MOUNTAIN LIFE - Coast Mountains | Fall Winter 2018

ML: How strong is a Waterman surfboard? How long will it last? Salamon: With proper care and storage there is no reason why it shouldn’t be part of your quiver for a long time. Wood boards are stronger than traditional foam boards, so they should never be beyond repair—unless it flies off your roof rack. Rocks and reef will still be factors when you are surfing, but the damage will be far less substantial than what you’d see on a foam board. ML: Your boards are made to be surfed. Is it frustrating so much energy goes into making them perform when some customers just mount them on the wall? Salamon: I appreciate that customers see my boards as art and care about them so much, but they are very durable and made to be surfed. I want them to be used. Over the past four years Salamon has hand made more than 20 cedar surfboards. They could end up under a beginner or a pro. They could be hung on the wall as art, or passed down through generations. But regardless of their beauty, their main purpose remains; to catch West Coast waves. watermansurfboards.com FALL/WINTER 2018 MLCM 35 The belly of the beast.A looik at the inner construction of a cedar board. PATRIC SALAMON “My favourite step in board shaping is working with hand tools. I feel like I have more control over every detail when I work with traditional woodworking tools. Draw knives, hand planes and wood chisels all make me feel very connected to the board.” The next evolution of high-performance touring bindings. From the only North American AT binding manufacturer, the ZED is in a league of its own with all the powerandperformanceofamuchheavier binding packed into a super light 345 g package—saving you those valuable grams and allowing you to go further, move faster, and ski hard. Learn more at genuineguidegear.com/ZED ZED Every 100 g on your feet costs 1% in VO2 efficiency. Sorry for the nerdy science stuff, but we backcountry skiers carry a lot on our feet so this limits how much we can do in the mountains. The key is optimizing weight without sacrificing downhill performance. G3 UNIVERSITY Weight matters.