The kind of trip that feels less like a snowboard test and more like a class reunion.
For more than a decade, our friends at TSA, The Snowboard Asylum, have been hosting one of the best traditions in snowboarding: four days buried deep in the Austrian Alps filled with board testing, sunny glacier laps, long dinners, heavy laughs, and enough gear for everyone to get a little weird on something new.
A few years back I started bringing some of our younger riders along, and somewhere between long drives through the alps, gondola conversations, hot laps and the late-night hangs, it quietly became a tradition of our own.
This year it was Myrie Metzger and Cody Hallquist. Neither of them had ever left the country before. First passport stamp. First time seeing Europe. First time realizing how big the world can suddenly become through snowboarding.
We landed in Munich, tossed the board bags into the van, and headed straight into the city. First stop was the standing wave at Marienplatz, running on airport coffee, poor sleep, and pure adrenaline. We wandered crowded streets, climbed to the top of the Frauenkirche for a view over Munich’s rooftops and the distant Alps, and soaked in the energy of the city before eventually pointing the van south toward Kaunertal, driving deeper into the mountains to meet up with the TSA crew.
By the time we pulled into the hotel, everyone was already outside on the patio. Drinks flowing. Stories getting louder by the minute. Old friends reconnecting like no time had passed at all. The kind of scene that instantly reminds you why these trips matter.
Spring Break was officially on.
The next few days melted together in the best possible way. Hot laps on the glacier under bluebird skies. Testing boards with friends from all over the world. Skating the mini ramp at the base after riding until your legs barely worked anymore. Long dinners that turned into longer nights. The kind of rhythm you fall into when everyone is there for the exact same reason - snowboarding.
Not the industry version of it. The real version.
The one built around people.
When the test wrapped up, we said goodbye to the crew and headed for Innsbruck. We skated through the city center for hours, weaving through tourists and old buildings before grabbing food at Machete and continuing on toward Hintertux.
And Hintertux delivered exactly the way it always does.
Colder temps. Crisp air. Bluebird skies and one of the best park setups on earth. Fast laps, perfect landings, tired legs, huge smiles. The kind of days you wish you could bottle up and hand to someone who’s forgotten why they fell in love with snowboarding in the first place.
Then suddenly, just like that, it was over.
Back to Munich. Airport check-ins, bag drops, and a final meal before we board. Everyone quieter than they were a week earlier.
Somewhere on the flight home it hit me pretty hard that a huge part of what I want SIGNAL to become lives inside trips like this.
Not just making snowboards.
Opening doors.
Creating opportunities for the next generation to see the world, experience different cultures, meet lifelong friends, and understand that snowboarding can become so much bigger than the mountain you grew up riding.
Somewhere along the way, my role in all of this started to change.
Less interested in chasing experiences only for myself, and way more interested in helping create them for others.
This is the way.
