In the mid 2000’s snowboarding looked and felt a lot different than it does today. Full-length videos were the pinnacle way to digest snowboard media, and one video in particular managed to slip past my snowboard nerd radar. That movie was a documentary made by Robot Food filmer JT Fountain titled Bikecar. A brief synopsis of this cult classic goes as follows: Travis Parker, Louie Fountain, Thayne Mahler, and Scotty Wittlake built their very own bikecar, and pedaled it 866 miles around the pacific northwest in search of snow and adventure. Yes, they built a “Bikecar.” A four seated, welded frame with chains, sprockets, bike tires, and a cab complete with a trailer in tow for snowboards and gear.
Before I describe the entire plot of the movie, what is really important is what this type of video does for snowboarding. It’s not your standard video. It’s not about the snowboard clips. It’s about doing things you want with people you want to be around, all while allowing the viewer to take a backseat, and live the experience with you.
In 2006 when this video was released, the typical snowboard video was meant to showcase the highest level of snowboarding, in video part form. Obviously if you're on tormentmag.com right now, you probably understand that concept. Go out, film your best clips in the streets and backcountry (and at that time, the park as well) then put it all together into one section to show off how good you are and how much effort you put in that season. It’s time tested—it works. But, as we venture into the mid 2020’s, almost 20 years after the release of “Bikecar,” snowboarding media seems to be changing in many ways. The video part is still viable, but it simply doesn’t hit the way it used to. Everybody is good now. Everybody knows how to edit sick videos. Everybody has access to high quality cameras, and they even fit in your pocket and double as a phone. So with that extreme amount of access, making a piece of snowboard media that is compelling has to be framed in a different way.
If Bikecar was released in 2025, it would still hit just as hard as it did in the mid 2000’s. In fact, it might do even better than it did then. It is a precursor to the modern vlog-style video, if you want to look at it that way. A filmer, following a group of people around, documenting what they are doing on a day-to-day basis. From the action packed moments, to the mundane ones, you get to ride along in the Bikecar with Travis, Scotty, and Louie. You are allowed to live voyeuristically through them, which is the majority of what digital media is today.
It’s a little bit different now; it’s usually some certified clown strolling around with a camera talking to it, letting you in on their life, so you don’t have to go do it yourself. Hate it or love it, it’s true—they’re similar in concept. With so much access to content and people’s lives, the smoke and mirrors in videos of days past is long gone. You can’t get by with a piece that isn’t humanizing. People get way too much information now to be satiated with just clips, without getting some slice of life. With Bikecar, you get the high quality snowboard moments, and you get to hang out with your favorite pros. You get to know them, all while sitting on your couch. And that’s exactly what youtube is today.
Something that has always intrigued me when it comes to snowboarding videos is the personality. As a kid, I attached myself to people’s personas, or the little moments where you got to feel like you saw a reflection of personality in someone who’s snowboarding inspired you. A big part of the reason I was so infatuated with Forum’s THAT (2006) and Videograss was the amount of personality put into those videos gave you a sense of belonging. You knew these guys, even though you absolutely had never met them.
Bikecar was so far ahead of its time, that even the people making it didn’t know it. They truly pioneered what is commonplace entertainment now. Most kids don’t give a shit about videos the way some of us did when we were younger, so switching the formula is imperative. Making a similar video would work in today’s snowboarding scene, and honestly, is necessary if we don’t want to see the highly skilled, tasteful, and dedicated snowboarders’ efforts fall to YouTuber, bozo vloggers. The direction we’re heading favors the boarder who is willing to put a little bit more personality on the line, over the person with the sickest style and trick selection, based solely on online metrics. I personally know professional snowboarders who are unwilling to embark on a process like this, because it’s lame, or soulless. If you do it how these cornball-ass YouTubers do it, then yeah, they’re absolutely right. However, Bikecar is evidence that you can check both of those boxes tastefully, on your own terms, and have a hell of a time doing it.
