Adventures with Untouched project in Kosovo

Snowboarding has taken me to some amazing places, but I never imagined we would be filming in mountains of Kosovo in such short time after the war!

It all went so quick, I did not even get a chance to rest after the filming missions in Oetz, we were already driving to the South. I was so excited I did not even realize where we are going, until we came back to Slovenia actually!

I feel like home pretty much everywhere in former Yugoslavian countries. I speak just enough of the language and I tend to get in the mix pretty fast. And it is super easy, while all of our former “brothers” are open, warm and pure! I really dig that kind of vibes and they make sure they enhance your experience of the places you visit.

We also had the best crew ever. Maček finally shined at his best and showed that he is hands down most versatile Slovenian rider… probably ever. Pristo was true coach, helping the young guys and still pushing it, although he has a nasty shoulder injury. Domen got shitload of shots in three days, which is big respect, for someone who did not get a chance to ride the whole season, like some of us. Katja and Domen, as the photographers, are like jing and jang and that really flies. We got all the aspects of the trip covered, which is important for our project. Matej Gostinčar was also with us, so my work was made a lot less stressful, because I can really trust him to get the job done properly and focus on other stuff. And last but not least, young guns, Mičo and Žiga, were surely the best pick for this trip. They ride everything, they are hard working and they do not back down until things are finished. What else would you want?!

It was the best trip for Untouched, not that others sucked, but this one wins with the crew, the vibes, the exotica of the place and the bag of footage we are now sitting on… stoked and relieved at the same time, haha!

Tirol with Untouched crew

I wanted to go back to Soelden with Untouched sometime in this season, as we had pretty successful shoot there last year. The mountains there have a lot of potential, but we could not go all out, while there was shitloads of sharks underneath.

This time we scored even better. New snow on Soelden and a promising Hochoetz resort were the bomb. It was a freeride mission basically, with our most experienced team member, Matevž Maček, and young skier, Andraž Šparovec.

We really pushed it from dusk till dawn each day, husling to get tickets, hiking woods and lines, late for the last lift everyday and then still filming scenics until sun went down.

It was hard core four days, but it payed off, like always when you put so much effort in it. More about the trip on Untouched blog

It is not Sunday everyday

I had a shoot for Qparks in Planneralm today and the best thing was that I was able to take more riders with me than usual. Pristo, Podli and Agi were up for the go and Katja joined to take pictures, so we were packed, hoping for a good park and maybe even some pow. There we should meet with Filip, Tom, Michael and second filmer Killian, so I was looking forward to a serious highlight filming.

It turned out that the forecast with sun in the morning and snowflakes in the afternoon was a bit early. We drove into full on cloudy, snowy and super freezing day. Shit happens sometimes, in a way it is funny, we drove seven hours for a cup of tea, haha.

Doublecorks with Grilo and Untouched

It was a crazy week in Flachauwinkl.

My friend Luka Stanovnik is busy shooting with Burton in Finland, so I stepped in to help filming for the next Grilosode in Flachauwinkl. You get to know every snowboarder sooner or later in such a small scene as in Slovenia, but I have never worked with him before. Filming with him reveals why his is the boss. He is a true professional, works from morning till after the sunset and is still super friendly to anyone around him.

Absolutpark built a massive jump for their team and MG got a private shoot in the morning, with helicam, sleds, supervisors and everything. You could see he was super stoked on the thing, while he was dropping hammers one after another, smiling like a kid. We did another shoot at sunset for the crazy colors shots, which was thrilling just to watch let alone filming.

In my few hour break, MG and Samo went for photos with in massive pipe and I rushed to get some tricks on tape for our Untouched project.

Pristo, Domen and Mičo shaped a big kicker and everything was pretty much set when I arrived. Nejc Slatner from Helivideo.si and Matej Gostinčar, who were also filming with Grilo, joined me and we had shitloads of angles covered. Crew was on their toes untill the first hit, while it looked huge, but it turned out to be perfect. It was on!

All got two tricks in the bag, but MP really raised the bar with his frontside double cork 10! You see that stuff in the movies and you are thinking, “man, John Jackson is something else” but to witness it first hand and knowing you maybe got the ender shot in middle of January, made this day the best one in my season…

Stacking footy for Untouched

After six days in Schladming area (for longer reports check Snowbroader.eu or Untouched website) and one lay day at home, we went straight back. Austria is the place to be, if you are looking for powder right now, so we are trying to get footage any given sunny day.

Now that we have the Ujusansa van for the Untouched project, we are able to travel with some friends as well. This time it was Valentan, Rako and Mičo. Hopefully they will collect enough shoots to have parts in the final video as well!

We were on the mountain with the first lift in the morning (I do not remember ever being that early anywhere, haha), but it was a great decision, while lots of other film crews got the same plan. Kicker shots, powturns and stacks of b-roll checked!

Austria with Untouched

Finally everything got good for backcountry filming, the base is set and there is enough fresh above, so the Untouched crew went filming to Austria.

Maček, Pristo, Katja and me went to Planai&Hochwurzen and we took some friends with us as well. One “seasoned pro”, Tadej Valentan and one “powder rookie”, Žiga Rakovec, haha.

We had Domen joining us the second day and Dejan Hodžič and Luka Podlogar were also in the area with filmer Matej Gostinčar, so we split in two groups and tried to get the best of it.

For two days we have been mostly in the woods of Hochwurzen, filming cliff drops, while the other part of the group went to Flachauwinkel and got some kicker shoots!

Today few guys went home, few went to Italy with Elan, but Maček, Tadej, Žiga and me prolonged our stay in the area and built first kicker of the season. It is on! Check back for more in next days…

Last surf session before the winter

It is finally getting colder and it even started to snow in the higher mountains of the Julian Alps.

Cyclones that bring the most snow to Slovenia, arrive over France, continue their way below the Alps in Italy and bring southern winds over Adriatic Sea. Which in short means waves. Once or twice per year we get lucky and the front makes a sharp turn and the winds turn southwest. Then it is time to check Barbariga.

The forecast was looking really nice and we were hoping to ride some sizable lefts, yet the weather had its own plan, I guess. We got a waist high chop, but it was fun anyway. I also did some filming for my “no deadline” Slovenian surf documentary, because like I said, it is rare to get a chance to surf Barbariga and this is also a (big) part of what surfing on “home turf” means for Slovenian soul surfers…

Comment Last surf session before the winter

LOVEOLUTION III is online!!!

My friends at Love Distribution have finished their third movie and it simply bangin`!

I have been honoured to film some stuff with them and hoping to do more in the coming seasons as well… Check all the crazy snowboard action from Seppi Scholler, Marc Swoboda, Dominik Wagner, Matevž Pristavec and others (plus some bmx, skate and stunt riding skills for the icing). Movie below and also available for download on their webpage…

Untouched project teaser and webpage coming!

Winter is not far away and the Untouched Project has already started the new season!

I have been editing night and day for the past week on the road. Tent, car, parking lots, “borrowed” electricity from a local bar, diet of coffee and energy drinks… everything for a good cause, hehe.

The new Untouched teaser will be aired today at the slovenian Rip Curl GUM premiere and in few days we are also launching a new webpage for the project where you will be able to see the teaser online, so stay in touch!

Concrete waves of Basque (part 3): Tarnos

Five or six years ago I went on a surprise skate trip with some Swiss guys I met in surf camp in France. They told me we will hit some cool skatepark in Tarnos with lots of pools which they seem really into…

Well, they sure knew what they were talking about, because the place is a paradise! It is the smallest park imaginable but it has two pools that connect with a spine, a miniramp with an extension and a curved bowl end and another mini which has one curved side and the other with a hip break. To make things even better they built a short snakerun last year that can be ridden both ways if you know the right lines.

We had a blast, skated for at least four hours, since you just could not get enough of the trannies. The locals are a bunch of mellow guys and totally shredding, so go check the place if you are passing by…