Michael Chilton speaks about snowboard design with fervor and sounds like half-scientist, half-surfboard shaper. Risk has paid off for him, even if a professor once suggested otherwise.
“It’s a full circle type thing,” says Michael Chilton, when he explains the path to his current position as RIDE’s snowboard designer. This job was the reason he went to school for mechanical engineering, but somewhere along the way, Chilton listened to a risk-averse professor who told him to “keep snowboarding as a hobby.”
Before RIDE, he spent time working on renewable energy projects. “I made decent money, and it was a great project and initiative, but I didn’t have the passion I expected I should for something like that.”
Before RIDE, he spent time working on renewable energy projects. “I made decent money, and it was a great project and initiative, but I didn’t have the passion I expected I should for something like that.”
When Chilton talks about board design, however, he speaks with fervor and sounds like half-scientist, half-surfboard shaper. But, of course, shaping is science, and it’s that calculated approach applied to his core passion for snow and the mountains that has made Chilton one of the most prolific and well-respected snowboard engineers of the current era.
“The thing that gets me most hyped is figuring out the little things that make a board ride better,” Chilton says. “And you don’t notice them until you’ve spent a s--- load of time on your computer, then you go out and ride it. That realization in noticing what little things affect your riding—to me that’s so cool,” Chilton declares, before continuing. “Not to mention that I get to work with [Jake] Blauvelt, and Hana [Beaman], and Jill [Perkins], and Dan [Liedahl], and all these people throughout the season. I still get starstruck through all of it.”
But as fortunate as Chilton is to work with a stacked roster like RIDE’s, that team is just as lucky to work with a design savant like Chilton. Collaboration has been critical. Maybe no board in the line has been as much a team effort between designer and rider as the Berzerker. It was his first project at RIDE, and one that has evolved through tweaks and innovation. After two years of experimentation with taper across 25 prototypes, the newest iteration of Blauvelt’s board features eight millimeters of it. “We wanted taper, but his original inspiration pushed us away from taper. No board I’d ridden had accomplished what he wanted.”
“The thing that gets me most hyped is figuring out the little things that make a board ride better,” Chilton says. “And you don’t notice them until you’ve spent a s--- load of time on your computer, then you go out and ride it. That realization in noticing what little things affect your riding—to me that’s so cool,” Chilton declares, before continuing. “Not to mention that I get to work with [Jake] Blauvelt, and Hana [Beaman], and Jill [Perkins], and Dan [Liedahl], and all these people throughout the season. I still get starstruck through all of it.”
But as fortunate as Chilton is to work with a stacked roster like RIDE’s, that team is just as lucky to work with a design savant like Chilton. Collaboration has been critical. Maybe no board in the line has been as much a team effort between designer and rider as the Berzerker. It was his first project at RIDE, and one that has evolved through tweaks and innovation. After two years of experimentation with taper across 25 prototypes, the newest iteration of Blauvelt’s board features eight millimeters of it. “We wanted taper, but his original inspiration pushed us away from taper. No board I’d ridden had accomplished what he wanted.”
And while a feat of design, the Berzerker can be categorized as a modern traditional snowboard. The Warpig, another Chilton creation, is not. Now wildly popular, the board began as an offbeat design that no one but Chilton believed in until they rode it. “Everyone has in their head the board that they like to ride. The riskiest thing is making anything different from the norm.” That risk has paid off.
The norm is something snowboarding has always sought to deviate from. “But no one wants to look stupid out there,” Chilton points out, "so it’s hard to dance on the fine line of making something unique and different without being lame.” The Warpig's success has spawned new models, all designed by Chilton with direct feedback from the team, and the effect on snowboarding can be felt even outside the RIDE line. Risk usually pays off for Chilton, even if a professor once suggested otherwise.
To check out more of Michael's personal work, find him on Instagram @chil_ton
The norm is something snowboarding has always sought to deviate from. “But no one wants to look stupid out there,” Chilton points out, "so it’s hard to dance on the fine line of making something unique and different without being lame.” The Warpig's success has spawned new models, all designed by Chilton with direct feedback from the team, and the effect on snowboarding can be felt even outside the RIDE line. Risk usually pays off for Chilton, even if a professor once suggested otherwise.
To check out more of Michael's personal work, find him on Instagram @chil_ton