In the beech woods of Japan’s northernmost island, you’ll find a small workshop often buried in more than six feet of snow. The white stuff is the legendary “Champagne” powder that has made Niseko, Hokkaido, a must-visit for skiers and snowboarders from all over the world. It was here, in 2013, that Josh Monin, a devotee from Australia, established Offshore Snow Shapes to create boards of uncompromising quality.
Ranging in price from about $900 for basic models to $3,770 for custom creations, Offshore boards are handmade and about the furthest thing from a mass-produced factory board on the market.
“Building a snowboard from start to finish gives me a special bond with it,” says Offshore master craftsman Tomohito Yamazaki. “The snowboard becomes a piece of art, something with soul. Something for the rider to express themselves on.”
Aside from its handmade advantage, Offshore’s appeal lies in its components, sourced both domestically and from abroad. “I don’t sacrifice material quality for ease of location, or for marketing, to say it’s Japanese—the German steel we use for edges, for instance, is unmatched,” says Monin, who in the beginning did everything from manufacturing to sales himself but now has three others on staff. “Every single component that goes into my boards is the best.”
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1. A Cut Above
Image Credit: Aaron Jamieson After the board is designed in CAD, master craftsman Yamazaki uses a computer numerical control (CNC) machine to precisely cut the base—a sintered material from Austria—before the edge is attached. It’s one of the most difficult steps, particularly when bending high-grade German steel, by hand, around tight curves and acute angles.
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2. Core Strength
Image Credit: Aaron Jamieson The cores of Offshore boards are made of vertically laminated high-grade paulownia and mountain ash, to ensure both flexibility and longevity. Yamazaki again uses the CNC machine for accuracy and speed; the shape of the wooden interior is made slightly smaller than the overall size of the snowboard to allow for the attachment of protective ABS plastic between the wooden core and steel edges.
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3. Getting Inked
Image Credit: Aaron Jamieson Monin designs the signature visuals—such as the deep-red lacquer Urushi series— digitally but has also tapped outside artists for special and custom looks. A large Epson sublimation printer generates the artwork, which is then transferred to the nylon-polyamide top sheet via a press heated to 320°F. Printing is a tricky process because small atmospheric changes can affect the final color. The inks turn into gas under the printer’s heat, then bond to the top sheet, much like a tattoo.
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4. In for the Lay Up
Image Credit: Aaron Jamieson Here, the base is covered in a specially formulated low-viscosity Japanese resin. Then a layer of Australian fiberglass is mixed with resin and laid onto the base. Along with more coatings of fiberglass, carbon and flax pins and carbon cords are added on top of or inside the wooden core for board strength or pop, the sport’s term for a board’s ability to return to its original state quickly after being flexed. Finally, the board layers are sandwiched between two sheets of aluminum.
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5. Hot off the Press
Image Credit: Aaron Jamieson The aluminum “sandwich” is placed inside the heated pneumatic press for 20 to 30 minutes, with the bend profile set using blocks of different heights. The heat aids in curing the resin to form a solid rectangular snowboard. “This is where the magic happens,” says Monin. The board is then left for 24 hours to cure.
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6. Final Cut
Image Credit: Aaron Jamieson The cured “blank” is flipped upside down to show the steel edge and base material. Like cheese overhanging sandwich bread, the fiberglass layers extend beyond the base and must be removed; the steel edge acts as a guide as Yamazaki uses a bandsaw to trim away the extra material in a process called flash-cutting.
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7. Nose to the Grindstone
Image Credit: Aaron Jamieson Yamazaki uses different grinding applications to bring the board closer to its finished state. The base goes through several rounds with a Wintersteiger base sander, first using a coarse belt, followed by a series of finishing belts to give it a glassy appearance and a slickness, for speed.
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8. Bound for Glory
Image Credit: Aaron Jamieson A drill press exposes the binding insert holes, created during the initial stages but since covered by the top graphic layer. A sanding tool finishes the inserts, which are now ready for a pair of snowboard bindings to be attached.
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9. Mirror, Mirror
Image Credit: Aaron Jamieson For the final touches, edges are tuned to minutes of degrees and sidewalls are beveled to reduce chipping and expose the board’s rich black outline. The base is flooded with premium Japanese wax, then scraped and brushed numerous times to a mirror finish. “The finish we put on them is pretty much unlike anything else in the world,” says Monin. “I tell people, ‘Everyone has an opinion about the look of one of our new snowboards, but you can’t say they’re not fast.’ ”
