Justin Khoshnevis, a 31-year-old snowboarder from Los Alamitos, California died Tuesday, March 19, 2019 after going out-of-bounds at Mammoth Mountain, according to a story on KTLA.com.
Around 3:50 p.m. Tuesday, a 911 caller reported seeing someone fall from the cliffs above Twin Lakes, which is across from Tamarack Lodge and north of the popular backcountry chute “Hole in the Wall,” according to a statement from the Mono County Sheriff’s Office.
Some have mentioned that he had come down Dragon’s Back and may have been trying to ride Hole In The Wall, but was not in the correct zone. “Officials urged skiers and snowboarders to never ride alone through backcountry areas and to have the proper equipment. They should also have a plan and know the route.”
We’ve been out of the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association loop for more than a minute so please forgive our ignorance, but we were pleased to discover that SIMA is still doing an annual awards show. Yes, in 2019. Their 15th, apparently. And last night (March 20, 2019) they got their membership together for a “sold out” show at The Observatory in Santa Ana, California to pat (Parnell) each other on the backs for surviving another year and to swap awards for all the great work they’re doing.
Brands to grab awards included Vissla, Billabong, FCS, Vans, and a few others. There were 116 nominees from 41 brands. The breakout brand of the year award went to Seea. Who? Seea, you know, the swim brand that “is dedicated to the pioneering women who first braved the waves, and to every woman who has ever searched for a suit that is feminine, comfortable, and fun.” Now you know. Billabong was the night’s big winner with five awards. Quiksilver was nominated in six categories (eight if you count Roxy) and they didn’t win a thing. Volcom didn’t get a mention, and Hurley, well Hurley is no longer a member of SIMA, and you can’t win if don’t pay play.
SIMA even had an award from what’s left of surf media for something called the “Consumer Media Feature of the Year.” It was won by Stab Magazine for The Electric Acid Surfboard Test. The other media in the running were Surfer, Surfline, and something called The Inertia.
For the official word from SIMA including all the winners and nominees, please follow the jump.
Jake Phelps the loud, hard-living, punk rock, soul of skateboarding, and conscience of Thrasher Magazine for more than 26 years has died according to a March 14, 2019 post on the Thrasher website. He was 56.
“Jake Phelps was 100% skateboarder, but that label sells him way too short, because beyond his enormous influence in our world, he was truly an individual beyond this world,” said Tony Vitello, Publisher of Thrasher. “When loved ones pass we sometimes mythologize about their full lives rich in friendships and experiences. Sometimes we need to talk ourselves into believing it all. It makes us feel better, and helps us cope with the loss. Well, in the case of Jake, the task becomes wrapping your head around just how many lives one person could possibly live. He really did see it all, do it all, and that incredible brain of his could relish every last detail.”
So far his cause of death has not been released. Our thoughts are with the entire Thrasher family. And we mourn along with skateboarders around the world.
Monster Children (another surviving print magazine) and a blue-collar beer company invite you to FOOLS, a two man show by Porous Walker and Todd Francis featuring the artists’ mutual love of irreverence, bad situations, and bodily functions.
Shown will be all new works never before seen by mankind, as well as a large collection of unique, signed and numbered products designed as gifts for the April Fools in your life.
FOOLS launches with a March 21, 2019 opening at 1700 Naud, an evening that will be filled with music, food, laughter, and lamentation. It run until March 28th and is in partnership with Vans. For more details and to RSVP please click this link.
Just as the snowboard industry was getting used to the idea of a future without TransWorld Snowboarding in print, the brand announces that as of March 6, 2019 the entire brand is dead and over. In a post on the site someone explained it like this:
All good things, unfortunately, must come to an end, and effective March 6, 2019, TransWorld SNOWboarding has closed; the 32nd volume of magazines will be our last, and Kamikazu will be our final film. Over the coming weeks on our site and social channels we’ll publish tributes and reflections from the photographers, editors, filmers, and riders who defined the title over the years, so please check back regularly.
According to a Keith Kelly story in the NY Post, what is left of TWSnow will be “rolled into in-house rival Snowboarder” and go digital. So what’s left?
Only three titles — Bike, Surfer, and Powder — will survive with regularly scheduled print editions after 14 titles of The Enthusiast Network were quietly sold to American Media Inc. . . “We always viewed the Adventure Sports Network as an acquisition focused on significant digital scale and unparalleled experiential events,” said an AMI spokesman.
It’s good to see that at least an unnamed AMI spokesman has a plan for the recently purchased titles. We can’t wait to see how this all pans out.
There is nothing in this “how-to” video that anyone should ever do. Like ever. That hasn’t stopped Xavier De La Rue from pretending that with the proper step-by-step instructions you too can safely bomb icy death chutes in the French Alps just like he does. Seriously, don’t do any of this. But watch it, because it’s always good to see Xavier straight-lining vertical hockey rinks without dying. Isn’t it?
In letters to subscribers that began arriving in mailboxes the week of March 3, 2019, American Media Inc, the current owner of TransWorld Skateboarding and Snowboarding magazines announced that both publications will “no longer be published.” Adding insult to insanity, the company also promised to fulfill remaining subscriptions to the legacy titles with copies of their recently acquired (June 2017) magazine Men’s Journal.
Founded in 1983 by Tracker Trucks owner Larry Balma and Peggy Cozens, Transworld Media built a place where creative kids could flourish mostly undisturbed by outside forces. Aside from helping to usher in the modern board sports era and making skateboarding and snowboarding central to mass youth culture, TransWorld also served as a launch pad for innumerable success stories in fashion, design, photography, music, and filmmaking. Simply put Transworld’s contributions to pop culture cannot be overstated.
When we mentioned to a publishing executive that this must be what it feels like to outlive an era, he replied, “I think the era we have outlived is the era of niche media as corporate commodity. Doesn’t seem to work so well.”
And that is true. Independent action media brands like Thrasher Magazine and The Snowboarder’s Journal continue to thrive in print, suggesting that the end of print at TransWorld may have more to do with corporate greed/overhead than anything else. Then again, we have yet to see anyone under the age of 30 lamenting the news, so there’s that as well.
As for the future, TransWorld Skateboarding will live on as a digital property (the staff has already begun posting “thanks, but we’re still here” to their social media streams) and sources tells us that management is working out the details on how and/or which of the company’s two snowboard brands will be preserved online rolling forward.
We’d be more optimistic about Transworld’s digital future if it weren’t for AMI. Their reputation for always doing the wrong thing (along with their reportedly toxic CEO David Pecker) doesn’t bode well for the brands.
Through all the sadness we are cheered by the fact that these magazines lasted 20 years longer than we thought they would when we first began preaching the digital revolution. Good work. And, as this has all happened before (remember Skateboarder Magazine and Action Now?) we’re looking forward to what the next generation of creative kids will assemble out of the wreckage.
It’s barely March and already the resort industrial complex is inundating us with marketing for their super-mega season passes for the winter of 2019-2020. Really? Already? Why are they doing this and what does it mean all mean? We’re glad you asked.
Before we dive in let’s make one thing clear — obviously if you ride 20 days a year or more at the same few resorts owned by the same corporation then buying a super-mega pass is a no-brainer. Spend the $950 and get on it. If, however, you enjoy controlling your own money, waiting for good snow, and riding different resorts all season long, here are a few things you might want to consider before shelling out hard earned cash on an Epic or Ikon pass.
The corporations that run ski resorts in North America (Alterra Mountain Company and Vail Resorts) have very sound business reasons for selling super-mega season passes and they have nothing to do with giving you a good deal. They’re not interested in saving you a boatload of money. And it’s not because they’re putting their guest’s needs first. It all comes down to three main goals:
They want your money now. Not next year. Now!
They want ALL your money. Resorts don’t want you to spend a dime with their competitors (or competitor as the case may be in North America).
They want to offload all their weather related business risks to you so they won’t have to worry as much when a bad snow year strikes.
Once you understand this, the whole mega-pass gambit makes more sense — for the resorts. Look at the way they promote their mega-pass sales. It’s like they’re setting up a con. First, they manufacture scarcity to increase perceived value: “This special deal is available for a limited time only.” We’ve all see the emails, “You have one more week to lock in savings.” “Hurry, this deal won’t last forever.” Why won’t it last? Good question. It could last all season. There’s nothing stopping the resorts from selling super-mega passes all season long. It wouldn’t even be that bad a deal for them. People who bought passes later in the year would have fewer chances to use them. You’d think resorts would do that. But selling passes later in the season doesn’t get your money a year in advance and lock you into their resort for the entire season, and it certainly doesn’t protect resort owners from the specter of a bad snow year.
Ten years ago, Sun Bum (the sunscreen company) released a vinyl toy version of their ape mascot Sonny. And now, to celebrate that moment they’re releasing a limited edition of five inch vinyl collectables featuring their surf athletes Julian Wilson, Filipe Toledo, Zak Noyle, Malia Manuel, Barron Mamiya, Bede Durbidge, Kyuss King, and Rasmus King.
We didn’t know this until we read the Hypebeast interview, but surf photog Zak Noyle is the one responsible for the figurine in the first place. According to Hypebeast, the “vinyl toys will be available in surf shops as a limited-time only gift-with-purchase (GWP) for any Sun Bum purchase of $30 USD or more.” So snap ’em up if you need a couple for your desk at work.
Lately, we’ve been wondering what it’s been like for that small group of action sports media professionals who survived the AMI takeover of The Enthusiast Network. How is working for Trump pal David Pecker?
So far we’ve heard nothing from inside the building, but The Daily Beast posted a profile on March 2, 2019 titled How David Pecker Built His Tabloid Empire on Fear that might give some insight into how it could be going for those who still remain. The old story, written nearly two decades ago, suggests that Mr. Pecker has morphed his management style very little over the past 20 years.
