In this video I’m digging into a question that’s been floating around snowboarding for years: has the sport “sold its soul,” and what does “core” even mean anymore? I use current examples—Armada stepping into snowboards, Dope/Montec blowing up in outerwear, Volcom getting bought, and even $1,000 bindings—to show how messy the brand landscape has become. The point isn’t to dunk on any one company; it’s to look at what these moves signal about money, fashion, and identity in snowboarding. My take is simple: “core” isn’t a logo, a price tag, or a gate-kept aesthetic—it’s community. A lot of the old “core” narrative got tied to exclusivity, and I was never cool enough for that version of snowboarding anyway. I talk about how trends can dictate who gets seen as a “real” snowboarder, why the act of snowboarding alone isn’t always enough to build a healthy scene, and why affordability and inclusion are what actually keep the sport alive. By the end, I’m done with the purity test: if you’re in it for the love of sliding on snow, that’s the thing worth protecting.