Leashes
Leashes
Only total dicknoses still think you need actually need a leash to be allowed on the hill, as they have been reading the “Top 10 essentials for ‘boarding” listicle that was actually written in 1991, when it was still normal to ride in hardboots with release-able bindings.
Airblaster, the fun-time brand (Travis Parker is a hero of mine), went early and hard with douchebag chic when they created the “ironic leash / leg pouch” a few years back. It fitted perfectly with their “we don’t give a crap about being cool, we just want to have fun” positioning, but there is now a 113% correlation between people wearing leashes and salopettes. The douchebag double-up now actually makes them look like they are trying really hard to be cool.
I just want to re-iterate that I am all for fashion and the youth fucking up the status quo to drive the sport forwards. Without people a lot younger than me constantly innovating and tearing up the templates for what is cool, there would no snowboard industry and we would all still be wearing neon. I am not anti-steez…because whilst thug rugs, tie-dye coats and fishing/bucket hats could be considered pretty daft, they are worn with the laudable ambition of looking different from punters, which is entirely normal behaviour. Every subset of humanity from rockabillies to ramblers wants to create its own visual identity, and set itself apart from the rest of us. So I get it…but I can’t quite understand why the cutting edge of shred fashion has suddenly spurted off in the direction of the beginner slopes?