Since I first placed my hand on the lip of a halfpipe nearly two decades back I have considered myself an avid practitioner of strong arm tactics. Three years ago Sammy learned his first handplant. The very next day we were dorking around on a mini-quarterpipe at Mammoth. Sammy wanted to show off his new found trickery. He dropped in switch, fully buttered 180 degrees in the tranny, then popped off the lip and stalled out a textbook andrecht. To this day I have yet to see anyone else combine the butter with the Andrecht. Asshole.
Don’t let the stoney surfer demeanor fool you, Sammy Luebke is a ruler of anything covered in snow and ice. With long hair equal parts hesh and hippy, and a constant smile that is genuine, Sammy takes his game to any and all terrain as a true blue mellow ruler who channels finesse instead of aggression.
As of late Sammy’s chosen outlet has been the steep and deep descents of the Northwest and Tahoe but he is equally at home on the transitions of Mammoth and metal of our nations more urban locales. If a time comes when a new type of snowboarding terrain is created or discovered Leub-job will probable destroy that too.
I haven’t spent too much time riding quarterpipes with Sammy since that depressing day three years ago, partially because handplants are for old farts like myself and Sammy has moved onto more manly pursuits and partially because I know he has learned frontside inverts. If he is buttering into those I fucking quit! Game over. Or maybe I’ll learn to butter into backside fives over Mt. baker death gaps! No, I’ll probably quit.
~ Pat Bridges, Snowboarder Magazine
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