my mates just for fun. That’s how IRS started too. I was driving down the coast for a surf and I thought to myself, man, I love riding sideways. I love it. That’s what I do, I Ride Sideways, IRS. I told a few people and they were stoked on it. It started for fun and I’m still having fun doing it. I hope that never changes. And if I can use IRS to make a difference in this world then even better.

Leearni – I know you were recently in Bali looking for manufacturers, how important is it that IRS be sweatshop free?
Tim - It’s so important to me. I believe that everyone deserves to be paid a fair wage and to work in clean, safe, conditions for reasonable hours. I believe children should be going to school and having fun not making products for next to no pay so that we can buy them a little bit cheaper. Bali is a great place! I’ve found a really good manufacturer that ticks all the boxes for me. They make quality clothing and their staff are treated well, paid right, work normal hours and the conditions are good.


Leearni – That’s awesome your so passionate about this, how do you think IRS can help?
Tim - These are human rights issues and my hope is that IRS can educate people about worker’s rights so that next time they’re deciding to buy clothes they think about the person who made them. Consumer demand speaks loudest to companies so if we all choose sweatshop free then more brands will follow.

Leearni – How is the IRS team going? Anyone we should be watching out for?
Tim - All of them! They’re going great. I stress to all my riders that I want them to have fun and just do their best in comps. They still do really well! . Henry Bessell is winning heaps of events at the snow this year, Nick Griffiths won at the Adrenalin Board store Rail Jam and is doing well in other comps, Pride Hasler is consistently making the podium in all her events at the snow. James Windsor just came 4th at the world titles for cable wakeboarding in the junior boys division. Tara Pyers came 4th at Australian nationals for cable and Kane Trubenbacher is killing it with his skating. He doesn’t compete much but makes heaps of great videos, which are super fun to watch. All our riders are great people, not just great riders, and that’s important to me. So if you see them say hey, and have a shred with them.

Leearni – Do you have any advice for up and coming riders?
Tim - Have fun!! Don’t be all about getting sponsored. I promise you that if you are killing it, having fun and you’re a great person to shred with people will notice and talk. Just keep shredding for fun.

Leearni – I hear you’re getting ready for summer, what can we expect from IRS for summer this year?
Tim - We’re growing fast and venturing in to board shorts for the first time! The ladies are just as important to us so look out for the new women’s threads too. We’ll be releasing some more gear mid way through summer and if everything goes to plan the midsummer range will include a new stretch boardie!

Leearni – I see IRS around a lot, you must be pretty stoked the brand is getting out there?
Tim - I’m stoked to see people liking it. We make gear that we love so to see everyone else liking it as well makes me froth! We don’t just make things because they will sell; we make things that we love to wear.

Leearni – What are your future plans and goals for IRS?
Tim - Future plans, we have so many. One that you should look out for is our “Shred To Care” project. Twice a year we will be making a tee and 100% of the profits will go towards projects helping and empowering people in need; building wells, schools etc. Spread the word on this one. Together we can make a big difference.

Look out for the summer range dropping soon from IRS. IRS is available at Go Wake Bli Bli QLD, Adrenalin Board Store Braddon ACT, First Tracks Jindabyne NSW and online at www.iridesideways.com. I’m stoked to see how well IRS is doing, check it out if you haven’t already heard of it.

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Nike Zoom DK Zombie Feast

Danny Kass awakes to find himself in an eloquent dinner with fellow Nike Snowboarding athletes as blood-thirsty zombies hungry for the new Nike Zoom DK.

Q/ What was it that lured you the sport of Snowboarding? Were you a regular snow goer as a kid?

I grew up in Jindy, and both my parents are skiers, so they had me on skis when I was little but changed to snowboarding when I was about 13.
 

 
Q/ You’re now riding with the best of the best, was there a defining moment when you decided I’m going to do this as a career?

I think the first time I thought about snowboarding, as a career was when Forum first sponsored me when I was about 14.
 
Q/ You are part of a group called Comrades which is a group of young snowboarders who love to ride and live the dream. Its an incredibly appealing concept for the rest of us, can you explain the idea behind the Comrades and how you see it evolving?

Well me and the boys spend a fair bit of time together, we ride together everyday and live together when we travel. So comrades is just a way for us to be recognized as a group.
 

 
Q/ Its been said, yourself and fellow boarder Nate Johnstone decided one afternoon that would both shave your heads, can you tell us the story behind that and why you do such a thing considering you spend so much time in a freezing climate?

It was pretty random, Nate was the mastermind behind the whole thing. He wanted to shave his head and asked if I would do it with him. So we headed down to good old Wall-Mart and picked up some clippers for like 10 bucks. Then when we got to work. to top it all off we thought it would be a good idea for me to get a mullet, but that only lasted a week or so.
 
Q/ Is the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics on your agenda at all?

Hopefully, I have been training with the NSWIS (New South Wales Institute of Sport) team for a few years now and will be working super hard over the next few years to make it to the 2014 games.
 
Q/ Blown ACL’s are so common these days in snowboarders, and unfortunately you are a recent victim. Do you think ACL’s blowouts are just a part of the sport or is it a direct consequence of the increased demand on riders nowadays?

Injuries are all part of it. Even the smallest of crashes can cause injuries.
 
Q/ Whats been your preferred method for passing the time recovering from the ACL? A bit of Shaun White Xbox style?

Yeah and skate 2. It’s the best medicine.
 

 
Q/ Snowboarding is a sport of style, technique, balance and most of all courage, were you born with that raw natural courage or did it come with time and hard work?

A bit of both I guess, i was always known for breaking a lot of bones from jumping off shit when I was little.
 
Q/ The Aussie winter is fast approaching will we see you around the slopes? Stylewars on the agenda?

Im keener than ever to get back on snow after my injury so ill be up there for sure. As for stylewars i would love to head down to Falls again and hangout with everyone and compete. Its one of the funnest events I’ve competed in so if I get the chance I will try get to stylewars again for sure.
 
Q/ You ride as part of the Forum team as well as Comrades, can you elaborate on whats involved with boarding for a commercial team?

Its all about getting shots and results,  so there is a lot of traveling around between resorts and countries to do as many contests as you can. And you have to juggle all that with photo shoots. Getting shots is the best way to please your sponsors and get yourself out there.
 
Q/ Many boarders and even product designers have adopted the ipod craze, do you put the plugs in when on the slopes? Is there a particular track that really gets the adrenalin going?

I love riding with tunes. it always gets you pumped and you can really focus on riding when you are listening to music. The Queens of the Stone Age are always good to ride to they have some crazy songs that get you pumped.
 
Q/ Thanks for taking the time to chat to Snowlife, on a final note with a name like Steinbacher you would get some interesting nick names, would you care to share them?

I never really had any nicknames, my older brother got called steiny back in the day though.
 
****
UPDATE
Since catching up with Charlie, he unfortunately took a nasty tumble in a pipe in NZ and dislocated his shoulder. So we won’t be seeing him on the slopes for the time being while he gets his shoulder back in order.
 

Everyones favorite flaming locks have popped up again, this time in the iTunes App store. Shaun White Snowboarding: Origins is the latest of the Shaun White Snowboarding series, developed by Ubisoft and Advanced Mobile Applications.

The game is a great take on the Shaun White console series, capturing most of the award winning features and stuffing them into a hand held version for the iphone.

With some nice use of the iphone graphics, accelerometer and touch screen the games threads you down slopes from the likes of Japan, Chile, USA and Spain. Depending on your preference, you can chose to ride as one of 5 available characters all of which feature in the console series of the game. Each player character has their own unique set of controls, trick and speed characteristics. So when you are hitting the slopes to set about pulling off ollies, flips, grabs or another one of the 50 or so tricks you will have the right balance of characteristics to suit your style.

Gameplay

One of the most prevalent things to look out for in any game is how quickly a user can pick  up the gameplay. It can be the make or break of many games, and in this instance its the maker.

The first noticeable exclusion from Shaun White Snowboarding: Origins is the lack intricacies when balancing on the board which is the first major hurdle of any snowboarding or skateboarding game. Balancing has been totally removed from all game play which allows the slope navigation and tricks to prevail as the purpose of the game. Surprisingly enough I don’t miss the balance struggle, perhaps even more so when you are confronted with a screen full of options for grabs, flips, grinds and host of other objects to negotiate on the slope.

The introduction and menu is swift and intuitive once you get passed the frustrating self promotion of the developers. Its a matter of play on your own or play online and then selecting what challenge your mood dictates. Leisurely free ride or time and trick challenges. To compensate for the games lack of career mode, the developers will force you to unlock challenge modes along the way.

Once you’ve chosen your challenge, character and destination you will hit the slopes in relatively quick time providing you are on 3GS and above. Anything below the 3GS model, the gameplay really starts to slug it out in screen jolts.

The developers have done a tidy job of providing loads of information and user controls on the screen without clogging the small bit of real estate available. Unlike other comparative games, the gaming experience takes precedent over an array of control methods.

Simply by tilting the screen in any direction, your character will follow your every tilt to navigate the slopes. A good sized speed button is also situated in the bottom right corner of the screen so you can get your character a good run up approaching the jumps.
An upward snap of the wrist or tap of the speed button will launch the tiny snowboarder off the end of the jump in preparation for executing one of a huge bag of tricks. Its at the point of being airborne when the tricks palette arrives on your screen. On the left the D-pad or iphone tilt sends the boarder into a spin or flip. Over on the right an image of a board allows you choose a grab point to combine with a spin of flip. Do as many tricks as you can in a short space of time and you will earn points for your hard work. Combinations of tricks adds bonus points which encourages you to run amuck in the air.

Generally the gameplay is dead easy to pick up yet provides a solid degree of challenge to make you come back to it again and again. Warning: It is slightly addictive.

Graphics

To say the iphone offers one of the finest game play screens on the market is quite an understatement and to compliment what the phone offers, Ubisoft and Advanced Mobile Applications have done a sensational job graphically. The game at times shows glimpses of untidy terrain modeling but is generally rich with color, 3D depth and a terrific sense of the alpine environment whether you are riding the slopes in the light of day or the darkness of night.

The most notable feature of the graphics is the iconic balance of realism and arcade banter, combined with the caricature nature of the boarders. Typical throughout all of the Shaun White console game series, the style has translated perfectly to the handheld installation.

Soundtrack

I don’t know what it is about these snowboarding,surfing, skateboarding games… The developers either get the sound track and sound effects spot on or ruin the game altogether. Unfortunately Shaun White: Origins has fallen horribly short of providing anything remotely close to listenable. The sound effects are comical and coincide with arcade nature of the game, however when rolled up in a spinning track with emo rock its quite hard to swallow.

My suggestion would be to jump straight into settings: turn sound effects up and music down.

Features
Despite the lack of career mode the game has inherited a good bulk of unlockable content/ As you progress you earn the content such as real-life snowboarding footage of Shaun White, new stages and challenges and various other achievements.
Combine that with ghost mode which allows you to record you best runs and share them with your friends so they can challenge you in gameplay and visa versa.
Twitter and Facebook connections bring out the social aspects of this game, making it irresistible to not post and brag about high scores on the various leader boards.
The OpenFeint network integration is what brings this little package together, opening its doors to the huge world that is OpenFeint.

Pros

• Sensational 3D graphics and detail
• Intuitive and easy to navigate and perform tricks
• Nice price point

Cons

• No career mode or time trial. Critical once you have unlocked everything
• Multiplayer ability over bluetooth and wifi is lacking
• Under whelming choice of courses

If you are expecting the same experience as the console version of Shaun White Snowboarding then you might be disappointed, but if you’re not then you will be pleasantly surprised. Its a great little handheld version of the game and a must for all snowboarding fanatics.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

You each have a right to vote early if your planning on being more than 8km from a polling place, which to my knowledge every resort would be. So save the trouble and get your vote in early this week.

Here is how to get your Early Vote done.

The Cover Story

Rider: Jake Koia

“Another crew of ours built and hit this jump when I was out of town during the past northern hemisphere season in Whistler, but no one really got anything on it. The jump gets light late afternoon and only for a short period of time. We got a good reset and were able to go for it again and this is my second hit – a frontside 1080 melon. When I landed, the whole landing slid (avalanched) on me, dragging me to the bottom and burying me up to my chest. We were all expecting it to go because everything north facing had been sliding that day. (Nick) Browner came up and chucked me a shovel to dig myself out and that was that! Good times filming this year with Sandbox – keep an eye out for premier dates of the movie “Now You Know.”

Photographer: Jussi Grznar

“There is something about this jump that’s special. Maybe it is its location (it’s in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in between Pemberton and a little old mining town called Bralorne) or maybe it’s the fact that we kept going back to it this year, till all the stars lined up, or maybe it’s just the fact that this was one of my first backcountry missions with Jake.
The first time we went up to this spot to scope the terrain out, it was on a cloudy, stormy day. The spot looked perfect from the very beginning, so we decided to start building. By the end of the day the jump was big (you can see maybe one third of it on the photo) and I couldn’t wait to shoot it the next day. Unfortunately, I got the call to go shooting urban stuff with the Sandbox crew and since the weather forecast for Whistler didn’t look too promising, I decided to hit the road.
Jake and the crew went back to the jump a few days later, without me, to hit it, but the weather wasn’t that great, so luckily they decided to wait till they sessioned it again. By that time I was back from Calgary, ready to rock ‘n roll. We went back to the spot and decided to wait for the sun to be at the perfect spot. I remember after we got this shot the sun disappeared behind the peak and it was over. Most of the time people don’t see how much effort riders have to put in to get just one single photo. This is only an example, one of many.”

In this issue you’ll find:

Uncorking Browner

This quiet destroyer from Mt Maunganui, New Zealand has been pushing the levels of snowboarding for a number of years. His first photo in a magazine was a frontside 900, so it’s no surprise that he is now at the forefront filming and pushing it on the global scene. So what makes Browner tick? His good mate Nick Hyne opens him up for an interesting insight to one of New Zealand’s all-time talents.

No Tomorrow – The Tom Pelley Interview

From hyperactive young grommet to one of the most talented riders on the hills of Australia, Tom Pelley has been through a lot, including the death of his best friend Sam. Mark Catsburg talks with Tom to find out how the death of Sam has affected him, why he loves a bit of rail-dancing and how he became addicted to tattoos.

Deeper

This is a two-part 18-page feature that follows world-renowned big mountain freerider Jeremy Jones and his crew, as they explore the mountains of Antarctica and Alaska, searching for the limits of what is possible both on a snowboard descent and how a human can interact with their environment in a more passive way. These adventures are a monumental moment in snowboarding’s history and represent a turning point for its consciousness.

Made You Look

Meet the riders and the makers behind the new movie that sets a benchmark for antipodean snowboarding. Made You Look features the best current talent from both Australia and New Zealand, who spill the beans on what it was like making the movie and what were their highlights and lowlights.

Watch the teaser…

It promises to be a great issue-make sure you get a copy as soon as it hits stands.

Read more: http://transfersnowboard.com/magazine#ixzz0sNmNPATC

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shot by mark dangler & matt roberge