As part of The Hundreds’ “Garage Brands” series Anthony Pappalardo recounts the story of Dave Bergthold and Blockhead Skateboards. It is a good story of skateboarding, Sacramento, and staying true to a dream no matter what.
“I wanted to work in skateboarding, because that’s all I cared about,” he said. “Skateboarding was absolutely fucking dead at that point,” he [Bergthold] said of the industry landscape of the industry in 1985. “There were magazines and there was a scene, but you could count the number of skateboard companies on your fingers and toes. I was working delivering pizzas and saved up about $3,000. I ended up buying a batch of boards—about 60 decks total, because that’s what they [Uncle Wiggly] could make a day. I decided I needed an ad in Thrasher, so people would take me seriously. I don’t remember how much it cost, but it had to be around $800, so I spent almost a quarter of my budget just on this one ad.”
Thanks to his dedication Dave B. is still working in skateboarding and you can still buy a Blockhead skateboard. For a better understanding of why this is such a good thing, read the rest of the interview by clicking the link.
Capita Snowboards and adidas Snowboarding share a rider. His name is Kazu Kokubo. So why not share some branded product as well? No reason, really. So here it is — a Adi-Trek Capita shoe and Coaches Jacket — inspired by Kazu’s board graphics which were created by world renowned tattoo artist Gangi of Three Tides Tattoo.
The Adi-Trek Capita shoe is a winterized skate shoe that features a cozy fleece lining and a grippy vulcanized outsole for precise board feel. The shoe’s gusseted tongue is water resistant to withstand harsh weather conditions and the EVA sockliner with customized warrior graphic provides additional cushioning and support. The Capita Coaches Jacket is a lightweight, water-resistant jacket featuring monochromatic detailing complete with Kazu’s signature bird logo on the jacket’s back.
This smashing combo goes on sale October 1 at specialty retailers in the US and on the adidas snowboarding website: $90 for the shoes, $95 for the jacket. Go Capita!
After nine days of world-class competition in the Azores, Team France emerged victorious at the 2016 VISSLA ISA World Junior Surfing Championship. The Team Gold Medal is the first for France in the history of the ISA World Junior Surfing Championship and the first in the Olympic Surfing era.
In the individual competition USA’s Caroline Marks (Girls U-16), France’s Thomas Debierre (Boys U-16), Hawaii’s Brisa Hennessy (Girls U-18) and Brazil’s Weslley Dantas (Boys U-18) were crowned Gold Medalists.
“Congratulations to the Team Gold Medalist, Team France, and the individual Gold Medalists Caroline Marks, Thomas Debierre, Brisa Hennessey and Weslley Dantas,” said ISA President Fernando Aguerre. “These surfers will forever be the very first ISA Junior Gold Medalists in the Olympic Surfing era. As all the other ISA competitors, they surfed in true Olympic spirit and showed amazing team camaraderie as they competed for the honor of representing their countries.”
For the official word from the ISA, please follow the jump.
NorCal surfer Kai Lenny puts a series of iPhones through a “surf test” to see just how well they hold up. The iPhone 7’s new water capabilities seem to win the day. Maybe it’s finally time to upgrade. . .”Sorry bro, I’m not talking to you, I’m on a call.”
The Lunada Bay Boys are going to be down one clubhouse on the point after the Palos Verdes Estates Planning Commission voted unanimously last night (September 20, 2016) to tear the fort down, according to story in the LA Times.
. . . the structure [was] used by the notorious Bay Boys, a self-appointed gang of enforcers who people from outside the upscale community have, for decades, accused of using violence and intimidation to keep them away from the famous surf spot. . . The commission approved the motion unanimously and without comment. No one from the public spoke on the matter.
Guess the men will have to move their weekly surf protection meetings to one of their parents’ rec rooms.
We haven’t really been on the shark attack beat so rigorously lately, because really, how many stories does anyone want to read about New Smyrna Beach, Florida. But Sunday, September 18, 2016 will go down as one of the sharkiests of days in shark bite city, according to the International Business Times (yeah, they’re chumming for link bait, too).
In the space of five hours sharks attacked three surfers at a single Florida beach, while a teenage boy was bitten on a second beach.
If you want the chomp-by-chomp coverage click the link. The good news is no one is dead. The bad news, is that Volusia County’s attacks this year are tracking up from last year. If you can believe it.
It’s been a long time, but Gary is still at it with the Skateline NBD, mixing up talk of hookers, Jesus, and skateboarding. As usual, he has all the bases covered.
GoPro founder Nick Woodman unpacked a drone load of product today (including the company’s long-awaited financial hail mary, the Karma drone) during a press conference at Squaw Valley Resort, California. In addition to the drone, the list includes a new line of Hero5 cameras, and a cloud-based software package designed to make accessing GoPro’s huge files much easier.
“With these new products, we’re delivering on our promise to make it easy to capture and share engaging stories,” said Woodman. “HERO5’s ability to auto-upload photos and videos to a GoPro Plus account dramatically simplifies mobile, on-the-go editing, sharing and enjoyment. This is a game-changing experience that we will continue to build upon.” Woodman adds, “We’re stoked to launch Karma and show how much more it is than a drone. Karma packs Hollywood-caliber aerial, handheld and gear-mounted image stabilization into a backpack for $799. It’s so easy to use, a beginner can have fun straight away.”
While we’re personally sick and tired of our neighbors continually flying their drones over our house (net gun?), this GoPro Karma will certainly integrate well with GoPro’s line of cameras and looks to be great for RC hobbiests. The move to the cloud is a step in the right direction as GoPro looks to move their business past hardware an into digital services. For the official word from GoPro, please follow the jump.
Lately, we’ve been on the “more Boa, less laces” program when it comes to snowboard boots, yet Vans’ Pat Moore Infuse boot appears to have the best of both retention systems: Boa and lace. And that’s only the beginning of the adjustments that are possible with this boot.
“I use all of the customizable features of the Infuse as my season evolves,” Moore says. “This last season, I set up a new pair by heat molding the liners and using the Boa and lace system to wear the boots at a medium flex to ride park and street. Switching to backcountry, I put in the tongue stiffeners and crank the Boa down to add support for powder riding. Then, when it’s time for spring slush conditions, I take the tongue stiffeners out for a loose boot to just mess around and have fun in.”
And really, who doesn’t need a good tongue stiffener every now and again. For the official word from Vans, please follow the jump.
You have four days left to enter to win the chance to skate with the original Bones Brigade as they celebrate their 30th Anniversary at a secret Southern California location on September 30, 2016.
How do you enter? Click here and then each time you donate $10 to the Tony Hawk Foundation, you are entered to win a spot. The more you donate, the more chances you have. Here’s what you’ll win:
All-day excursion to participate/bear witness to BONES BRIGADE history being made at a secret Southern California location on Friday, September 30, 2016 (Guests will meet in Los Angeles).
Dinner with the Bones Brigade
A load of swag from the Tony Hawk Foundation and the BONES BRIGADE
A professional photographer will capture the experience, and photos will be made available to guests after the event
One-hundred percent of the proceeds from this experience will benefit the Tony Hawk Foundation to further its mission to bring free public skateparks to at-risk youth throughout the U.S. Oh, and if you’d don’t like risk and want to be sure you’re at the event, you can purchase two spots for $7,000. Click the link for more info.
