Smile, It's Snowboarding!

 A long time ago, in a factory far, far away the first Bataleon snowboard was coaxed from the primordial ooze, a radical idea brought to life by a Norweigan biophysicist that took root in the minds of two young Dutch snowboarders. After spotting a particularly strange booth at ISPO (spoiler alert: it was a caravan that the Bataleon crew had driven all the way to Munich from Norway) handing out reindeer meat and touting a brand-new technology that would ‘revolutionise snowboarding’, Danny Kiebert and Dennis Dusseldorp decided to take a closer look at newcomer brand Bataleon. Cue a spontaneous post-tradeshow road trip through Europe and Scandinavia, thorough testing of this supposed game-changing 3D profile, a tonne of beers, and ostensibly some more reindeer meat, and Dennis and Danny decided they were all in with Bataleon and their newfangled Triple Base Technology. Fast forward twenty years and as CEO and Creative Director of one of the most prolific snowboard brands in the industry, it's clear they made the right call.

Despite pushback from most major ski and snowboard brands, the two knew enough about snowboarding and the biz to realise that Bataleon were onto something with 3BT. The initial offering was a fleet of super aggressive boards, with dark motifs and themes geared towards high-level riders, as Danny explains, “Originally they made this technology so you could have a better turning snowboard, one that would carve better, so the boards were made very stiff. And when we came in, we thought, ‘Yeah, this is cool, but actually most people that end up riding these boards like them because they’re super fun to ride, they’re very forgiving and it's easier to land your tricks’. So let's forget about this turning bit for now, let's focus on the fun because that gets people way more excited than having the best carving board. So yeah, that’s basically the shift we made.”

When considering new tech it’s usually appropriate to approach with an air of well-placed scepticism, everyone and their granny has been told about a new innovation that’s going to blow minds and ends up on the underwhelming side of mundane. Danny’s been around the block enough times to get that fact, “You’ve got to try these boards, right? The first time I rode one, I grabbed the Evil Twin, stepped on it and it’s sliding around, the thing is rolling a little bit funny. It’s different, you know? And then I hit the first jump, it was kind of slushy and I fucked it up a bit. I was midair and thinking ‘This isn’t going to go well’, and then I rode away and I was like, “Whoa, what happened?” It was totally thanks to the board, it saved my ass. Basically, from that moment I never rode another board, ever.” 

Year by year, Bataleon stuck to their guns catering to the fun aspects of the sport, not taking themselves too seriously and enjoying the notoriety their unique 3D profile rightfully earned them. The tagline ‘Smile, it’s snowboarding’ cuts through the marketing spiel we’re often subjected to and gets to the core of it, we snowboard because we like it, right? In this day and age, we’re inundated with the same repurposed corporate gibberish over and over to convince us that anything and everything is the greatest thing since sliced bread, so it’s refreshing to be delivered a simple yet effective slogan that doesn’t mince its words.

Bataleon’s range and team grew parallel with one another over the years, a chicken and egg scenario that now sees them with a comprehensive product line that covers the whole spectrum of snowboarding and riders repping the ‘Three Fingered Salute’ in the streets, parks, backcountry and beyond. Having a range that caters to every niche aspect was important to Dennis, as well as cultivating a team that could adequately show off the gear Bataleon so proudly put their name to. 

“We believe there's a 3D shape that improves snowboarding in any terrain, for any level of rider. So that means you need to have street guys like Mees Oostdijk, but also backcountry guys like Roli Morley-Brown and you get a big team of athletes because you just really want to emphasize the fact that you have a product for everyone. It's much easier to be super freestyle-focused or a big-mountain brand and you just have to think ‘We only need these kinds of team riders’. But for us it's difficult because 3BT carves better, it's better in pow, better for jumping, better in the streets, it’s better for kids, better for beginners. So yeah we need a massive team”

Having a large team that spans the globe can prove problematic, especially when it comes to team bonding and camaraderie, but one of the coolest strings in the brand's already very cool bow is the eponymously named Bataleon Lodge. It sits an hour outside of Salzburg, right in the heart of European freestyle mecca Flachauwinkl, the resort that plays host to the infamous Absolut Park. Each year Bataleon opens up the lodge and brings their whole team together for an end-of-season blowout, allowing the crew to let their hair down after a long winter of riding, filming, competing and general badassery.

 With riders as prolific as Olympian and first woman to land a double backside rodeo Klaudia Medlová and elbow carve aficionado OG’s like Tyler Chorlton, it’s clear Bataleon has their team recipe down to pat. “Our Team Week has always been a season-ender without any pressure, you know?” Says Dennis, “We go shred together or we don't. You know, if the weather’s bad, no one really cares, there’s no shot list or anything that needs to be tackled, it’s just a nice time to be together” 

 Last season, Bataleon decided to host their first women’s week as an additional opportunity for the ladies of their team to get together and channel some good vibes and strengthen their feminine synergy. It wasn’t just a week of riding (although the ladies were absolutely throwing it down, Absolut Park got rinsed from first to last chair), it was time spent strengthening bonds as a collective. In particular, the workshop from Bataleon’s own Laura Rogoski about her mental health support network ‘We’re All Mental’ provided a raw and honest space for the crew to share their experiences as not only women in snowboarding but women existing in the 21st century. 

And while the Bataleon Lodge is the ideal place to kick back and relax with the team and the wider Bataleon family, it also provides them with a perfect base for their expansive R&D operation. Having access to this mountain-side HQ and a stacked roster of pro riders means Bataleon get real-time feedback on their products, with the crew able to suggest modifications and tweaks as soon as prototypes are hot off the press. And with a team so versatile, they have a rider ready to connect with any board that the boffs at Bataleon can dream up. Dennis and Danny are fully on board with the feedback process, and actively encourage their team to share their thoughts, good or bad, “Our people are passionate about riding and our boards. Even with no pressure to do so, everybody's always talking about the gear. Suggesting like ‘What if you did this or what if you did that’. It just happens sort of organically or naturally because they're like, ‘Okay, we're riding with the with the guys from the company so we can tell them everything we think can be better or ideas that we have, you know, and I think that's cool” 

Twenty years of success in a landscape as fickle as snowboarding is no mean feat, and to celebrate hitting the double decade milestone Bataleon has released a super special anniversary edition of their best-selling all-mountain maverick, the Goliath. The Goliath was a no-brainer to receive the honour, as Danny explains “If you buy one board and you want to do a little bit of everything, then I think I think the Goliath’s the best board on the whole market for this. It's also the board that’s been there since day one. The first Bataleon collection featured the Goliath, and then in this collection is the Goliath.”

They say twenty’s plenty, but after two decades Bataleon is nowhere near done. And despite the initial thumbs down for Triple Base Technology from other major companies, take a look at the wider industry in 2023, and you’ll see brand after brand falling like dominos jumping on the 3D bandwagon. But hey, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? All it takes is an idea. (And a hell of a lot of work, dedication, time, commitment, and experimentation.)