Candleman Snowboards Demo Day Report
By Candleman Crew
Following a disastrous trip to Mt. Ruapehu in mid-July, Candleman Snowboards Crew arrived to Ohakune on the first day of August committed to do two demos over the weekend whatever it took. The plan was to do a demo day at Turoa ski field on the 1st of August alongside the Candleman Fischer Retro GS; and then a demo at Whakapapa on the 2nd of August.
Those brave enough to venture up the mountain on the 1st of August will confirm that the weather conditions were absolutely ghastly. We had to get around on our hands to avoid flooding our boots prematurely. By 10 o'clock it was clear that the mountain would remain closed and no demo day would take place. However, Turoa team decided to proceed with Candleman Fischer Retro GS so we stuck around.
Candleman Snowboards entry into the Retro GS consisted of a vintage Candleman deck Shermann 150, piloted by Candleman Crew rider Eliav Meltzer. Shermann was a freestyle deck manufactured by Candleman back in the 1990s. The one we brought with us for the GS had seen plenty of abuse and we were a bit worried whether it was going to survive the gnarly weather and Eliav's enthusiastic riding style.
The Retro GS was held in the gully at the bottom of Turoa ski field. The course was quite short, but challenging. With their riding skills compromised by old gear and skin tight 80s style outwear, quite a few people ran into trouble on the first corner of the course, which left them with no momentum whatsover to clock even a half-decent time. Luckily and despite its age, Shermann 150 held corners and effortlessly hovered through the slosh to clock in one of the best descend times of the day.
The after party for the GS was held at Turoa Lodge. The bar was packed, happy hour jugs of beer were being scored in bulk and everyone was having a great time. Needless to say that those who crashed out well past midnight and woke up with a hangover regretted it more than ever because on Sunday morning the snowboarding gods sent clear skies and some fresh powder our way. Of course, this was not a coincidense since Candleman Crew were in posession of a prototype of the new Skadi deck and spent most of the Saturday afternoon praying to it.
Whakapapa's lifts were open at 8.30. The ride up the mountain was simply breathtaking. Even the fact that we had to haul around a few tens of kgs of snowboards could not distract us from enjoying the pure awesomeness of Mt. Ruapehu on a day like this.
It is safe to say that we could not pick a more gorgeous day to have a demo day at Whakapapa. The crowd was loving the weather; we got to test our new model Sly deck in action and received plenty of positive feedback on it. Here you can see Candleman Crew rider Eliav going large aboard his full custom Sly ID. 
And of course we got to show off the prototypes of Skadi and Mess snowboards. Thanks to all of you who took advantage of the demo day and tried one of Candleman snowboards or simply came over to say "hi". The rest of you guys who saw us but missed the opportuity to meet us, keep an eye on Candleman Snowboards website for details of the next demo day. Look forward to meeting you then!