Hasta La Ideas

Japanese designer and inveterate snowboarder Taro Tamai has been hand-shaping his eye-catching Gentemstick boards for over a decade. An answer to the homogenization of board shapes that happened as snowboarding gained mainstream appeal, Tamai’s goal is no less than to “perfectly blend into the terrain miraculously made of snow and wind, just as if birds flying in the sky or fish flowing in the stream.” The upshot of his philosophical approach to the sport (he calls it snow-surfing) is a line of boards renowned for their flexible fins, oversized sized fish tails and rideability in almost any snow condition.

The Taro Tamai custom line includes the Rocket Fish, Big Fish, Super Fish and the bamboo-core Giant Mantaray (pictured below, from left to right).

Previously only available in Japan, Gentemsticks made their U.S. debut last year, yet you can still only get a glimpse at a couple that live at San Francisco, CA’s Mollusk Surf Shop. Otherwise, they sell from their online store, or by making a direct email request. As long as you place yours before the July cut-off, they’ll hand-make it to your specifications.