Treasure State

We filmed the Treasure State series in our home state of Montana as a celebration of our 15-year anniversary! We're fortunate to live and build splitboard bindings in this incredible place surrounded by a vast array of mountain ranges that are absolutely begging to be explored. The series comprises three short splitboard edits we filmed last season right in our backyard that feature a mix of Spark employees and some of our favorite splitboard friends. We set out to ride three different mountain ranges, with three different groups, to tell three unique stories.

Below are the episodes with a few bonus photos and a little additional context.

Episode One

Featuring Matt Huffstetler and Will Ritter

Episode one was our last adventure of the 21/22 season and features our owner Will Ritter and our customer service and warranty expert, Matt Huffstetler. They crushed out a classic local line and got some good product testing done while they were out there. As they mention in the episode, spring is probably our most important product testing time of the year thanks to the variable conditions and long days. This mission is also a perfect example of how you can still enjoy turns with your friends in June if you don't mind a little hiking!

Episode Two

Featuring Becca Ritter, Iris Lazzareschi, and Elena Hight

Two of our favorite splitboarders in the world came up from Jackson to shred with our owner, Becca Ritter. Elena was fresh off of competing in the 2021 Natural Selection (which she won this year in 2022!), and we asked Iris to come up not only for her great company, but also for her trusted guiding skills. With touchy avy conditions in our immediate backyard, we opted to head down to south-central Montana for a long weekend of splitboarding. It was quite cold but a super fun time! This episode also sheds an interesting light on the fun parts, and the challenges, of raising kids, running a business, and trying to balance parenthood and recreation.

Episode Three

Featuring Brian Bakken and Will Ritter

In our final episode, we toured into an epic but lesser-known range in south-west Montana with our buddy, Brian Bakken. There may not be anyone we know that's as fired up to go splitboarding as Bakken. He knows a lot of sweet zones and is a blast to go splitboard with. He's been testing our gear and giving valuable feedback since the early days of Spark R&D!