Eddie Spearing is a strong force in the evolution of snowboarding. From his days as founder & president of the British Snowboard Association, to being a key member of the newly formed New Zealand Snowboard Union, Eddie is a board sports man of action.

We caught up with Eddie just before he heads off to compete in 3 rounds of the IGSA downhill skateboard world cup series all across Europe

Current hometown? Where were you brought up originally and how did it bring you to the fun world of snowboarding?

Wanaka NZ. I have been here since 2002.

I was born in Taunton Somerset, went to Leicester Polytechnic for 5 years to study engineering and thru this via bizarre twists of people and places met a snowboarder (Dave Furneau) in 1988 at a skateboard slalom event. This eventually led to me being hired to design and build a snowboard press in Scotland (Acid Snow) which itself led into publishing and the founding of Snowboard UK magazine in 1991 and subsequently Document Snowboard magazine in 2000.

Use 3 words to describe your relationship with snowboarding.

Noise won’t stop

You are the founder and president of The British Snowboard Association up until 2004. What did that involve?

The BSA was founded in 1989. John O’Grady the current Snowsports GB snowboard Director was the other founder.  The pastime/hobby of snowboarding needed a focus point, which in those days was magazines, and at the same time the magazine, SUK, needed the ‘legitimacy’ of a national governing body. The dryslope events needed reporting and also needed people to organize them as did the on-snow national champs in Scotland and then too overseas. So SUK and The BSA went hand in hand nicely. Back then it was all about raising awareness and getting people involved because, literally, everybody knew everybody, it was that small a scene. If you saw a snowboard bag on an airport trolley you went over and said hello. It was like if you saw somebody wearing a pair of Vans in 1975, then he was a skater.

It was obvious almost immediately that instruction programs were needed which meant a manual had to be written so the BSA did that (Geoff Parr, Martin Drayton, Neil McNab, Beccy Malthouse). The dryslope qualification was adopted by all the home nation ski bodies and also the dryslopes because it was good. We then set about creating a snow qualification. We started talks with BASI (British Assoc of Ski Instructors) and amalgated our snowboard qualification into the ski program. As the BSA grew we struggled with man power and funding and at one point went thru negotiations to merge with The Ski Club of Great Britain !!

As the President it was my role to answer questions from all the media, especially thru the ‘dark years’.  The Ross Rebalgatti Olympic Gold marijuana incident for example.

As snowboarding grew we took the Champs overseas creating bigger and better events. At the same time SUK organized The Board Test in Austria, which was, and probably still is, one of the mainstays of the industry season. So I was deeply involved at every level of the emerging snowboard industry.

But as with many young but maturing sports the BSA went stale because ‘we’ were getting older, we were probably not representing what the drivers of the sport needed and of course it was all being done on a volunteer basis and people just got burnt out. Thankfully a new wave of committed riders stepped up and gave UK snowboarding the breath of fresh air it needed. I stepped down in 2004 because it was ridiculous that I was still the BSA President whilst living in NZ !! The BSA was folded and became a part of SnowsportsGB in 2005 I think.

What are your views on snowboarding and the Olympics?

How much do you want me to write? There is a lot of history to that question and many ramifications moving forward. I could honestly write a thesis on it. Maybe I will.

A simplistic response would be that FIS do not come out of it well in my opinion. Snowboarding’s’ Olympic inclusion was based on a power move by FIS to control snowboarding which they won. That was 1996. There is no doubt that snowboarding has benefited from the increased interest and participation but I think right then, snowboarding changed. Looking back it was a watershed moment. The ISF eventually collapsed in 2002 the writing was on the wall. But that can’t be reversed so it’s pointless dwelling on it.

Is snowboarding a sport or is it a lifestyle? What do you think reader? What role has Olympic inclusion played in YOUR thoughts as you read that?  For one thing we would not be banding around the term ’snowboard athlete’ quite so freely, which I find a ridiculous term. It’s actually a deep and philosophical answer that is required across loads of topics. Again, for instance, snowboarding has become so professional with huge coaching programs based solely around money for medals… Olympic medals… aaarrrghhhhh don’t get me going.

To my mind thankfully the TTR Society and the worldwide events it umbrellas has taken the wind out of FIS and I think it won’t be long before we see a good healthy co-operation happening between the two orgs. Watch.

snowboarding has become so professional with huge coaching programs based solely around money for medals… Olympic medals

You are part of the newly formed NZSBU (New Zealand Snowboard Union). Tell us about it.

Funnily enough, even though the old NZSBA was very strong, basically the same problems that affected the BSA were the downfall of the NZSBA. There were so many high level privately organized competitions – Billabong Slopestyle, Burton Open etc. that the need for the NZSBA became lost. Members didn’t ‘get’ anything. Just as in the UK, the old school had to give way to the new skool. It was at the time when online social networks such as Facebook were appearing. The meaning of a club or community was changing. Anyway, it basically died at the end of 2007 and ironically (or unfortunately) for the last 7 months I was the CEO because of my past experience.

After a lot of reassessment I had to advise the NZSBA board that it could not continue, as its reason for being no longer existed or could be sustained. The best thing that could happen was to let NZ snowboarding bubble up, all on its own, and form new organization. New people would appear as required. And that’s what happened. The NZSBU was formed last year set up in a new way as part of SnowSports New Zealand, which employs a solid backbone infrastructure of personnel working across all the snow sports. Its good. The NZSBU Trustee’s just have to look after the direction of snowboarding not the day-to-day admin and finance. We have a number of initiatives for this season including the long awaited NZ Rider Ranking system, which will dovetail into WSF / TTR also utilizing FIS results plus, a really cool freestyle Progression Card that every major NZ resort will be using.

Where do you see snowboarding heading in the future? As in progression, the industry, popularity etc. The whole story…

Snowboarding is going into a regression phase. At least that’s how I see it. Snowboarding is like skateboarding in that it works in waves. It comes, it goes. Right now Freeski is the new snowboarding in so many ways. In NZ up until last year it was difficult to get snowboard Instruction for kids under 8. But kids start skiing from 3 or 4, as did my kids. Getting bindings and boots for little feet is hard. I got my boy on a board at age 6 but it was difficult even for me. With Freeski being so cool right now and with the Wells Brothers pushing that along hard to their peers, its no wonder that a hole has appeared in an age group of snowboarders. The NZSBU has to work to change that, but at the same time it will change on its own in the next wave of interest.

Snowboarding popularity worldwide will still increase but the new frontier will be Russia, China and the eastern bloc countries. We’ve seen that already. Have you seen the Chinese Pipe jock team? Wow !

I don’t think there will be any less snow, especially not due to global warming as I think that’s a bit of a myth, its cyclical. But public perception has already changed to reducing pollution and waste and that’s a good thing. That will have an impact on manufacturing and should be embraced as quickly as possible. It’s going to be all about closed loop cycles.

I don’t really read the magazines anymore, but that’s any magazine – snowboard, skate, bike, car, house… I don’t know if that’s a factor of my age or if I find info elsewhere from the web. YouTube, Vimeo etc. I’m still out on that one. The concept of magazines and advertising will have to change. Mobile technology will deal to that more and more.

What words of wisdom can you share with us? Random or snowboarding related or both…

Do things now. Don’t delay. If someone pops into your mind get in touch. There’s a reason. Sometimes you only get one chance so take it or do it. Those notions do not always sit well with making money and unfortunately money makes the wheels go round so don’t pretend you don’t need it.

Describe the ‘true spirit’ of snowboarding…

I can’t… Keeping it real. Drinking beer. Solo hikes to steep faces. The soft roar of powder splitting off the nose of your board. Carving tight pencil lines. Road trips. Cold chin. Aching thighs. New experiences. It’s about doing your own thing. By snowboarders for snowboarders.

Which snowboarders do you respect within snowboarding? And why?

Palmer. Bang! The man’s a fucking living god across so many action sports. I so hope he makes the US Boardercross team for the 2010 Olympics. He will be 40. He will have so many people pinning for him. Simon Smith (UK) for raw photogenic talent. Regis Rolland for believing in snowboarding since day one, now with his current brand APO. Jenny Jones ‘cos she’s hard as nails and for putting UK riding firmly on an international level. And Terje as a rider and as a strong voice on snowboarding ideals.