Board of the Week

Some may say that Santa Cruz should pick surf, snow, or skate and stick with it. I for one happen to love Santa Cruz snowboards. Unfortunately this board is only a 159 - so that counts me out. Regardless, this board not only feels great under your feet, but pays homage to the great Chris Roach. I'll leave it to scskate.com to let you in on the rest.



IF you were to open any mag back in the day, chances are you'd be hit in the face with some of the cheesiest styles you have ever seen. Neon full suits, Oakley blades, and some of the worst riding styles to ever be displayed were showcased happily in the pages of snowboard magazines worldwide. Then, along came Chris Roach, with a skate influenced snowstyle comparable to none and a completely different look. Chris Roach introduced people to snowboarders much like Jeff Spiccoli did to an era of people who had never seen a surfer. Chris Roach (nearly single handedly) gave snowboarding style as we know it. Chris's Skateboarding roots go deep and from the beginning Roach always had the ability to see snowboarding's future potential. Skateboarding influence, that snowboarding had yet to tap into. Quoting Chris from 1991, "...Snowboarders are gonna start doing some shit", from way before most even knew what this could possibly mean. In 1991 Chris was given one of only 2 boards ever in existence. This is the board he donned proudly with the decals of the day, while filming for FLF's, Riders on the Storm and even took on the infamous trip to Japan where Chris and another rider (the bearer of the 2nd board) were asked to leave and never come back! The very board that Chris rode while pushing the early progression of snowboarding. Thankfully, Chris kept this board all these years which has allowed SC to offer you this replica, the Chris Roach 156 Decal board with the exact sticker job Chris did in 1991. The 2nd Roach offering is the Chris Roach GhostShip 159. The GhostShip was Roach's last pro model graphic from 1996 and his favorite. In fact Chris loved it so much he had it permanently inked onto his forearm. Keep an eye open for Chris out ripping around, as he can still mix it up with the rest of them.