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Lukas Huffman used to be on the other side of the lens, dropping cliffs in standout video parts of his own for Kingpin’s Happy Hour and Mack Dawg Productions’ Shakedown and Chulksmack. Snowboarding absorbed his life for decades and he was one of the best. Yet Lukas craved more. An inquisitive mind and rider on the fringe of burnout, Lukas poured his heart, intellect and hard earned money into a snowboarding-inspired book and video titled ir77 in 2006. Shortly after, he moved from the mountains of British Columbia to the concrete jungle of New York City in search of creative and academic stimulation. Nine years later the two worlds have collided for Lukas once again. Read on as Lukas, the director of VICE Sports’ latest series ‘Lady Shredders – The Most Badass Women In Snowboarding’ talks about his motivation and experience documenting the Too Hard crew.

Lukas Huffman in New York City, photo: Chris Brunkhart, Snowboard Magazine 11.3

What drew you to work with the Too Hard crew & direct this documentary series for VICE Sports?

I’ve been a big fan of the Too Hard videos for years now. The riding is obviously awesome, but I also love the editing, soundtrack and the overall tone of the movies. They are way different than anything else that’s happening in snowboarding right now — in guys’ or girls’ movies. They have a bit of a darker tone that I was attracted to. The more I learned about Danyale [Patterson] and the rest of the girls, the more I knew there was a good story in there. They are pushing the physical limits of snowboarding, but the lifestyle they depict in the movies — the same drinking and smoking that has been in snowboard videos for years — is frowned upon because of their gender. They are outsiders within the snowboard industry, which reminded me of how snowboarding was in relation to mainstream culture when I first started in the early-90s. In my opinion the Too Hard crew is the most punk thing happening in snowboarding right now, and I wanted to learn more about it.

How many episodes will there be in the series?

There will be three episodes.

Lady Shredders – The Most Badass Women in Snowboarding (Part 1)

Where did you travel with the crew?

We were in the St. Croix Falls area of Wisconsin.

Can you give us a few descriptive words on each rider?

Danyale Patterson: She’s the creative force behind Too Hard. She’s also a rookie of the year alumni, who is pushing the riding standards in the film.

Madison Blackley: She keeps going and going and going. She is a super technical rider and won’t stop riding until she gets her shot. She happens to also be the most chatty of the group I met.

Corrine Pasela: She was quiet at first, then opened up and articulated many complicated relationships that she and the Too Hard girls have with the industry.

Kayli Hendriks: Young, hungry and such a warm, open-hearted girl. She has an intense amount of natural talent.

Fancy Rutherford: The matriarch of the group, she has a wisdom about her. She knows when to commit to a rail feature, and when not too. She also was able to explain in a very coherent way her dynamic relationship with snowboarding.

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