An engineer with a snowboarding problem, Sam Anderson has been coming through with some insane street footage the past few years. His unassuming presence in the scene has left everyone wondering, “where the fuck did this guy come from?” In last year’s Pickpocket, he blew minds with his surgical board control and ability to take that precision to consequential spots. NBD’s left and right, chain-link kinks, and technical tricks on big rails have put Sam into a category reserved for professionals. Imagine filming that seriously, all while maintaining a legitimate job. Probably can't, so instead take a look at the parts that inspired Sam—these selections explain quite a bit.
– Matt Norris
Jed Anderson - Videograss' Shoot the Moon (2011)
It’s really hard to whittle my most influential video parts down to only five. I keep coming back to the ones I watched the most and the one's that remind me why I love snowboarding. No part fits those two criteria like Jed Anderson’s part in Shoot the Moon. His technicality and style on rails was something I couldn’t comprehend at the time. The older I got, the more I rewatched it—and the more it blew my mind. I was 12 or 13 when I first saw it, and some of the clips didn’t fully register. I remember being confused about why the switch back lip was his ender—until I got a little older and realized how insane it really was. Jed’s been one of my favorite boarders ever since. I’ve probably watched this part a few times every year since it came out, and “Fade Into You” still hits the same each time.
Travis Kennedy - Forum That (2006)
Travis' Part: 2:13
I think That was one of the first snowboard videos I ever got. My memory’s a little foggy since I was eight, but I’m pretty sure my parents got both my brother and I snowboard videos for Christmas that year. The DVD came with this green hat that just said “that” in plain text. I still have it stashed somewhere at my parents’ house. The whole video became one of my favorites growing up, but Travis’ part hit especially hard. I used to listen to “True” by Chamillionaire on repeat—at one point, it was my alarm. His part is also the reason I learned front boards through kinks before boardslides, and probably the reason I broke my collarbone for the first time.
Halldór Helgason - Standard Films' Black Winter (2010)
This might be the part I rewatched the most in a single winter. At one point, I could list every clip in order. This part (for better or worse) got me fully hooked on switch-ups for a few years. Around that time, my parents got me a corrugated tube for Christmas. I’d hike that thing for hours before and after school, trying to learn the back tail 270 to 50-50 he did as his street section ender. I remember running inside and exclaiming to my mom that I landed “Halldór's ender.” Thirteen-year-old me probably thought I deserved to get on DC for that one.
Louif Paradis - Déjà Vu (2013)
Louif's Part: 30:24
Spencer Schubert said it best: Louif is God. All of Louif’s footage has been incredibly inspiring to me, but this part stands out because of the presses and nollies. It felt fresh at the time and really got me hyped on pressing specifically. I learned how to cab 180 nose press and back 180 switch nose press from this part. In the last few years, rewatching it has been a big motivation to start doing more nollies. Also, the way he did the gap-out hardway cab 270 to both fakie and regular was insane. I can't imagine riding away from the one to fakie and then going back up to get it to regular. On a side note, Will Lavigne did the sickest nollie front two I’ve ever seen in the first part of the vid.
Jed Anderson - Adidas Snowboarding's Buzzcut (2019)
Gotta double down with another Jed part—he’s goated. Like most people, this part hit me by surprise. I was in a weird place the winter it came out, hardly boarding and feeling pretty disconnected from it all, so I hadn’t been keeping up with any of the new videos. But when I heard Jed had made his return with a new part, I was juiced. I knew he was fully back the moment I saw that hardway cab three opener. I don’t know what it is, but the gap-over-pad to gap backlip is still one of my favorite clips. This whole part is incredible, but I think it was the context of his return to snowboarding that makes it stand out—especially since I was stepping back from snowboarding myself at the time. I don't know, it just hit different.
Honorable Mention: Blender
