Canadian snowboard pioneer Dano Pendygrasse has created an overall mid-layer to rule them all.
words :: Feet Banks.
Dano Pendygrasse is no stranger to life in the mountains. He grew up skiing Whistler, was there when Blackcomb opened, and started snowboarding as soon as it was “allowed.”
Sidechannel Launched with The OV Mid-Layer
Over the next two decades he became one of the most respected snowboard photographers on the planet (and literally wrote the book on the history of Canadian snowboarding). After “retiring” from shooting all the time he focused on other endeavors—mainly fly fishing but also marriage, visual media production and wiener dogs. And just last week, he launched what is most likely going to be a game-changing mid-layer for anyone who loves and understands the mountains as much as he does.
“It’s crazy,” Pendygrasse says, 24 hours into the Kickstarter campaign for the OV overall, a highly versatile mid-layer and the first offering from his new apparel company Sidechannel. “You spend 18 months working on something and then it all comes down to 30 days to see if it works or not.”
Chances are it’s gonna work. Dano and his team designed the OV to be warm, comfortable, look cool, and most importantly, last a long-ass time.
I thought, ‘Why is everyone wearing a dumb piece of clothing for a key layer?’ I knew I could do better.”
A More Durable Mid-Layer
“We wanted clothing that lasts. If you don’t have to replace something, it stays out of the landfill and you’re not contributing to the entire industrial and transport process that comes from needing new gear every season or two.”
Pendygrasse’s own previous mid-layer was a pair of tattered fleece pants he’d been using for over a decade. “They were great,” he says. “Pretty warm, good for snowboarding or under my fishing waders, but on the other when you are dressing in layers and all the waistbands stack up on each other, it cuts into you. And I’m not wearing my fleece pants anywhere. I thought, ‘Why is everyone wearing a dumb piece of clothing for a key layer?’ I knew I could do better.”
Made in Canada, Too
The OV (yes it stands for ‘overall’ because simplicity is a virtue) features a technical, 3-layered fabric construction designed for comfort, function, and durability. It’s covered in pockets (with zippers and snaps because no self-respecting pocket should be otherwise) and looks a lot like fashionable workwear. Best of all, the OV is manufactured here in Canada and the Sidechannel factory is seven minutes from Pendygrasse’s Vancouver home.
Not Just for Snowboarders
Just 24 hours into the Kickstarter campaign, the OV was already 26% funded. “That’s really cool,” Dano says. “But the best thing of all has been all the response we’ve had from people who are coming up with uses I’d never even thought about. I wanted something for fishing and snowboarding but suddenly my friends in film are asking, ‘Do they come in black? These will be perfect for working on set in the winter.”
“Or a friend who runs a vineyard called and he’s excited because when he prunes the vines there is still snow on the ground and he needs something he can bend down in easily. People in Edmonton are excited to use them for snowmobiling and we have a team up north, John and Karine, who are fishing guides and wilderness photographers that live in a tiny cabin in the Yukon all winter.
They are wearing their OVs all day, chopping wood, running the excavator, working the land. I expected to make something that’s cool for what I wanted, but I had no idea just how large the scope of possibility would be.”
The Kickstarter runs until November 18. Check out the website: sidechannel.ca
https://www.mountainlifemedia.ca/2020/02/throwback-a-brief-look-at-olympic-snowboarding-before-the-vancouver-games/
