TECHNICALLY DOING IT ALL OVER THE WORLD

It was August 2024 with temps around 90 degrees Fahrenheit in Manhattan when I saw videographer Luis Medearis strutting across Greene Street toward the Burton New York City Flagship Store. The Big Apple’s buildings were steadily trapping heat. Nevertheless, Lu looked cooler than an ice cap. He wore a pair of shiny, black Doc Martens, blue with white-patterned Gucci jacquard jeans, an upscale undershirt from Amsterdam-based, African heritage-inspired fashion brand Daily Paper, dark sunglasses and—to top off his 6-foot-3-inch frame—a bleached-blonde-tipped afro. The former college hooper’s hair had me wondering if he might be giving a nod to the boundary-pushing, beloved baller that was, is and always will be Dennis “The Menace” Rodman.

Two gold chains dangled around Lu’s neck. One secured a square pendant, the other a three-letter piece spelling “TDI.” The latter is an acronym for Technically Doing It, the name of the snowboard film crew turned company comprised entirely of people of color, which Lu himself founded four years ago and spearheads to this day. They are a driving force in a worldwide melanic movement in the mountains, one that’s slowly but surely diversifying predominantly white snowboarding communities for the better. It’s a contemporary yet core collective that challenges perceptions of who fits the bill to become a boarder.

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