Ryan's Word Riots

Photo by Jackson Ariano in Hakuba, Japan.

There’s a lot of fun things to geek out on in our weird world. I’ve tried most of them. From “Star Wars” (and the assorted toys and books, everything from that Galaxy far far away, guaranteed I can still out-trivia you, final trilogy excluded) to anime, comics, movies, TV shows, classical literature, yeah, I’ve enjoyed wasting a large chunk of my energy geeking out on the pointless flotsam and jetsam that makes life worth living to me.

But gear, that’s one place where my geeking has resulted in countless hours of pure endorphin rush, in many of the most sublime moments that have dotted an otherwise somewhat routing existence.

I first started geeking out on gear hanging out at the Chat St. skate shop in Fells Point when I was 8, pulling together the sickest Tony Hawk pro board with pink rib bones, alva trucks, and black slime wheels. I first started geeking out professionally as a shop grunt at Princeton Sports in Columbia, MD at 23 and then turning screws at Wildernest Sports (RIP) in Teton Village.

Now it’s 20 years later and I’ve been a professional gear tester since 2013. Over that time I’ve ridden easily a hundred boards and dozens of boots and bindings, and the exponential combinations inherent within. My current setup brings me what Marie Kondo would happily gush is joy.

M solid bindings are Arbor Hemlocks, which are both stiff and yet flexy enough, with pinpoint response and a cool little wooden styling on the heel.

For my solid, I’ve fallen in love with the Never Summer Proto Ultra. Historically I’ve been an Arbor guy for my solids, and I’ll always love my Coda but man has this Proto jumped to the top of my list.

For a split, my Never Summer Proto Split is my current #1. I think I’m just in love with this new Proto thing, like I first discovered how a questionable anti-hero could be even cooler than the hero when Proto Man took on Mega Man only to make him strong enough to defeat Dr. Wily.

Split bindings? I rocked the Karakoram Nomads all 2024 and into this season and I gotta admit, they perform better than any other split binding. They take a little more doing to get dialed but, again, I’m a geek.

Finally the Nidecker Kitas have me locked in for boots. Like La Femme Nikita was locked in. So locked in.

Also, if you’re new to splitboarding, check out this “Intro to splitboarding” article I just wrote. And to quote T Swift, yeah, so…