For’ams, Daniel Ek, Greg Bretz, Ian Thorley, and Trevor Jacob spent some time in Breckenridge, Colorado for the first stop of the Winter Dew Tour. With temps dipping well below the -15 degree mark, the riders still managed to bring some heat to the contest. Daniel and Greg both finished 8th in their respective disciplines. Daniel Ek threw a backside 7, frontside 10, and attempted his first ever backside double-cork 1080 on this first run in finals. He nearly put the double-cork down, but a small hand-drag and revert kept his score outside of the podium.

Greg Bretz made it to pipe finals, and took one hell of a spill in his first run, decking on a 1080 and firing himself to the bottom of the pipe where he split his helmet open. After shaking off the whoozies, Greg dropped in for his second run and stuck a great line from top to bottom. Unfortunately, some of the other heavy hitters bumped him into 8th position as well.

Here is some recent coverage from Snowboard Magazine’s “Year in Photos” issue. Included in this issue are shots of Eddie Wall, Peter Line, Jake Blauvelt, For’am, Ian Thorley, and a write-up with Forum Staff Photographer, Cole Barash.

For’am, Austen Sweetin made the trek to the Pearl District in Portland for this year’s Back Yard Bang contest. Doing a bang-up job, as expected, Austen took the top spot and walked away with, well, not much more than a snowboard he’ll never use and some bragging rights. Nice work kid. Be sure to hit up eBay with that.

Recent editorial coverage from December’s issue of Onboard Magazine. Highlights include shots from Joni Malmi, For’am, Cameron Pierce, Pat Moore, and a “High Society” column on the Forum or Against’em European Tour.

Recent editorial coverage from the January issue of Snowboarder Magazine. Highlights include Superpark coverage from Pat Moore and Peter Line, Peter Line’s Colon, and Twenty Paces with John Jackson.

Although the weather in Mammoth felt more like late Spring than early Winter, the mountain provided many with their first turns of the 2008/2009 season. For’am Team riders Trevor Jacob, Greg Bretz, and Niko Cioffi were around to take a few of their own as well, along with their first jumps and jibs; some of which are documented below.

In conjunction with the release of Forum or Against’em, this exclusive clip is part of the Forum Fridays project – select clips, not part of the final cut, but worthy of your viewing pleasure.

This installment features additional footage of the For’ams – aka The Forum Amateur team. While not the entire crew, it does feature multiple nuggets in a variety of terrain from the likes of Daniel Ek, Greg Bretz, Trevor Jacob, Cameron Pierce and Niko Cioffi.

Forum or Against’em is Forum’s fifth team-video release, upholding the progression of an acknowledged movie-making process that has produced prior noteworthy films. The video can be downloaded for $5.99 in the United States iTunes store.

This video from Snowboard Revolution (featuring a For’am Ian Thorley interview) does a real good job capturing the Icer Air that took place in the Port of San Francisco, California.

Here is some European editorial coverage featured in the October issue of Onboard Magazine. Highlights include a write-up on “Jib Vid”, featuring For’am Peter Konig and Joonas Mustonen, along with Kids of the Future, Jan Scherrer, Sparrow Knox, and Jesse Augustinus.

It’s that time of year where the weather starts cooling down, people shift from hot to cold thinking, and the pre-season rail jam becomes an evident fact that winter is creeping around the corner. Setting the bar pretty high, Bear Mountain started the (pre)season off with a banger. So banging, that For’am Greg Bretz, along with Foregional Riders, Kyle Lopiccolo and Ben Bogart, decided to make the trek and check it out.

Here is media coverage from the October 2008 issue of Snowboarder Magazine. Highlights include ON DECK segments for ForAm Daniel Ek, and Chris Carr, the resurrection of Peter’s Colon, and a huge Backside Lip from Travis Kennedy.

Proms seem to be a popular place for amateur snowboarders to kick it these days. Here’s a quick pic of For’am Austen Sweetin with his date on the big night.

A few guys have been stationed in Mt. Hood, waiting out the weather in hopes of getting some late-spring park shots for the upcoming Forum or Against’em video. Since it’s been pouring almost nonstop since they’ve arrived, this is what’s been going on to keep everyone occupied.

Well, not really, but here’s a shot of the For’am all spruced-up and ready to do whatever needs to be done on prom night.

For’ams Trevor Jacob, and Greg Bretz are currently posted up in Lake Tahoe for a private pipe-shoot at Northstar-at-Tahoe. The youngsters are working on some shots for the upcoming video and getting some photos with Forum’s own, Cole Barash.

Mammoth locals Greg Bretz and Trevor Jacob were joined by fellow For’am members Cameron Pierce and Niko Cioffi for the annual West Coast Invitational and Fiesta De La Pipa situated in Mammoth, California.

They definitely shined in the competition, but unfortunately, not bright enough to walk away with any cash in the winner take-all-event. So yeah, there’s not much to update when nobody wins anything. Just chow down on some photos from the weekend’s event, and wash it down with some Corona while you enjoy your Cinco de Mayo.

Snowboarder Magazine took their tried-and-true Superpark formula and created an atmosphere where the youngest generation of up-and-coming riders could prove themselves.

Entitled The Launch, it was held at Northstar-at-Tahoe and featured For’ams Greg Bretz, Trevor Jacob, along with Northwest Foregional Rider Austen Sweetin. Check out the pics and/or this link that brings you to the Day 3 story on the Snowboarder site.

DROPPIN’ F BOMBS - NORTHSTAR
A sizable midweek crew came together at Northstar-at-Tahoe for a detonating demonstration of explosive snowboarding, bomb sliding, gut bombing, and bomb dropping. Chris Bartkowski brought home a Forum Destroyer Snowboard for being the first to 50/50 540 off the missile. Cody Boan got some Forum boots for a nose-press f/s 360 off the firecracker stick, and Andrew Brewer received Forum bindings for his f/s Chuck Norris Chop b/s 450 revert off the upright F Bomb.

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DROPPIN’ F BOMBS - BRIGHTON
Meanwhile, over at Brighton, Utah over 100+ contestants signed-up to test their skills against the F Bombs. Ben Farrell was rewarded Forum bindings for his 50-50 to Bennihana off the missile jib. Alex Andrews will be stomping around in some Forum boots for his cab 450/450 out on the firecracker stick, and Christian Hobush will be jibbing in style on a brand new Forum Youngblood for his 360 nose bonk on the upright F Bomb. Mucho gut bombs were served, so one should shudder to think what the Brighton bathrooms looked like. But, the biggest explosions came after the contest when Brighton lit-up a fireworks show in celebration of all the bombs being dropped.

Peter Line and Daniel Ek met up with For’ams Niko Cioffi and Cameron Pierce at The Summit-at-Snoqualmie for a Snowboarder Magazine “Super Session.” The park crew put together some unique features and let the team have-at-it for the better part of a week, documenting the action for a magazine issue to be released next fall. The Super Session also coincided with the Annual Holy Oly Revival, where the crew sessioned one of the finest quarterpipes the Northwest has ever seen.

A crew of emerging Forum riders (aka the For’am Team) made their way to Squaw Valley, California for a park and pipe photoshoot. There’s really not much more to report than that, so if you feel inclined, check these photos of Daniel Ek, Trevor Jacobs, Niko Cioffi and Cameron Pierce.