MOG Flogs North America

Hello web shredder, I would like to introduce you to the recently formed Austrian crew called MOG. Granted, it's not the prettiest of names, a mix of mug and flog, but hey, compared to most Austrian words it is actually quite charming. We kid, we kid! Anyway, in the middle of December 2008 the schnitzel shred squad went hunting for footage and adventure in the far-away lands of Canada and America for their first snowboard movie, baptized Manglo Moves. Martin Venier, the filmer and brains of the crew, along with photographer Michael Obex shot off to Colorado to meet up with two of their riders, Michael Macho and Stefan Falkeis, and ride the uber-pipe at Breckenridge, CO. These two guys had been pre-heating the pipe for a week and were ready to toss some heavy tricks out for the camera dudes. Snow was falling hard and so was the temperature in Breck, but these eager (and jet-lagged) beavers fought off the the fatigue and got to mashing buttons real quick-like, and came back with some keepers from Colorado.

After their stay in the Rad-o, the filmers were off to big, bad NYC where they met up with the MOG jib division, consisting of Flo Achenrainer, Michi Schatz, Steve Grumser, Bobby Tangl and Sandro Auer. Three days after arriving in the Grosse Apfel, they grabbed some hot wheels at the rental shop and headed northbound for Montréal. The incoming blizzard slowed down them to a near halt and it took nearly 15 hours to get the land of beavers: Canadia. Once there, they settled into their apartment and by morning were sniffing for rail and jib spots like hounds at a blood donation bank. The MOG squad were soon rocking their first rails, ledges, and drops in Montréal, but little did they know this city would soon rock them instead. After a Labatt's-drenched Christmas Eve the boys were back on the job the following day. The Grinch apparently made an appearance on this 25th of December to steal Flo's Christmas and sent him straight to the hospital after getting mashed in between the sections of one of the sketchiest rails ever. The diagnosis? A lung contusion! (Check the picture and you'll understand.)

Canadian photographer Mathieu Couture was also on the scene, snapping pics and acting as guide which made for some quick spot scoping. All was going well until another MOG member ended up in the meat wagon, suffering a serious concussion after getting served an ice hockey-style cross-check by a tree. Luckily after that incident the curse was lifted and there were no more visits to the emergency room. On New Year's the MOG squad got wild and boozy in the streets of Montréal, but as usual these dudes were not marinating their mornings away in bed but instead were ready to shreddy in the the new year. They spent the first days of the 09 in Quebéc City shooting various rails and ledges. After a bit of back and forth between Quebec City and Montreal, they managed to get plenty of shots in the bag for both print and their new video. Their last night in Canada was spent in a horrifying, hooker-ridden hotel which our heroes fled forthwith, heading south for the land of the Red Sox for some last sessions.

After one day in Boston grabbing some mini-shred shots, they were got back at the starting point of their journey, NYC. Back in the city that never sleeps, they spent their last days in North America shopping for all those goodies you can't find in the mountain valleys of Austria, like sweet rims and knee-high, rainbow--colored Dunks. Of course, they spent ample time "making party" as well. After a month full of snowboarding, driving, drinking (but not at the same time!) and hospital trips, the MOG vacation party was over and our heroes were back to good old Europa, their hard drives full of footage.

Now the time has come for you to catch a glimpse of their magical footy, so just peep these videos on Method TV foo!

(click on titles)

Short Movie: Trash Moves

Trailer: Manglo Moves

"Thanks to our sponsors: Manglo, Kaunertaler Gletscher, Atomic Snowboards, Sub Industries, Hammer Snowboards, Big Pump and Q-Parks.

Special Thanks to Tobi Eder from Tobi's Travel Solutions for planning our trip and his support. We also want to thank our guide Mathieu, our families, friends and especially our girlfriends for their support and understanding."

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