Phil Casabon & Mike Hornbeck's

"All aboard midwest's snow safari featuring Michigan’s finest- Hornbeck and Milbocker as they take “Mista back to back gold medalist” Casabon on a ski journey through their home turf"

Skiing by: Phil Casabon and Mike Hornbeck
Filming by: Spencer Milbocker
Music by: Marco Noël & Antoine Lemieux
Titles by: Jack K Byers

Athletes

Mike Hornbeck Philip Casabon

Locations

Michigan

Mike Hornbeck

Mike Hornbeck, from Bangor, Michigan, has established himself as a key figure in urban and freeskiing thanks to his fluid style and creativity on rails and features. He rose to prominence in Level 1 films like Real Time and After Dark, later joining Armada and working on ambitious video projects with his own crew. A humble, hard-working Midwesterner, he’s balanced skiing with carpentry to support his family. A true street skiing icon, Hornbeck inspires with his straightforward, authentic approach, championing skiing as something accessible to everyone.

Philip Casabon

Philip Casabon, known to skiers around the world as B-Dog, is a Canadian freeski legend from Shawinigan, Québec, whose influence on street and park skiing spans more than a decade of groundbreaking video parts, signature products and era-defining style. He emerged in the late 2000s and early 2010s as a rider who could make complex tricks look effortless, pairing technical precision with a relaxed body language that reads clearly on camera and in person. While many athletes built careers around podiums, Casabon built a catalog around originality and storytelling, proving that progression in freeskiing is measured not just by spin counts, but by ideas, rhythm and the way a skier uses terrain. Casabon’s breakthrough years were intertwined with a creative partnership with Henrik Harlaut under the B&E banner, culminating in invitational events that showcased style, flow and unconventional features. Those projects amplified a philosophy that still guides his skiing today. Lines are designed like sentences with a beginning, middle and end. Approach speed is chosen to preserve cadence rather than to force difficulty. Takeoffs are decisive and axes are set early so rotations remain readable and landings ride away clean. The result is footage that ages well and remains instructive for younger riders studying how to combine rails, walls, gaps and banks into coherent sequences. The contest world eventually embraced video-based formats, and Casabon became a benchmark there as well. In X Games Real Ski he delivered all-urban segments that balanced heavy enders with subtle touches: nose and tail presses that carry real weight, surface swaps performed on imperfect steel, redirected spins that treat walls and banks as extensions of the rail line. Those edits demonstrated mastery of spot selection, logistics and risk management under tight timelines. They also highlighted a symbiosis with filmer and editor Brady Perron, whose eye for pacing and framing magnified Casabon’s skating-inspired approach to edges, balance and transitions. Equipment is a central part of Casabon’s story. His signature park and street skis became known for playful flex in the tips and tails, supportive underfoot platforms and shapes that feel neutral on unknown landing angles. He is meticulous about mount points that keep swing weight balanced without sacrificing landing stability, and he is vocal about edge durability, torsional support and base speed on contaminated snow. In boots, he gravitated to progressive designs that preserve ankle articulation and rebound for presses and quick recentering after surface changes. This product literacy turns gear into a creative partner rather than an afterthought, and it informs a steady stream of feedback to designers who translate rider needs into shapes and constructions that withstand urban abuse. Casabon’s training habits reveal why the style looks so effortless. Off snow he emphasizes hip and ankle mobility, single-leg strength for efficient pop on short run-ins, and trunk stability to manage off-axis rotations without letting the upper body flail. Trampoline and air-awareness sessions break big tricks into components, rehearsing set mechanics, grab timing and spotting before full-scale attempts. On snow he builds lines from low-consequence moves, scaling them patiently into heavy features once speed, angles and snow texture are predictable. That incremental method reduces injuries and preserves longevity in a discipline where impact tolerance is often mistaken for progress. Storytelling is another thread that runs through his career. Casabon treats each project like an album rather than a single, choosing music, color and pacing that serve the skiing. He shows the process in behind-the-scenes moments: shoveling and salting to control speed, testing inruns at dawn when light is flat but traffic is light, cleaning spots and restoring environments out of respect for neighborhoods. This transparency sets a standard for urban filming etiquette and keeps doors open for future crews. It also explains why his films are rewatchable; they offer both the satisfaction of heavy tricks and the narrative of how those tricks were made possible. Community impact rounds out his profile. Casabon mentors younger riders by translating complex technique into simple cues: align early on the inrun, commit to a clean set, keep shoulders calm through impact, and ride away with purpose. He is honest about fear management, using visualization and measured increments to turn nerves into information rather than noise. In camps and informal sessions he shares the small adjustments that create big gains, from binding ramp angle to edge bevels that keep rails viable on cold mornings. As freeskiing continues to evolve, Casabon remains a reference point for authenticity. He releases tightly curated video parts, appears at select events, and collaborates with brands in ways that preserve the integrity of his style while pushing product design forward. His legacy is not confined to medals or one winter’s highlight reel. It lives in a generation of skiers who learned that creativity can be systematic, that style is a skill built on fundamentals, and that a line that reads beautifully will always matter. For fans and aspiring riders, Philip Casabon stands as proof that street skiing can be both refined and raw, both disciplined and free, and that the most enduring progression happens when craft, culture and community move together.

Michigan

Michigan, while far from the towering mountains of the American West, holds a special place in the North American ski scene. Thanks to its cold climate and the lake-effect snow produced by the Great Lakes, the state enjoys consistent winter snowfall, making it a popular skiing destination in the Midwest. Skiing in Michigan dates back to the 1930s, with the emergence of small local resorts built on wooded hills and glacial terrain. The ski culture here runs deep, with many families passing the tradition down through generations. Among the most notable ski areas, Boyne Mountain and Boyne Highlands stand out for their modern facilities and relatively large size by regional standards. Nubs Nob is praised for its excellent grooming. Crystal Mountain offers a well-rounded experience with technical runs, family-friendly services, and lodging options. Mount Bohemia, located in the remote Keweenaw Peninsula, caters to expert skiers with its ungroomed, rugged terrain and wild atmosphere, often compared to that of Western backcountry resorts. Michigan represents a different side of American skiing: smaller-scale, family-oriented, and deeply rooted in local tradition. It's an accessible and welcoming option for those seeking an authentic snow experience in the heart of the Midwest.

Armada’s origin story is inseparable from the rise of newschool skiing. Instead of adapting race tools for creatives, the brand started with what riders actually needed: symmetric and directional twin tips that press, pivot, and land switch; floaty shapes for deep days; and durable constructions for rails and hard landings. Over two decades, the catalog matured without losing that voice. The brand joined a larger sports family later on, leveraging European manufacturing while keeping athlete-led development and media at its core. The result is a blend of indie energy and big-factory consistency. Product ecosystem Armada’s freestyle roots remain visible in the ARV series (all-mountain/park) and the women’s ARW line, built for playful daily laps that can handle everything from corduroy to side hits and rail gardens. Signature pro models such as the Edollo and BDog reflect two distinct philosophies of park skiing—pop and power versus buttery, press-friendly feel—while the JJ and its descendants carry the powder-freestyle torch with surfy rockered shapes and smearable tips and tails. On the freeride/all-mountain front, directional platforms add stability and edge hold for technical terrain and variable snow. For human-powered missions, the lightweight touring family uses lively wood cores and weight-savvy laminates to keep skintrack efficiency high without turning skittish on the descent. Construction and feel Durability and “feel” are through-lines across the range. Thick, impact-oriented edges, sintered bases that take wax well, and rubber damping in key zones help skis stay quiet at speed and survive seasons of abuse. Rocker-camber-rocker profiles are tuned by length and use case: more camber and contact length for resort drive, deeper rocker lines and tapered tips for soft-snow release. Mount points are thoughtfully chosen—center or near-center for park, more traditional for directional freeride and touring—so buyers can land on a predictable stance without fighting the ski. Boots, bindings, and compatibility Armada’s skis pair naturally with modern alpine and hybrid bindings, including models that allow efficient uphill travel and elastic downhill performance on one setup. Many riders run one-ski/one-binding quivers for travel and resort powder weeks, while park skiers opt for lighter alpine bindings with predictable release and solid elasticity for repeated switch landings. Athletes, media, and culture Armada’s team has long included influential freestylers and film leaders whose styles span urban, park, and backcountry freestyle. Pro models like the Edollo, BDog, Whitewalker, and various JJ iterations come straight from that collaboration loop: riders push lines in the streets or high alpine; product teams translate those needs into shape, flex, and construction tweaks; films and seasonal edits close the loop with proof on snow. The brand’s YouTube and social channels showcase this process with product walk-throughs, team movies, and behind-the-scenes clips that keep skiers connected to the why behind each ski. How to choose Resort-first skiers who split time between groomers, trees, and park will feel at home on ARV/ARW models sized to nose-eye height for agility; add length for stability if your speed runs high. Powder-minded riders who value playful line choice should look to JJ-style shapes for float and drift. Directional chargers who want bite on wind-buff and firm afternoons should target the all-mountain/freeride family with a slightly rearward mount. For touring, match waist width to your snowpack: narrower, lighter for big vert and spring missions; mid-fat for mid-winter soft snow with enough backbone for refrozen exits. Yes—Armada maintains an active YouTube presence, signature pro models tied to its athletes, and ongoing collaborations with film crews. The brand’s evolution from core freeski upstart to full-line manufacturer never abandoned its central idea: skis should be built around the way skiers actually ride.