Beyond Medals - Making a Life of It
Beyond Medals has given the snowboarding world plenty to get excited about. A crew of exceptional riders, films with an appetite for the ridiculous, and outerwear that is almost as stylish as the tricks the crew puts down. With the 2027 collection rolling through the doors at Ballistyx, here’s a look at the friends behind the brand and why we back what they’ve built.
Kevin Bäckström and Tor Lundström have been riding together since their teens. At 15, they moved to Geilo, Norway, to attend a specialist sports high school combining academic classes with coached snowboard training. Picture a class timetable organised to get you on snow throughout winter, with homework following you to training camps and competitions. Kevin and Tor eventually earned places on the Swedish national team. Alongside their competition schedules, they started filming a web series with filmmaker Diggles. Launched in 2012 as BYND x MDLS, pronounced “Beyond Medals”, it followed their Olympic ambitions while celebrating everything they loved about snowboarding beyond the results.
When Kevin lost his place on the Swedish national team following some controversy, Tor chose to leave alongside him. With their sponsors’ support, they kept travelling, filming and riding with their friends. The name took on a new significance as they built their lives around the side of snowboarding that had always meant the most to them.
Cease and Desist is a good introduction to the company Kevin and Tor keep. Sebbe De Buck, Ulrik Badertscher, Ludvig Billtoft, Lolo Derminio, Nick Puenter and David Djite join them across Japan, North America and Laax, with enough individual style to make picking a favourite a difficult exercise.
Want more from the crew? We've rounded up their major snowboard films, from the early days to the gloriously ridiculous intros of today. Explore our Beyond Medals film archive.
The elaborate intro gives them another opportunity to get carried away, with their sense of humour getting as much attention as the riding. Follow it with the more recent Last Dance edit from Laax, where snowboarders and skaters including Tess Coady, Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, Lizzie Armanto and Tom Schaar get together for the kind of gathering you’d happily rearrange your winter around.
After years of annual film projects, Beyond Medals is giving its next movie two years. Tor says the longer production window lets the crew be more patient with trips and filming, easing the pressure to have everything finished for the Northern Hemisphere autumn. Kevin has welcomed having more time to develop the clothing too, having previously juggled designing the collection with editing the movie. There’s plenty happening; they’re giving themselves more time to get it right.
Through years of travelling and filming together, the crew developed plenty of opinions about what they wanted to wear on snow. BM began releasing apparel in 2015, followed by technical outerwear in 2022. Every collection develops through testing by the riders themselves, with samples worn on snow throughout the season. That gives the crew time to identify what needs changing through repeated use, from how a jacket sits to pockets that don’t work as intended. Their feedback goes back to Kevin and the design team to refine the fit, construction and details before the gear reaches the racks.
“An idea on a computer and a good snowboard product are two very different things.”
For 2027, my pick is the Denim Snow Pants. Baggy jeans with a 15K waterproof rating give the Canadian Tuxedo some staying power on storm days. There’s serious technical gear across the range too, with every piece carrying BM’s signature blend of style, attention to detail and functionality.
The commitment to making good stuff, keeping their friends involved and giving back to snowboarding is why we back Beyond Medals. We want good gear on the racks and people behind it who care about the culture that brought us here.
Explore Beyond Medals at Ballistyx online and in store today.
