“Now, at its 25-year anniversary, the Arbor Collective releases “Crossing the Grain.” The film is a detailed account of how Arbor’s founders, Bob Carlson and Chris Jensen, launched the company into an extremely crowded mid-90’s market, as outsiders with a purpose. It documents the company’s struggles to find acceptance and success, as the industry consolidated in the early 2000s; to building a unique, collective path forward; to eventually earning a place as one of today’s the most innovative and enduring snowboard and skateboard brands.”
There are a lot of diehard Arbor Snowboards supporters out there who are going to dig this 45 minute documentary about their beloved company’s origin story going way back to 1995 when new board companies were a dime a dozen. With environmental conservation as their guiding principle two friends launched Arbor and became first action sports brand founded to focus on sustainability. Their charitable business model has been the inspiration for countless other brands (they were Toms before Toms) and their idealistic approach to creating products harmonious with the natural surroundings continues to push the industry in a positive direction in the 21st century.
