Thanks for a great magazine, we love the focus on freeriding. My husband and I met ten years ago at Park West (now The Canyons) and I taught him how to ride. We love to carve and we ride very much alike. We have a new goofy-funny way to ride and carve together! We hope you enjoy the photo and keep up the great articles and photos! Have a good holiday!

Personally, I wouldn’t be caught dead carving arm-in-arm with anybody. Looks good on you, though. And an "A" for enthusiasm. Happy holidays.–E.M.

I just want to thank you: First of all, for your Steps section–it’s extremely helpful to many snowboarders out there, including me. Whether you are trying to master a technique, improve, find out why you’re having trouble, or learning something new, Steps is often the best place for it. About the magazine itself–man, I was tired of seeing too many magazines with nothing but halfpipes, big air, etc., and I thought about how good a magazine just for the freerider would be. Then I see your mag with "The Ultimate Freeriding Magazine" right on the cover.

I see too many boarders out there who just go up the lift, stop in front of the jumps, go off one, stop, go off another, and so on. And it’s the same people I see using the wrong techniques while riding. I like to freeride and find jumps along the way. Snowboard Life is the only snowboarding magazine I want to read, period.

This last summer I was working as a temporary for the Trash Department here in Big Bear, California. One of the trucks ran over my heel, dislocated my ankle, and crushed some of the tarsal bones directly in front of the ankle. I started riding in ’88 and this will be my first season in ten that I won’t even set foot on the slopes, let alone ride them. I just wanted to thank you for publishing a magazine that excludes all the corporate hype that snowboarding has become a part of. Every time I open an issue of SBL I’m reminded of how much (and why) I love the sport and how I can’t wait to recuperate. Thanks again, and have a great season.

Just yesterday I mailed in a check for my third subscription to Snowboard Life. For the past two years I have thoroughly enjoyed reading it cover to cover, and have referred many friends to this "Ultimate Freeriding Magazine." At the end of last season, Snowboard Life asked for the readers to send in feedback on the magazine, content, and future article suggestions. I sent in a letter praising the magazine and commenting on the aspects I enjoyed most.

After getting home from work today and finding the October issue in my mailbox, I raced to find a comfortable spot in my house to read the latest from Snowboard Life. Unfortunately, I was sourly disappointed.

I am appalled to find a guide on SUVs in a snowboard magazine. Actually, I am horrified to find a guide on SUVs in my favorite magazine. This disturbs me so much that I’m sending a cancellation request to the subscription office, and to be honest, I don’t even care if they refund my money. I’m numb from this disappointing experience.

I ride about 30 to 40 days a season. I love freeriding. I love the friends I’ve made on the mountain. I love turning new friends onto the sport. I love learning new tricks and riding bigger terrain. I love the cold weather. I love fresh snow and I love every single scratch on my riding gear. Snowboard Life has always spoken to me, and I never before felt that people out of touch with the sport published the magazine. Until now, that is.

The October issue contains a feature article comparing SUVs, yet coverage of the most phenomenal snow event on the planet since I’ve been around was shoved to the back of a FREERIDING magazine and given roughly 40 percent of a single page–like it was an afterthought. I’m referring to the world-record-breaking season at Mt. Baker (record or no record, it would take several pages to convey the experience shared by many riders last winter at Baker.) I find it insane, unbelievable, and absolutely lame that the staff of the Ultimate Freeriding Magazine would allow this to happen.

I may be the anomaly out there, but I do not find any merit in having an SUV guide–or any auto guide for that matter–in a snowboarding magazine. This kind of coverage does not speak to me and my interests in riding mountains. Think about it, Snowboard Life wanted to say more about a 40,000-dollar SUV than about Mt. Baker’s grand season. I can’t stop thinking about my epic days, one after the other, at Mt. Baker, Crystal Mountain, and Stevens Pass. That’s where it all went down this past winter in a big way. I saw pro riders from all over the world converge on the Cascades to ride some of the most consistent and huge dumps I have ever heard of in one season. I saw riders dropping cliffs I thought were impossible. Where was Snowboard Life? Testing SUVs?

Bottom line, I subscribe to Snowboard Life to read about freeriding. I want to see pictures of riders ON big mountains, not marketing photos of big, gas-guzzling trucks. I want to share in the excitement of the epic snow days around the country, not read about cup holders. October’s issue was a lame start–your magazine is now geared toward weekend warriors, my friend. Please, please save this once-fine magazine and then ask me to renew my subscription. The potential for an epic magazine is there, and the missed opportunity is a huge bummer.

I wish I wasn’t ranting so hard on Snowboard Life, but I am really disappointed and it frightens me that a pattern is set for the rest of the year. For now I’ll concentrate on getting in shape for this coming season and satisfy my snowboard fix with online ’zines.

I was both bummed and stoked when this letter-bomb hit my desk. Bummed for obvious reasons, but equally stoked to know there are readers out there who care so much. Mr. Anderson had a lot to say, and unfortunately we had to trim his letter a bit in order to make some room for other readers’ comments, but I think you still get his drift. Sorry our piece on SUVs gave you a rash–we figured not everyone would dig it–but that didn’t stop us from experimenting. Chances are some of our readers actually enjoyed it. Regarding Baker, hopefully you received your second issue and got a chance to read "The Baker Tapes" before canceling you subscription. It’s obvious Mt. Baker is a special place for you, and it’d be shame if you missed it. I hope you’ll keep reading Snowboard Life, realizing that every article can’t "speak to you," and enjoy it as a continuous source of inspiration and information. Have a great winter.–E.M.

I just wanted to write to tell you that as a two-year subscriber, I have read all of the most recent issues of your magazine, and one thing in particular still stands out whenever I read. It is that you guys allow for criticism, you invite it as a means for improvement. Not only do you ask for positive/negative feedback, but you print any kind right in the magazine so that the readers get a chance to read the things that people like and dislike about your magazine. Being able to stand up and take harsh criticism from people who don’t like what you do is an admirable quality and makes me respect you all the more for reasons besides the fact that I love snowboarding, and you are Snowboard Life.