Last March, before the world flipped upside down, the Bozeman based crew at Spark R&D managed to squeeze in one last splitboard trip to the mountains. They captured the overnighter on camera and their new film, From Day One, takes a personal and authentic look at the story behind the brand and the people behind it.

Spark R&D have become synonymous with splitboarding. They’re widely recognised as the leaders in split binding technology and the film tells the story how the brand’s founder, Will Ritter, first found his way onto the skin track before the brand grew into the globally recognised name in splitboarding that it is today.

Featuring a mixture of Spark athletes and employees, From Day One is a short film that takes the viewer back to the brand’s humble origins, right through to the last few days’ riding of the 2019/20 season. It’s clear to see that the passion and stoke for splitboarding remain as strong now as it did then.

Filming: Michael Paul Jones

Music: The Dodos | Gus Detar

Sound: Mike Kasic

Riding: Ryland Bell, Frankie Devlin, Iris Lazz, Byron Bagwell, Will Ritter, Becca Ritter, Dan Ventura, Luke Dale, Ethan Marcoux.

Featured Gear

Spark R&D Surge Splitboard Binding 2020-2021

Best for: Bombproof construction, lightning response and lightweight design
PRICE: $415

If ever there was an arena for the words “bombproof”, “lightweight”, “durable”, “responsive” and “powerful” to parade around without so much as an ounce of concern for their actual meaning, then the snowboard industry must be it. Y’know what though, if ever there was a binding truly deserving of such adjectives, it would have to be the Spark R&D Surge splitboard bindings. They’ve won before, we’ve tested more bindings since, and they’ve come back around into the Whitelines 100 shortlist. While we’re yet to set the explosives on them, we can certainly attest for all other attributes.

Selected for the Whitelines 100 – take a closer look at the 2020-2021 Spark R&D Surge here