One of “Da Greats”, or more apropos, Martin “Da Godfather” Gallant, has passed away after an extended battle with stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
Every snowboarding community has certain characters that embody the spirit of the scene and bring a welcome air of brevity and authenticity to every moment. In the case of Martin Gallant, it isn’t so much a community as it is a whole damn country..
After meandering out to Whistler from Montreal in 1991 in search of the infamous Blackcomb windlip, Martin would spend the next three decades breaking trail for every west-bound French Canadian boarder aspiring to take their freeriding to the next level. While his early career was rooted in halfpipe competitions, his real acclaim came in the media, including the centerfold of the October ’92 issue of TWSnow, which is quintessential Martin, a perfectly tweaked mosquito with snow flying and the hint of a smile escaping his mischievously charismatic snarl.
In 1993, having been pardoned from his captivity on the contest circuit by his sponsor, Kemper, Martin was asked to go on an unlikely trip back to Quebec for a Transworld feature story with photographer Eric Berger. While apprehensive at first, Martin realized it was a chance to ride with Bryan Iguchi, so he was in. This story and the accompanying Adventurescope Speak No Evil film clips of Martin and Bryan boardsliding amongst the old world Montreal architecture, document our sports' first ever rail trip, showing that “Da Godfather” was also a forefather of modern street riding.
After a bountiful career in front of the Transworld, Fall Line, Adventurescope, and Concrete Powder cameramen, Martin took his career trajectory into his own hands. In 2000, rather than rely on others to evangelize their exploits, Martin formed The Gathering Collective, originally titled Malevolent Productions, alongside his brother Pascal and collaborator Martin Gagne. The subsequent releases, including Triumph, Clockwork, Remorse Control, and Gong Show, showed that the only thing stronger than their accents was their ability to charge lines, spin off of cornices, and send every booter they could find in the BC backcountry. The Gathering Collective would provide an important platform for future snowboarding cinema icons like Mikey Rencz, Annie Boulanger, Eero Niemela, and DCP to arrive on the big screen.
The same full-bore approach that fueled Martin as a skateboarder and BMXer back in Quebec carried him forward in every endeavor and adventure he pursued henceforth. Whether going on vagabond surf missions in some third-world country for months on end or ripping around the coastal range on his snowmobile in search of an answer to the question “wheredalaunch”, Martin lived 10 lifetimes in his 52 years on earth. But for those who knew him, or knew of him, or benefited from his efforts without even knowing it, he is gone far too soon.
