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April, 2025

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Keep SuperUnknown unknown!

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stinky_cheese
Posts: 1221 - Karma: 5,175
apologies if this thread has already been made, but goddamn superunknown should be more unknown
its by far my favorite event of the year, but does anyone else feel like its losing its "unknown" element?
most, if not all the skiers in recent years have had some sort of sponsorships/brand deals and have made appearances at other big ski events.
maybe level1 already has turned people away that they consider too big for superunknown? this i do not know
i just think part of the beauty of the event is how it can cater to the small guys and make a real avenue for them to pursue skiing more fully whereas other more well-known skiers may already have that path more paved for them due to the fact that they have brand deals and are competing/participating in other events

i declare no conflict of interest
2 years ago
55 1
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SteezyYeeter
Posts: 3985 - Karma: -13,078
i agree
2 years ago
2 21
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steez_apprentice
Posts: 1085 - Karma: 7,469
stinky_cheeseapologies if this thread has already been made, but goddamn superunknown should be more unknown
its by far my favorite event of the year, but does anyone else feel like its losing its "unknown" element?
most, if not all the skiers in recent years have had some sort of sponsorships/brand deals and have made appearances at other big ski events.
maybe level1 already has turned people away that they consider too big for superunknown? this i do not know
i just think part of the beauty of the event is how it can cater to the small guys and make a real avenue for them to pursue skiing more fully whereas other more well-known skiers may already have that path more paved for them due to the fact that they have brand deals and are competing/participating in other events

i declare no conflict of interest


I agree with this for sure, I swear every skier in superunknown is sponsored and not exactly considered "unknown", but so much talent is out there nowadays that's sponsored and barely talked about. I'm sure it's hard for them to find skiers who aren't already wrapped under the wing of some ski brand deal/sponsorship
2 years ago
21 0
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Paul.
Posts: 1655 - Karma: 11,553
I think that’s a lot easier said than done. You gotta remember when superunknown started there was no social media. So there were tons of dudes out there that were ripping but werent in the movies/magazines so nobody knew who they were. These days theres thousands of ripping skiers out there and all of them are putting clips up on ig. The good ones gain a bit of a following, maybe some sponsors, but probably no money. Of course when a sick contest like SU comes around they are going to put their best clips together and try to make it to the finals. This could be their big break. Buuut you know who these guys are, you know they get free skis. Why should they be in superunknown if they arent unknown??

It’s a lot harder to classify what a ‘pro’ is these days. Where do you draw the line for someone to be “superunknown.” Is it whether or not they have sponsors? Is it based off ig followers? Sort of an impossible task. I am actually very curious to know if someone has been turned down for being too known.
2 years ago
36 0
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ben.bodett
Posts: 142 - Karma: 1,258
Taken from Level 1 website:

10% Personality
20% Technical Ability
30% Style
40% Overall Impression

I don't see 'degree of unknown' anywhere here in the judging criteria...probably umbrellas under overall impression.
2 years ago
20 1
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broto
Posts: 9040 - Karma: 25,673
Superunknown has been this way for a decade
2 years ago
10 1
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stinky_cheese
Posts: 1221 - Karma: 5,175
Paul.I think that’s a lot easier said than done. You gotta remember when superunknown started there was no social media. So there were tons of dudes out there that were ripping but werent in the movies/magazines so nobody knew who they were. These days theres thousands of ripping skiers out there and all of them are putting clips up on ig. The good ones gain a bit of a following, maybe some sponsors, but probably no money. Of course when a sick contest like SU comes around they are going to put their best clips together and try to make it to the finals. This could be their big break. Buuut you know who these guys are, you know they get free skis. Why should they be in superunknown if they arent unknown??

It’s a lot harder to classify what a ‘pro’ is these days. Where do you draw the line for someone to be “superunknown.” Is it whether or not they have sponsors? Is it based off ig followers? Sort of an impossible task. I am actually very curious to know if someone has been turned down for being too known.


thats what i'm thinking, like has level1 ever turned anyone away for being too "known"???

i agree though that now it is harder
2 years ago
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skierman
Posts: 8600 - Karma: 9,518
Maybe that's a sign to spend less time on instagram and tiktok, you pathetic pieces of shit.
2 years ago
29 4
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fredyferl
Posts: 2959 - Karma: 14,969
Paul.I am actually very curious to know if someone has been turned down for being too known.

It seems like it might've happen with Daniel Hanka a few years back, that's what people were saying in the comments
https://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/764667/Superunknown-XII-Honorable-Mention-Daniel-Hanka

**This post was edited on Mar 17th 2023 at 6:54:01am
2 years ago
5 0
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ski_salmon69
Posts: 1940 - Karma: 29,088
I’ll drop a superunknown next year for you
2 years ago
4 0
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PeteMahn
Posts: 1317 - Karma: 3,377
This started roughly 5 to 7 years ago and now it's not even worth getting annoyed over cause Level 1 has a bunch of Jabroni's doing the judging for entries.
Look how many times Sam Zahner was in finals plus how many submissions he had lol. Like 5 years in a row. The entries that are unknown also don't get the respect they deserve. Parker and White and Sean Logan both commented on this entry and were shocked like everyone else that it didn't make finals. The fact that this homie didn't make finals is insane compared to the kids waving their arms all around who don't know how to ski. Posted the entry below from 3 years ago that's still sick today.

https://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/957767/SuperUnknown-XVII-Semi-Finalist--Mathias-H--g--s
2 years ago
9 0
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Farmville420
Posts: 5156 - Karma: 67,049
PeteMahnThis started roughly 5 to 7 years ago and now it's not even worth getting annoyed over cause Level 1 has a bunch of Jabroni's doing the judging for entries.
Look how many times Sam Zahner was in finals plus how many submissions he had lol. Like 5 years in a row. The entries that are unknown also don't get the respect they deserve. Parker and White and Sean Logan both commented on this entry and were shocked like everyone else that it didn't make finals. The fact that this homie didn't make finals is insane compared to the kids waving their arms all around who don't know how to ski. Posted the entry below from 3 years ago that's still sick today.

https://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/957767/SuperUnknown-XVII-Semi-Finalist--Mathias-H--g--s


I still haven’t fully forgiven level 1 for this, I’m convinced they kept inviting him with 0 intentions of actually allowing him to win, they just wanted some bangers in their finals recap
2 years ago
7 0
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SteezyYeeter
Posts: 3985 - Karma: -13,078
skiermanMaybe that's a sign to spend less time on instagram and tiktok, you pathetic pieces of shit.


guys, let's help get skierman to positive karma! love you bae!
2 years ago
1 1
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IanAvery-Leaf
Posts: 9937 - Karma: 9,479
Farmville420I’m convinced they kept inviting him with 0 intentions of actually allowing him to win

if you mean the April shoot w/ the finalists, it's a fully rider-judged event. People vote based on overall impression mostly on but also off the hill, it's not a vacuum of just technical skill

if you mean before the event choosing between the semis and finalists, then yes that is up to Level 1 to decide

Personally speaking, I really like Mathius style and there's some excellent clips in that submission. Objectively speaking, based on the SU rules on Level 1's website, I'm assuming it didn't score as highly due to the repeated tricks, and being a 100% park edit doesn't help either. "Tricks cannot be repeated" is literally one of the bold bulleted paragraphs for the rules, so we can assume it's a significant factor for judging. Just casually watching I noticed switch 5 and lip 2 to sw have repeats, and there's also 2 similar switch 4 disasters, and various fairly similar jump tricks. He was probably pretty evenly scored with another finalist rider that had more variety in their entry and therefore edged out Mathius.

^I could be wrong w/ this assessment but it's my best guess

also speaking of Level 1's website, this is another important bulleted paragraph:
"Only amateur athletes are considered eligible for the SuperUnknown contest and prizes. How do we define “amateur?” Basically if you’re receiving money as part of a contract beyond equipment and travel support, you are by definition a “pro” and no longer eligible. If you get free skis or someone bought you a plane ticket to get to a contest you’re still good to go in our book. We reserve the right to disqualify entrants if we feel the rules are being bent too far or broken."
2 years ago
5 0
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Paul.
Posts: 1655 - Karma: 11,553
PeteMahnParker and White and Sean Logan both commented on this entry and were shocked like everyone else that it didn't make finals. The fact that this homie didn't make finals is insane compared to the kids waving their arms all around who don't know how to ski. Posted the entry below from 3 years ago that's still sick today.

https://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/957767/SuperUnknown-XVII-Semi-Finalist--Mathias-H--g--s

I mean it is an edit shot 100% in the park and also lacks any personality to it so I can see why it didn't make it to finals based on level 1's criteria. Don't get me wrong the skier has an insane amount of skill and a very clean style, but it's pretty well known that you probably wont do that well if you don't have any street or backcountry skiing in your entry. Do you remember where Parker and Sean Logan (Did you mean Chris?) commented that?

I remember them talking about something similar with LSM's entry on the Level 1 podcast. This was back before finals was an event and the whole comp was online. All the finalists were picked and LSM wasn't one of them, but Parker watched his vid and basically said that he should win, so he did
2 years ago
3 0
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Level1
Posts: 149 - Karma: 30,002
Paul.I think that’s a lot easier said than done. You gotta remember when superunknown started there was no social media. So there were tons of dudes out there that were ripping but werent in the movies/magazines so nobody knew who they were. These days theres thousands of ripping skiers out there and all of them are putting clips up on ig. The good ones gain a bit of a following, maybe some sponsors, but probably no money. Of course when a sick contest like SU comes around they are going to put their best clips together and try to make it to the finals. This could be their big break. Buuut you know who these guys are, you know they get free skis. Why should they be in superunknown if they arent unknown??

It’s a lot harder to classify what a ‘pro’ is these days. Where do you draw the line for someone to be “superunknown.” Is it whether or not they have sponsors? Is it based off ig followers? Sort of an impossible task. I am actually very curious to know if someone has been turned down for being too known.


Nailed it here. Social media arguably rendered the contest redundant. We keep running it because it's one of the most fun events of the year for us and everyone who attends. We always get great feedback from the attendants. But it it really necessary to discover new people?

Depends on who they are. People who don't like social media can benefit more. We bet most people hadn't heart of Mat Duff or Skye Clarke before they made it to Finals...

In this age, skis flow like water while the money does not. The "LINE Skis Team Mixtape" video has 72 people in it. 72!!!! We counted! Are all those people pro? You can bet your ass they aren't all getting paid. If we eliminated everyone from consideration who had a "brand relationship", there would be very few people left to consider for the event.

That said... we have turned down multiple people from consideration in the last two years because we felt they were too "pro"... whatever that means these days.
ben.bodettTaken from Level 1 website:

10% Personality
20% Technical Ability
30% Style
40% Overall Impression

I don't see 'degree of unknown' anywhere here in the judging criteria...probably umbrellas under overall impression.

Ben, you didn't scroll down far enough bro!

"Only amateur athletes are considered eligible for the SuperUnknown contest and prizes. How do we define “amateur?” Basically if you’re receiving money as part of a contract beyond equipment and travel support, you are by definition a “pro” and no longer eligible. If you get free skis or someone bought you a plane ticket to get to a contest you’re still good to go in our book. We reserve the right to disqualify entrants if we feel the rules are being bent too far or broken"

This language has been in the entry form as long as the contest has existed:

https://level1productions.com/blogs/news/superunknown-20-rules-and-entry-form
2 years ago
18 0
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Farmville420
Posts: 5156 - Karma: 67,049
IanAvery-Leafif you mean the April shoot w/ the finalists, it's a fully rider-judged event. People vote based on overall impression mostly on but also off the hill, it's not a vacuum of just technical skill

if you mean before the event choosing between the semis and finalists, then yes that is up to Level 1 to decide

So there's clearly a disconnect between who Level 1 likes and who the riders like, especially considering half of the superunknown rejects went on to form Strictly lol

I guess considering L1 used to actually send a whole group of people on film trips, I can see why that would be important though
2 years ago
4 1
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stinky_cheese
Posts: 1221 - Karma: 5,175
Level1Nailed it here. Social media arguably rendered the contest redundant. We keep running it because it's one of the most fun events of the year for us and everyone who attends. We always get great feedback from the attendants. But it it really necessary to discover new people?

even though social media has arguabaly "rendered the contest redundant", THANK YOU for still doing it

it's my favorite event of the year and I commonly binge watch my favorite edits from over the years every so often. all time fav has gotta be the final video from the year the mitchell brower won, but honorary mentions part 3 from XVIII with the DMX song and yungsnows crazy fs on the massive gap, and last years part 1 because the song was such a banger
2 years ago
9 0
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gvski13
Posts: 217 - Karma: 971
This is how I felt when bella bacon was on it when she had been named to the us ski team already. Badass favorite female skier but point to the thread
2 years ago
5 0
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gvski13
Posts: 217 - Karma: 971
This is how I felt when bella bacon was on it when she had been named to the us ski team already. Badass favorite female skier but point to the thread
2 years ago
5 0
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SmokedGouda
Posts: 1233 - Karma: 6,874
There’s always ForeverUnknown
2 years ago
3 0
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ski_salmon69
Posts: 1940 - Karma: 29,088
SmokedGoudaThere’s always ForeverUnknown


I ran ForeverUnknown last year and had a lot of intrest it seemed but nobody fucking entered
2 years ago
3 0
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GayWolf420
Posts: 38066 - Karma: 129,415
SmokedGoudaThere’s always ForeverUnknown

Liu Kangs and cork 5's
2 years ago
0 0
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