Jay Quintin has snowboarding roots to say the least. He was Kemper snowboard's first professional rider. He then bounced through brief stints with G&S with Shawn Farmer, Joyride snowobards with Dale Rehberg, then moved on to Lib Tech...before jumping for a big payday with Black Flys for his own pro model. Well...big payday for the mid 90's, lol! After that Jay spent some time at Electric Ink and then Happy magazine while he worked on his plan to make his own snowboards.

Finally Smokin was launched in the winter of 1996-97 in Truckee, California. After a year of pressing some boards in his basement there, he moved his operations to Kings Beach right next to Lake Tahoe. Smokin stayed there up until about 5 years ago when he first won a Transworld "Good Wood" award....and then the demand increased and he had to move to a bigger location north of Tahoe up in the small town of Chilcoot. This past year he moved down to just north of Reno, Nevada in what's called "Sun Valley"....aka the largest trailer park concentration in the entire United States.

Smokin's factory is one of the only true, "little" guys, hand-making snowboards still in the United States. I just recently picked up our 2010 Smokin' Snowboards from Jay at his factory and warehouse and thought that I'd ask him a couple of questions....

"Jay, what exactly is Smokin' snowboards and why did you start it?"



"So how exactly did you get permission to use Lib Tech's Magnetraction, and why did you want to use it on Smokin' boards?"



"What's your connection with Mike Basich, and what's special about his



"What else sets Smokin' snowboards apart from other brands?"



"What's your take on the state of the snowboard industry, where Smokin is headed, and any final thoughts you might have?"



"And tell me what happened to your dog Tyson there Jay?"

Labels: Jay Quintin Smokin Snowboards, Smokin Snowboards, Smokin Snowboards Factory, smokin snowboards magnetraction

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 Anonymous
go smokin go

# : October 16, 2009 2:00 AM

 

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Labels: Jay Quintin, Jay Quintin Smokin Snowboards, Smokin Snowboards, Smokin Snowboards Factory

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Start: 04/11/2009 - 10:00am

End: 04/11/2009 - 4:00pm

Labels: Boreal Ski Area, porterstahoe.com, Smokin Snowboards

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 Anonymous
Will Binky be there with Zinca and Neon on?

# : April 9, 2009 10:07 AM

 

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We got some new snow in the Sierras and it may be time to head out & try to find some fresh powder. Learn how to make a Split Board from my favorite mountain artist Mike Basich. Mike's been snowboarding longer than most of us and has the knowledge & experience to back up his ideas.
Check out his process.....
Mikes clothing Company 241
Smokin Snowboards
Voile Split Board Kit

Labels: mike basich. 241 clothing, Smokin Snowboards, Voile

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So the Smokin Snowboard factory tour last week had more to it than just the tour, we also went down to pick up some 2010 newly pressed decks. I was lucky enough to nab the new M.I.P. D.I.R.T. Rocker with Magne-Traction with some custom graphics brought to you by JP Lagos at Thesnowlife.com. I was even more excited to try out Smokin’s Magne-Traction since out snow has been rock hard as of late and last time I rode a board with magne it made the saying “Turns ice into powder” hold true. Friday afternoon of last week Squaw was still pretty firm with a nice east wind keeping things rather chilly, so what better time to go try out Smokin Jay “the evil genius’s“new concept.

My first thoughts was the same as any of the other reverse camber boards I have ridden, the nose seems to hook a little quick when you really get the board on edge. Once I detuned the nose and tail a little the board simply took off. The M.I.P. has a great predictable flex that reminds me of many of the old boards from the good old days. Jay doesn’t use fancy barely known named stuff to create his sticks yet he produces a board that rivals all those high-end uber scientific factories. The M.I.P. holds a super fun edge, makes a snappy turn and rebounds really predictably that you can stray away from the park and still rip turns. I have complained for a few years now that many companies are making boards to specific to one discipline and are hard to enjoy on every part of the hill. I think the smoking M.I.P. brings back the idea that you can have a great park board that doesn’t sacrifice the rest of the mountain.

If you are looking for a great park and all around board that’s actually handmade the new 2010 Smokin M.I.P. D.I.R.T. Rocker is gonna blow your mind.

What about the graphics? JP Lagos designed the graphic based loosely off the Obey “Obama” Poster series. Taking funny pictures and translating them into the Obey scheme, JP created a series of Bromodel snowboards. All the boards were either using Smokin’s 2010 M.I.P. blank or the 2010 Superpark blank. So the boards that were in the pictures being finished during the factory tour were none other than the bromodel boards. Special thanks to JP for including my funny grill on a snowboard and Smokin Jay for pressing a super fun board!

Labels: M.I.P. D.I.R.T. Rocker, Smokin Snowboards, snowboard reviews, Thesnowlife.com

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 Anonymous
You can honestly say your the only one with that board... ha those are hilarious.

# : January 19, 2009 12:45 PM

 

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Where is your snowboard made? Some foreign country where all the workers have no idea what snowboarding actually is? In northern Reno NV, in an area where trailer parks abound sits a snowboard factory where a creative evil genius lives. You won’t find any high tech computerized equipment or even security guards protecting the company’s secrets from prying eyes. You will find the type of place where some of the best innovation has always come from… a ghetto garage!

Smokin Jay is an evil genius… not in the crazy axe murdering type way, more the artistic friend you had in school that you weren’t sure where his mind was. Jay was busy gluing one of his new 2010 models when we arrived and as soon as he had a chance to step away he was off and running with the “Factory Tour”. I use the term factory loosely since most of the time you might equate the term Factory to thousands of square feet and a building in an industrial district of town. Smokins factory looks like a cross between an old bomb shelter and chop shop. Inside most of the equipment has been piecemealed together, with bare wires and jays own inventions throughout the building.

Joining on the tour was Jay’s sidekick binky who was just as stoked to show us all the funny corners in the building. While at first glance it looks like a lot stuff packed around stuff but as Binky explains it you can start to see Jay’s twisted vision of how the process works. From the room with all the templates and edges, the room where he cuts out the sidewalls and the workstation that he uses to glue the boards together. And as you watch Jay and Binky work what looks like chaos starts to looks like an interpretive dance where both play off each other though out the entire process.

Smokin Jay takes a huge amount of pride in the boards he produces and each board must be perfect for him to sell it. His entire process feels more artistic than mechanical and each board seems like its own individual masterpiece. He inspects each board for any imperfection or graphic blemish before giving the stamp of approval to sell the board. So when you see the tag handmade you know that the board you are receiving was entirely handmade by Smokin Jay and the pride taken to create the board reflects in the quality of the product you are receiving.

When you get a chance try out a Smokin snowboard, these are quality snowboards made by an evil genius snowboarder who believes in making quality snowboards.

Thank you Jay and Binky for the Great night! check out http://smokinsnowboards.com/ for more info or check out the Smokin Snowboards we carry.

Labels: Handmade Snowboards, Smokin Snowboards, Smokin Snowboards Factory

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Lake Tahoe, Ca: The guys at Smokin Snowboards have been working hard this summer getting all the new boards done and ready to be shredded this coming winter along with moving into a new, larger factory. Making it easier to make Tahoe's finest snowboard, Smokin Jay Quintin has moved the factory to a location twice as big as the previous. With enough room to grow and develop new tech and Smokin innovations, our new factory is going to facilitate the needs of our company in the coming
years.

If you haven't ridden one of our boards you are definitely missing out. Whether charging KT at Squaw or riding your local park line, we have the best shred sticks for you. From our Eco-Friendly Mike Basich Pro-Model to our twin shovel nose M.I.P. with Magne-Traction, Smokin Snowboards takes rider feedback directly off the mountain and puts it directly under your feet. Our flawless 100% aspen and professional craftsmanship has been proven in the 12 years Smokin Jay has been making boards and these are our best yet. As well as making one of the best boards you've ever ridden, this season we will be testing our Smokin “Brototypes” on the local hills of Lake Tahoe, experimenting with different camber systems, edge designs, and other top secret innovations to further increase our board quality.

Get to your local snowboard shop today and ask for Smokin Snowboards or check em out online at smokinsnowboards.com Smokin Snowboards are Professionally Handmade in Lake Tahoe by Snowboarders who understand quality and performance... !!!

YOU CANT FOOL THE YOUTH!!!

Tee see the entire line of 2009 Smokin Snowboards click here!

Labels: Lake Tahoe, Smokin Snowboards

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