The online snowboard family lost one of it's best sites this fall when Anders Hagman and Calle Eriksson threw up the final issue of Method Magazine.

Method Mag was one of the first websites to cover snowboarding with respect and dedication. Founded in the fall of 1995 by pro snowboarder/web hacker Anders Hagman and snowboard photographer Calle Erickson, the site had a strong following around the world for it's great photography and timely coverage of snowboarding in Europe and around the world.

When they launched the site, Anders and Calle really didn't know what they we're getting into. "We should've settled down," Anders remembers. "But oh no, in the early days we were young. We were brash. We were foolhardy and fancy-free. We were charging ahead, head down and arms out, oblivious to the ways of the world and the rules of the road."

They stocked up on digital equipment of all kinds--laptops, scanners, video equipment. "When we started lugging this around, it filled up most of an Audi 100 Avant," Anders says. "We started parking in front of press offices, unloading all of this to the bewilderment of stunned fellow professional snowtravellers: "What the heck is the Internet?" They soon got to know."

Everything was going well for Method for the first year. But then the Internet landscape changed. "The web started taking off," Anders says. "Snowboarding was seen as the very coolest and destined as a prime target for large corporations: SOL, The Mountainzone, thealps.com, and even Transworld found their way out here, although the latter was so shaky in starting it they should have been embarassed."

While the competition didn't drive them away, Anders and Calle were forced to re-evaulate their situation. "The major reason for ending Method is that we are so fully booked with other things, that maintaining a progressive site would be impossible," they say.

While it's sad to see Method go, it's good to know that Anders and Calle's work will still be visible. Calle is moving to Austria where he will work fulltime as the photo editor and network and internet consultant for Onboard Magazine. Anders, who ended his pro snowboarding career last summer will continue his studies at the University of Dalarna and continue to work as a web systems designer.

It's a bummer to be talking about the site now that it's over, but check it out anyway. The site still has a lot of great stuff to check out. So visit the site and let Anders and Calle know how much you appreciated their work.

Check out the Method Magazine website.

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