Quite honestly, I know this message is going to get flamed to hell, but that's how things work. I hate Line. They have a bunch of shitheads running their company and they aren't grassroots like they claim to be. For all of you who don't know, I'm Charles and I ran/will be running jibbing.com and Line had an incident with me that made me lose the little bit of respect I had for that company.
Just before last year's season, I got a hold of the graphics for their future line up of skis which were actually being demoed at the time and the pros had them for probably 4 months before. But god forbid, Line shit a brick when I exculsively posted that pic on my webpage. I was threated several times to be sued and I was being 'hunted' down by both Jay Levinthal and his shitface sidekick who is probably the biggest asshole I have ever talked to, Dave Parrish. This management team does not understand how to handle a problem in a professional kid and has no respect for the media out there. That is a bad way to run a business and I highly disrespect them for that. Grassroots companies don't go out and try and fuck up other small companies.
Another good reason is their skis. This isn't so much a hate, as a mistake I believe Line makes. Line skis are made for the park. Now, I believe Line makes skis that perform well in the park. They may not be constructed to top notch, but neither are some of long time ski manufacturers K2s. That's understandable. Especially considering they haven't been making skis and ski type equiptment for 30-40 years like some companies making skis. Now, a twin tip is fairly simple technology and its something a small company like Line and their fairly unknowledged Jay Levinthal as compared to some of the ski engineers out there, can handle. When Line promoted the Ostness Dragon (193cm monster), and the Mothership, I thought that was the most retarded thing I had heard of. Big mountain skis are near the most technical skis you can by (next to racing skis). Line had no room in the market and wasted much money on a ski that couldn't perform. This was an area they should have left to the big names, because they aren't as knowledgable in that area.
Mike Nick was mentioned. I can tell you why I don't particularly like him. First of all, I don't like his style which is strictly a personal thing. I don't think skis are supposed to be like inline skates. Therefore I think Lui-Kangs are not a trick that looks stylie on skis. This is my own thoughts, not a reason for someone else to not like him. I also think that he's the biggest trend follower there is. In the 2001 Winter XGames, he flat out didn't belong there and some talented skier out there lost a spot to him. He was a publicity stunt by ESPN to bring the skiboarders to the event and to see it on TV. That's why that happened. It worked. And as suspected, Mike Nick ended up on twins and so did almost all of the skiboarders out there, as they followed their hero. That's cool, more sport. And also, quite personally, I don't like his attitute at all. I have had few personal experiences with him, however I have friends who have said he is a rude bitch at times, and a nice guy at others. Also, his previous attitues toward skiing as mentioned above about the quote from SB1 makes me wonder what the fuck he is doing in our sport that he thought was gay only a few years ago. Most of these are personal opinions and are not reason for others to base their opinions on.
I hope you don't take this as a fuck line post. Its just my experience. The thread was asking why Line is dissed on. This my reasons why. I guarantee you I will never buy a ski, wear a shirt, or have anything to do with that company. I won't review their skis ever, because I know it will be incredibly biased. So biased, I will probably have Dave Parrish tracking me down so he can treat me like a 5yr old again and tell me how stupid I am and how smart he is. I have better things to do than be bossed around by a 'grass roots' company.
