Yep, you read that right, and no, there’s not some sinister Constant Gardener-style subplot to snowboarding (at least not that we know of…) but for some inexplicable reason the German drug-manufacturing giant Ratiopharm decided to sponsor a snowboard team in the late 90s and early-2000s. Not a couple of riders, or a special event, but a full-blown snowboarding team, which at its peak included the likes of David Benedek, Christoph Weber, German Olympic medallist Nicola Thost and Mini Karpf.

Ratiopharm is renowned for being “Europe’s leading Generic Pharmaceutical brand”. David Benedek is renowned for being the dude who pioneered the double cork revolution and made some of the most groundbreaking snowboard movies ever filmed. No… we can’t see the connection either.