A film by Quiksilver and What Youth starring Mikey Wright, Bryan Fox and Javier Mendizabal.

Maybe it was an experiment, or maybe it just happened. But whatever the case may be: we ended up in Oregon, on a big hill, blitzing down it — and at another point we were were surfing in front of a forest, and then we were in a city. We were a lot of things, but mostly we were us.

With professional surfer Mikey Wright, professional snowboarder Bryan Fox and professional skater Javier Mendizabal we began by participating in Bryan Fox’s Rat Race event in Mount Hood, OR. And once that wrapped, we ventured into a variety of places to rip and experience. Which is what we do. Come see.

Early January I always start looking for places to go, tracking storms and texting friends. I talked to a buddy in Japan who said it hadn’t stopped snowing in weeks. I was talking to Foster that night and asked him if he wanted to rent a van and travel around the north island of Japan, ride some resorts and do some hiking. It’s a really good place to go early season and get the legs warmed up. The island is very exposed and has large mountains very close to the coast, so when big storms come from Siberia, they pull a lot of moisture from the ocean right before depositing heavily on the mountain ranges.

Foster operates on his own program, he does what he wants. Odd jobs, passion projects, builds shit, takes photos and makes videos. A renaissance man. He hates it, but he’s instagram famous. Either way, I knew Foster would be down for a trip to Japan, he was, and we bought tickets 10 minutes later. We flew into Sapporo and rented a van, and drove around for the next 10 days. We didn’t have plans or any real objective. Just snowboard every day and soak in onsens (hot springs) every night.

Japan is a special place, the people are extremely kind and have a real affection for nature. One morning, Foster and I were hiking through the woods and ran into three local guys. I knew who one of them was, not his name, but I knew his likeness. He wears all orange, I just knew him as the orange guy. We got to talking, they invited us to go on a hike with them, or maybe we invited ourselves. We ended up hanging with these guys the next two days. The orange guy’s name was Yama, he explained that the orange was a head nod to the monks who wear all orange to simplify life, less time thinking about clothing. Always cool to see people completely committed to snowboarding, not for fame or money, just for the enjoyment.

We rode deep, dry snow every day of the trip, randomly met up with a couple friends in the middle of their travels and spent days exploring new zones with them. Not sure if by going there you immerse yourself in the Japanese culture or if the stars have just always aligned, but every time I’ve been to Japan, it has been magic. That’s pretty cheesy to say, but it’s the truth, I always leave with a clearer mind. In this case, I didn’t leave, Foster flew out and I stayed. When it’s good somewhere, don’t leave.

Pathology from Cowabunga on Vimeo.

Bryan Fox premiered Pathology a couple of months ago with a few hundred of his closest friends – who also enjoyed the free booze and baked goods. We caught up with him to find out a bit more about the making of the film and what's up next. Check out the trailer now and don’t miss the online premiere on Snowboarder.com on November 19.

What inspired the half-doco / half-action format?

I think the overall goal of any snowboard, surf, or skate flick is to get someone excited to go do that activity – basically to inspire participation. And with the overall consumer maturing, I feel like there needs to be a little bit more substance and insight to inspire those same people who might have been children of the video star age. We tried to keep the talking stuff to a minimum, more just showcasing some emotion and community feeling to the whole thing. I also feel like the structure of really just promoting a certain guy to be some sort of hero is kind of lame. The best thing about these cultures is the group effect, it's not a team, it's just whoever you chose to spend your free time with, snowboarding or surfing, it’s that idea that doing shit you enjoy with people you like is a valuable part of living.

Why did you start your own production company?

I’m a bit of a control freak. It's easier to control shit when you and your friends are steering the ship.

At the premiere, how did people react?

People seemed genuinely excited to get out into the mountains so i feel like we succeeded. It was a good party, free booze, free homemade baked goods, a photo show and an auction for our bud who just got diagnosed with cancer. Around 450 people showed up.

What bits were talked about afterwards?

Mostly crashing. People love crashing, there is a good amount of it. I always felt like it was cool to show people trying stuff and fucking up, unmade tricks are just as cool as made ones.

What’s your next project?

I have been talking with Quiksilver about some specific projects that sound like they could be a riot. I'll most likely be working on a project with Snowboarder mag as well, maybe some other little one off videos and zines as well. Mostly about this time in the Fall my brain goes wild with random ideas, some of which will never come to fruition.

Photos by: Mark Welsh

Bryan Fox was reared in the eastern most reaches of San Diego County, in a dusty little place called Ramona. Ramona is far from any sort of breeding ground for great snowboarders, more like dirt bikers and chicken farmers. That said, Bryan high tailed it to Oregon the day after he graduated high school where he lived in his car and snowboarded every day. Fox broke onto the scene in Neoproto’s Some Kinda Life with a stellar part, and has continued to produce year after year with the Neoproto turned Mack Dawg People crew. Bryan has never smoked a cigarette, and has no more than tasted alcohol. Aside from strapping into his snowboard and pushing his skateboard, Bryan loves America, heavy metal, and the full spectrum of the color black.