The Snowboarder's Journal • The Snowboarder's Journal 21.4 • LIVE, LAUGH, TINDY

The Tindy Bros, Jake and Ben Kindlon, alongside their dear nephew, Lakshman “Yung Tailfish” Reddy, following a funny day in an icy park at Mt. Snow, VT, in December 2016.
Photo: Tindy Bros Archives

The Tindy Bros. That’s my crew. For nearly two decades my brother and I, along with a few other honorary members, have laughingly claimed this self-deprecating title. I’ve committed to the bit so much that I’ve even got a dog named Tindy. On the one hand, our moniker is a lighthearted quip that acknowledges our freestyle skills leave a little to be desired. On the other, it’s a silly way to flip the bird to any gatekeeper who thinks they should be able to dictate how anyone can ride their snowboard.

There are a few reasons why so many snowboarders deem it to be a faux pas or even downright illegal to grab tindy. For starters, it’s for starters. The tindy zone, located on the front edge of the board between a rider’s back foot and tail, is one of the first places a beginner grabs naturally when they’re learning jump tricks. Another reason tindies are taboo: Skateboarders wouldn’t grab a similar spot on their decks because they’d be grabbing beneath a wheel. Lastly is the least-thought-out argument of all, which often boils down to something along the lines of, “I don’t know, they’re just whack.” But really, why? Think hard about it. Be honest with yourself. Is it because someone else said so?

I grew up in a strict suburb surrounded by squares who cared more about school than they cared about self-expression. Snowboarding became my favorite outlet in large part due to the notion that there are no rules. Yet somewhere along the line we learned that specific grab wasn’t considered “cool”. I’d go as far as to argue it’s highly doubtful that many snowboarders decided to dislike tindy grabs all on their own because throwing shade against grabbing a certain spot of a snowboard isn’t an instinctive part of human nature. If the reasoning is because we must emulate skateboarding, then by the same token Rippey flips would be wack as well (which they’re obviously not). Furthermore, within a culture/community/sport that so prides itself on its rebellious roots, such an unspoken rule is as hilarious as it is hypocritical. At best, chastising the grab is a laughing matter. At worst, it’s detrimental to the root awesomeness of snowboarding.

I recently saw a clip of Lucas Magoon intentionally doing a crooked nose press, sort of like a crooked grind on a skateboard—another one of those no-no’s for snowboarding’s trick police (or in this case, the press police). I loved the juxtaposition of Lucas, one of the world’s most influential rail riders, doing exactly what some guy who would brag that he’d met Lucas would say isn’t cool to do. While I wholeheartedly appreciate having high standards for both the difficulty and execution of tricks, I’ll always appreciate having fun more. Being able to combine skill with a sense of humor and approximately zero fucks given? Timeless. It’s worth noting that, even crooked, Lucas made it look good too.

Now am I going as far as to make the argument that tindy grabs look good? In a sense our facetious Tindy Bros nickname only further perpetuates the notion that tindy grabs are kooky. Despite celebrating the trick, I’ve knowingly joined in the teasing about it. At this point in our lives, snowboarding’s sour sentiments surrounding the tindy grab have been internalized so deeply it has become difficult to view the trick in an unbiased light. Undoing the decades-long indoctrination of what’s cool and what isn’t can only go so far in one generation of Tindy Bros.

But contending they look cool isn’t really the point. On the flip side of this very same coin that is me pushing back against conformity, I’m not here to hypocritically push tindy grabs onto any other riders. The choice of where to grab, or perhaps not grab at all, is entirely up to you. But I will argue that despite the taboo, defiantly tweaking tindy can make it one of the most badass tricks of all time, especially now. Because when you grab tindy intentionally, you’re breaking a rule-breaker’s rules. What’s truer to snowboarding than that?

So get out there and grab tindy. Or don’t. So long as you’re doing you and letting me do me, all I’ve got for you are shakas and finger guns.

The Snowboarder's Journal - The Snowboarder's Journal 21.4

LIVE, LAUGH, TINDY

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