Catching air time with a board pro

P3: Pipes, Parks

and Powder

Todd Richards, Eric Blehm

Regan Books, $24.95

*

Elite snowboarder Todd Richards’ memoir, written with Eric Blehm, describes his early days of too-short-for-sports skaterdom and proceeds to the ramen days of the aspiring professional snowboarder and finally, to the pinnacle of success: making the cover of snowboarding magazines, winning contests, traveling the world and raising a family.

“P3” rarely goes beyond what snowboard magazines already offer. It’s a clumsy crossover attempt that dilutes the authors’ perspective on the rise of snowboarding from rebel badge to mainstream commodity.

The competition to develop new tricks is expansively told over 283 pages of photos and text. Richards’ journey through relationships and party-drenched times, however, is granted only a few unrevealing paragraphs. The book feels designed for insiders -- the names of tricks (fakie 720, anyone?) are rattled off like they were brands of cola. But the real question is: Will snowboarders stray from the magazine rack long enough to notice?

*

Emmett Berg