Heresy Blog has moved

We've moved the Heresy Blog from here to heresysnowboarding.com/blog.

We're using a different platform which I think is way radder. Go check it and start reading and educate yourself.

-tim

Climate change is here, now. What will *you* do?

For some people, coming to grips with climate change, unless you live in a very sensitive area (like Australia, or in the Arctic circle), is difficult, particularly in regard of:
1. the immediacy of the problem
2. whether it's happening
3. what to do

I talk to a lot of snowboarders and skiers and young people in general, and there seems to be a lot of indifference to the problem. Why that is is beyond me, but it's something that needs addressing and is a strong focus for Heresy. After all, global warming means diminished (or no) snow seasons, and that to me is not acceptable.

In terms of what you can do, there's plenty, so I won't go into that, but rather address the first two points.

Despite some remaining scepticism, both from serial denialists and from objective scientists, a huge body of observational and measured evidence points to not just the presence of climate change, but an active effect on the Earth, now.

What does this mean? Basically we have gone from CC being a problem "in the future", to one affecting us right now.

Now many of our readers might switch off at some of the science, but we just wanted to pull a few extracts from an excellent article by the Very Excellent climateprogress.org. DO yourself a favour and read the article - it's not that long. Be informed.

This article talks about the problem that pro-GW/CC scientists face when convincing people of the merits of believing the evidence, and acting to mitigate the problem.

This is not fear-mongering, but it is frightening. Here we have emininent scientists reporting not just that GW is here, now, but it is a lot worse than originally thought.

We are now looking at temperature increases that will not just pose serious issues to low lying ski resorts (Australia, some in Europe), but start affecting more European and US resorts.

If you're not concerned about this, and/or not acting, I am asking you "why not".

Not long ago, most climate scientists stuck to the future tense when they talked about the impacts of global warming. Now, they are using the present tense — and using it more and more often. Now, they tell us the damages have arrived in the United States.

In other words, climate change isn’t just a problem for our kids anymore. It’s here and now and getting personal.

It continues:

They’ll also introduce information to update the 2007 Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), whose findings now are considered conservative and “wishy washy” by many in the science community, in light of more recent research and its more extreme conclusions. As Michael Lemonick reports in Yale Environment 360:

Since (2007), new reports have continued to pour in from all over the world, and climate modelers have continued to feed them into their supercomputers. And while a full accounting will have to wait for the next IPCC report, which is already being assembled (but which will not go to the printer until 2014), the news is not encouraging.

The new reports, many of them documented in an October 2008 paper by the World Wildlife Fund, include estimates that sea level rise may be triple what scientists projected just two years ago; that we should start preparing for an average atmospheric temperature rise of 4o C, twice the level the European Union defines as “dangerous”; that the Arctic Circle may be ice-free 20 years ahead of the most pessimistic IPCC projections; that carbon dioxide emissions are accelerating faster than expected; and that some of these adverse impacts already are locked and irreversible for the next 1,000 years.

From the article:

John Holmes, the Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, concluded:

Climate change is not some futuristic scenario, it’s happening today, and millions of people are already suffering the consequences.

And;

Back in 2005, the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies convened scores of experts in Colorado to analyze the gap between what scientists were saying and what the public was willing to do. Dan Abbasi, then associate dean, wrote the conference report and this conclusion:

The problem of climate change is almost perfectly designed to test the limits of any modern society’s capacity for response — one might even call it the “perfect problem” for its uniquely daunting confluence of forces.

One of those daunting forces is the “psychological barriers that complicate apprehension and processing of the issue, due in part to its perceived remoteness in time and place”.

Four years later, climate change and its risks are remote no more. For example, a fresh report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, currently in draft form and undergoing public review, concludes:

Climate-related changes already have been observed globally and in the United States. These include increases in air and water temperatures, reduced frost days, increased frequency and intensity of heavy downpours, a rise in sea level, and reduced snow cover, glaciers and sea ice… These changes are expected to increase and will impact human health, water supply, agriculture, coastal areas, and many other aspects of society and the natural environment.

Or consider this June 2008 report from the U.S. Climate Change Science Program:

Changes in extreme weather and climate events have significant impacts and are among the most serious challenges to society in coping with a changing climate. Many extremes and their associated impacts are now changing. For example, in recent decades most of North America has been experiencing more unusually hot days and nights, fewer unusually cold days and nights, and fewer frost days. Heavy downpours have become more frequent and intense. Droughts are becoming more severe in some regions, though there are no clear trends for North America as a whole. The power and frequency of Atlantic hurricanes have increased substantially in recent decades.

Now this is frightening reading. Check climateprogress's RSS feed out. They have some frightening information, which is well worth reading so you realise the import of this issue on your future lifestyle.

Heresy Bushfire Fundraiser (+ Austria Launch)

Heresy had intended to hold our Austrian company launch + environmental fundraiser (for a local enviro cause) in Fiss on February 21st @ Dorfstadl, but the local crew, after seeing the horrible destruction as a result of the Victorian bushfires, asked that we make this a fundraiser for the RSPCA and Red Cross and we thought that was an amazing idea.

I am constantly amazed at our community; they take Heresy and it's ideals and add to it and help it be better and grow and truly make a difference. It is truly humbling.

If anyone you know is in the Fiss area around 20-22 Feb, please shoot them the Facebook event or send this post to them.

The flier is below. You are free to download it and distribute it. The photos are not ours but we have attributed credit on the flyer (sorry photogs, it's for a good cause).

The ongoing scenes from the affected communities are truly heartbreaking but the subsequent sense of grit and determination in those communities has made me proud to be part of not just humanity but especially proud to be Australian. Seeing the victims - some whom have lost daughters, sons, wives, husbands, parents - grieve publicly without shame, then grit their teeth, set their jaws, shoulders and backs firm with resolve to do what needs to be done, truly shows what being Australian and human is all about. Rising above adversity and pain to raise the sun on a better and brighter day. It is moments like this that for me despair is banished and hope springs eternal.

No-one is untouched by this and our hearts have broken as we have watched and felt your loss on the news, in the papers, on the net, or in person as our fellow volunteers, Army, police, SES, fire and ambulance crews have helped ease the burden. Know that we are all hoping and praying for your speedy recovery.

To all the international community, Australia thanks you for all your messages of heartfelt support.

If you can, your support is needed.

Thanks for reading.

Tim | Founder Heresy

Hope for Humankind

Here at Heresy we get a bit despairing at what we're doing to the Earth, and it's an easy trap to fall into - to push the bad points to try and convince people to help change things.

However, we've been seeing a lot of good news lately from one of our favourite sites - Ecogeek.org - and we thought we'd change our tack from being a bit despairing to one of hope.
The more time that passes, and the more stories I read, the more I become hopeful that humans will innovate their way out of potential destruction.

The first link is a story about a solar prject in California, a state that can be mind-boggingly progressive sometimes. I personally sometimes have a view of America being a country of gus guzzling consumption monsters, but paradoxically, they can do some amazing things. In California, when they make a decision to do something, boy do they do it.

This project will install 1.2GigaWatts (standard coal station: 500MW, that's 500 Million Watts) of solar power in California.

Amazing stuff.

The second story details a company installing an offshore wind power array off Scotland - 1GigW, scaling up to 3-5GW. That is a lot of renewable power. These wind turbines will be located on offshore oil rigs - a nice innovation; taking Big Oil's offshore rig engineering expertise and combining with a wind power company.

Awesome!

tim, heresy head worrier.

Meet our new Austria rep

Heresy has a new rep in Fiss, Austria. Her name is Jaye and she's from Australia. Here she is below. How happy does she look?! I just want to hug her or something.

Now, we really dig Jaye. She's super nice, she's SUPER can-do and she loves Heresy.

We met Jaye up at Falls Creek last year at our environmental fundraiser and what immediately struck me was how stoked she was on just being alive. Or at least serving us delicious Japanese food and Asahis. Maybe she just really believes in Japanese cuisine.

We were eating dinner at Oishii-Go!/Silverski (who were hosting the fundraiser) and she was just delightful and helpful and friendly. She mentioned she was heading over to Austria to work, and I immediately knew we needed to somehow involve her in Heresy.

So here we are. She's in Austria, and doing an awesome job. She's got everyone at her resort into Heresy and into our 3degrees initiative. She's getting the word spread and feedback is awesome.

Stay tuned for news on an upcoming fundraiser that we're hosting in Austria that Jaye's organising. I'm having to do nothing! She's pretty can-do.

If you need to contact Jaye to check out our boards, or for anything really, shoot us an email to hs | at | heresysnowboarding.com and we'll pass the email on.

I thought I'd interview Jaye but seeing as I haven't emailed her any questions, I thought I'd answer them for her. So none of the below is probably true. Well some probably is.

Tim: Hi Jaye, how're things over in AT going?
Jaye: Well, Tim, they're awesome. I'm having an awesome time. I'm not drinking much, which is good, and I'm working hard and REALLY ENJOYING IT. If it was any more fun working, I would probably explode.
T: Sounds rad. How're things with Heresy, and how rad is that Tim character?
J: Well, firstly, Tim is super-rad. Heresy is really awesome, I particularly like how they're all about the environment and sustainability and trying to save the planet. It's rad.
T: It is pretty can-do, you're right. So what is your favourite food?
J: What a boring question Tim, as IF anyone cares about that (it's Lindt chocolate).
T: WOW! How amazing, my favourite food is also Lindt chocolate. What a COINCIDENCE.
J: Sure, Tim, it's a coincidence.
T: So how do you see things panning out with Heresy?
J: Well this launch party/fundraiser we're doing is looking rad, really. Everyone is on board and I'm getting rad feedback on the brand, which is rad.
The product is great, but stop sending me thermals I have enough. Even though they are rad.
T: OK, I better stop sending more.
J: I'm pretty excited about it, and also ripping it up at Falls this year for Heresy. Because Falls is Heresy's home. I think your ethics and ideals really appeal to a core type of person who cares. And you obviously care about it, don't you?
T: You're right, I do care. I want there to be a snow season for my kids. Good on you for asking some good questions though Jaye.
J: Anyway, I have to go soon, your questions are pretty boring.
T: Ok, thanks for answering our questions.

Wow, Jaye just totally shut me down. She's tough!

- tim | heresy head ninja

Photos of 2009 Heresy boards including Banana.

I know these photos suck, but our main SLR lense got dropped and broken shooting St Jerome's Laneway Festival so we had to use a point and shoot (painful!).

Anyway, you can see a couple of samples we had shipped to us. I am super bummed my trip to Whistler in March isn't happening so I can test the banana, but we have Jaye our rep in Austria getting a batch too, so we can have some Euro rippers testing these for us.

Interestingly you can see below the camber menu from Rome, that was up at Boardistan.com. Our banana (a.k.a. "Smile")is in between the free and jib. Our aim is to loosen the board a tiny bit (which suits park/jibby type riding) but we can still get drive out of the standard camber (SC) as opposed to a reverse-mtn type full reverse camber (RC) to ensure control across the mountain. The edges are also tweaked a tiny bit, so stay tuned.



Shark/Amaze - sparkles from the metal flake we use. You can be super serious Grrrrr or a bit playful.


Heresy/Messy marking. Understated, subtle, clear.

We lined up a RC/smile on top of a SC Shark. You can see the RC made evident here.

Close-up of We Love This Earth (WLTE) aka "Trees".

Close up of WTLE base. The closeup takes away from the crispness somewhat, but once we add an iron/warm wax, it will be saturated and very bright.

Full length WTLE/Trees 153.

Top half Trees.

Bottom half Trees. We'll be adding some Heresy brand marking to the topsheet.

Trees/WTLE base.

Trees/WLTE base.

Shark/Amaze full length. Amazing!

Shark/Amaze base.

Closeup of Shark topsheet sparkles. Sparkly!!

2009 Boards - Shark Banana!

Did you know that sharks like bananas? That's right. Sharks. ADORE. Bananas. That's a shocking fact too, isn't it - I know you'll agree. Sharks. Like. Bananas. Scientists are still coming to grips with this revelation.

Yikes.

However, because we here at Heresy HQ came to grips with this fact years ago, it is also now totally incredible; because using ultra-secret Soviet technology, we have managed to couple a Shark's love of bananas with snowboards, to create THE MOST AMAZING snowboard experience*. (and THAT was a REALLY long sentence). What an amazing coincidence, you say? Why, not really.

Splicing shark-banana-love with a snowboard has long been one of our secret ambitions and now that we have succeeded, tweak times will ensue. We have taken our Shark/Amaze and made a Banana (reverse camber) board. All of which makes us at least as cool, if not COOLER, than the good folks at Mervin. Why?? Because our boards are manufactured in the USA, not "Manufactured near the US in Canada" which is clearly treasonous and I for one hope Obama will address this in his speech. Mervin - you're on notice. We are onto you and your nefarious ways.

There is however, one minor difference between ours and Mervin's boards. We have increased the tweak factor by 10% by doing some secret stuff to make it even jibbier and parkier which we know you will agree is Pretty Darn Enterprising of us. We also don't have Danny Kass riding for us, which could be a negative or positive depending if you're the marketing manager or finance director.

If you go here you can download the pdf which describes levels of amazingness that are heretofore (...come on!) unknown.

In other news:
- we will have a "We Love the Earth"-type tshirt up soon. Except I promise it will be Very Cool.
- Obama's speech WILL be Amazing


-- 54,654 agree: this was an entertaining post.


* No guarantee made as to the amazingness.

Help Make Heresy Better

We are far from perfect, but boy do we try. But we want to be better. So here's your chance to help improve and shape a real live snowboarding company.

What can we do better: product? Website? Efforts around the environment? Communication? Engagement? Are we missing product you think we should really have, or that you really need that no one else is doing, or doing well?

Don't hold back, let us have it.

Go here to give us feedback in the guestbook. Or you can make comments to this post. Or, you can email our founder and CEO Tim Marsh from the Heresy contact page.

You never know, your ideas might be used, and we will sooo hook you up if it's a useful idea.

How to Make a Snowboard - Part 6

How to Make a Snowboard - Part 6
This sixth part in our series showing how to make a snowboard from start to finish shows how we drill and cut the board in preparation for finishing.

In Part 1 we learned about the printing of the base and topsheet graphic and the transfer onto the actual base and topsheet material.

In Part 2 we cut the base in preparation for the next steps - attaching the rails and cutting the core and attaching the sidewalls.

In Part 3 we attached the rails
(step 4) and prepped the core with the inserts, tipfill and attached the sidewalls (step 5).

Part 4 saw us cut the glass, prep the topsheet print and lay up the board (steps 6-8).

Part 5 saw us press the board and remove and cure it.

Step 12 - Drill
In this series of images we can see the boards being drilled at the inserts. Stakes are super high here - a misdrill renders a board as a cosmetic second. Believe me, it happens! We got to our last board of the 2007 production and misdrilled! It's part of the fun in handmaking boards though - each one is special.

To (try and) prevent a misdrill, we have used crayon to scribble across the protective masking tape on the topsheet to expose the location of the holes.




Step 13 - Cutting
In step 13, we cut the excess resin and material away from the sidewall to allow final finishing.



In the image below we can see the board ready for final finishing. It's cut and prepped!

Stay tuned for our final part - 7 - in this series. We will show you the finishing process and the final product!

Change We Can Believe In™

So, I got a little angry - the environmental picture is getting worse and worse. This went out to our Heresy 3degrees Facebook Group.

Well, goddammnit, I am sick of admirable sentiment but freaking inaction.
***
Hi everyone.

Well, what a shocking state we find ourselves in. Finally, the world is starting to notice that we are in deep, deep trouble.

Finally, we are being called to account and we are getting desperate - (link).
The human is the only being on Earth that exists to consume what it does not need. We therefore have an obligation to minimise our footprint.

Anyone sitting back in apathy waiting for Big Business to drive change is living in La-La-Land.

It WILL NOT HAPPEN (in time).

Change We Can Believe In™ will only, WILL ONLY, occur if we agitate for change. From the ground up. Populism is the rule of the day.

So here we are boys and girls. It's possible we've passed the tipping point.
The Arctic Ice Canary looks like it might have died, and things could be about to get worse (Link and Link 2).
So, what do we do. Shrug our shoulders? Or do we harden up and DEMAND change (capital letters means I am ANGRY).

I am delighted you're in this group. Your sentiment is admirable, but it all comes to absolutely nothing if you don't act.

This Planet will only survive with the right team on the bus, so you now have to make a decision. Are you on the bus? Do you want to leave a habitable planet to your kids, or is it too hard to act. If it's the latter, ask yourself why you joined this group. We don't want the wrong team on the bus. We only want can-do, passionate, caring humans on this team.

We challenge you: what are you DOING to help this Earth? What are you doing to effect CHANGE; are you joining just Facebook groups and gaining a warm, glowing feeling? Maybe posting a few "yeah man, we gotta change!" type posts?
Or are you, like us at Heresy (I swear we are not being high and mighty - we just really, really care), getting angrier and angrier and actually doing something - screaming from the rooftops to anyone who will listen that we must act. Raising money. Attacking demand side carbon emissions. Engaging apathetic people. Imploring people to get interested.

This is your defining moment: you can be one of the lemming consumption monsters helping drive us off the cliff, or you can be an agent for enduring change. This is a defining moment in human history.

This is not just about saving the snow anymore. 3 degrees is a flashpoint for confluent events: vastly elevated snow lines (= bad skiing/boarding) and also the point at which scientists are saying we're in serious trouble.

If you want to do something, we at Heresy want you to:
- Demand your friends who are also concerned join this group
- Join our mailing list (Heresy mailing list) to stay in touch with current local fundraisers which are predominantly for the environment
- Support brands that are really trying to effect change (e.g. Vans, AirBlaster etc)
- Send us an email and tell us how and what you're doing - we will publish your exploits on our site (along with a photo if you want) - stand up and be counted and accountable
- Follow any of the numerous lists that tell you how to make a difference (things like turning your light and computers off, especially at work, really, really work)

We want to know where you stand. We want you on our team.

This is not a marketing exercise. This is not about us giving stuff out or giving you props (but we will anyway). We don't care about that. NO-ONE deserves props for this.
This is about your obligation to help fix this Planet. We don't have the right to bargain away this Earth - it's the only one we know about. And we are the only beings capable of saving it. We're breaking this amazing place; we now MUST fix it. We will be judged by our actions now.

So where do you stand. Hop off the fence and start acting.

Thanks for reading!
Tim M @ Heresy HQ
(and you thought this would be another Facebook group that didn't actually do anything).

Photos from Heresy Crew in Canada/US

Some of our Heresy peeps are in the Canada and the US and sent us these rad photos from I think Sun Peaks BC and Sunshine Village in Alberta (bottom two shots). Jase is riding a Heresy 156 Mirror Twin. Jase just emailed us this feedback.

Been riding the Mirror 156 on all kinds of terrain over the past few weeks from powder days in Sun peaks and Sunshine Village to laps through the park in Mammoth.

Overall been stoked with the board... super stable at speed, floats nicely through the pow, poppy and most importantly fun to ride.

These photos got Jase a discount for life. You want the same thing? Get similar photos with Heresy in the photo, send them in, and you get a discount. For life.

Even though I think Jase looks decidedly Wookiee-esque (see below: Related? You be the judge) in this shot, I still dig his steeze.

By the way, that is a sick tail block at the bottom - and I don't care if you disagree. Like AirBlaster says, if you don't tweak, your sh!t's weak. I can pretty much say Jase got hooted out then high fived his homies after this totally amazing block. Look how much fun he's having. Fun, fun, fun.

tim | heresy

-987,534 Wookiees agree: Jase's tail blocks are rad.

An Eco Font

Ok, so this is a grouse idea.
Download it and use it!
http://www.ecofont.eu/downloads_en.html
It could be like blackle.com but I reckon it might make a difference.

-tim