After 18 years and introducing over 6,000 kids from historically forgotten communities to action sports STOKED founder Steve Larosiliere is stepping down as president and moving to a new role on the organization’s board of directors. The new president is Dr. Patricia Charlemagne.
[Charlemagne] is a seasoned nonprofit executive with an amazing track record. She’s also an attorney and just received her doctorate in education and organization leadership from the University of Pennsylvania.
The BBC questioned Burton Snowboards China CEO Craig Smith on why the company continues doing business in Xinjiang, China in spite of reports of human rights violations a.k.a. genocide in the region.
Human rights groups believe China has detained more than one million members of the Uyghur minority community against their will over the past few years in a large network of what the state calls “re-education camps”, and sentenced hundreds of thousands to prison terms.
Obviously, China is big business and that is the reason Burton, Tesla, and Intel and many other global brands are there. For his part Smith said that human rights are not his area of “expertise.” A nervous, stumbling interview for Smith and a serious problem for Burton and many other companies as well. But profits do come first. It’s only business afterall.
Smith has added 21-year-old Australia big air and slopestyle snowboard pro Tess Coady to their global snow team.
“Tess brings a truly unique style, personality, and flare to snowboarding that keeps us on the edge of our seats before she drops into each run. This x-factor mixed with her pure love for the sport is infectious. We’re thrilled to introduce Tess as a member of the global SMITH team and proud to have her passion and talent representing female athletes in Australia and around the world” said Thomas Edgar, SMITH Marketing Manager, Australia.
For all the official details from Smith, please follow the jump.
Gotta give Emerald credit. They’re definitely doing all they can to get people to their Outdoor Retailer Snow Show in Denver January 26-28, 2022 (a.k.a. the peak of the Omicron wave).
OR and the Board Retailers Association are reportedly giving away three nights free lodging in a convention center adjacent hotel room if you are a member of BRA and were planning on going to Denver, but cancelled because it was too expensive. Here’s the official word:
Were you planning to go to the OR-Snow Show January 26-28 but don’t have enough funds to pull it off? BOARD RETAILERS ASSOCIATION AND OUTDOOR RETAILER ARE OFFERING “SCHOLARSHIPS” TO HELP YOU AFFORD A TRIP TO DENVER FOR THE SHOW! As a BRA Member you can qualify for 3 complimentary nights at hotels near the Convention Center at the Outdoor Retailer Snow Show. Over $600.00 value! Email doug@boardretailers.org to confirm that you qualify and are added to the recipient list.
Not sure that would do it for us, but if you’d like to go, please hit them up. We’re still waiting for the winter show to move back to Las Vegas where it belongs!
Not that we’re on some VeeCo kick, but they keep doing things that seem relevant to us. Not sure if that’s good or bad for the brand, but their recently released Down For This 30th anniversary edit it worth checking out.
If you remember when Volcom was the newest action brand pushing the concept of youth boarding culture, then you’re old. If you’d like to reclaim some of your youth by watching old Volcom video footage in its original format, then here are a few of the classics currently for sale online (some at ridiculous prices).
Volcom has decided to ante-up and purchase the rights to outfit the 2022 US Olympic Snowboarding Team.
“The Volcom team is honored to be the official uniform provider for the U.S. Snowboard Team and provide for world-class athletes on snowboarding’s biggest global stage,” said Ryan Immegart, CMO of Volcom and Liberated Brands. “Volcom was the first brand to combine the cultures of surfing, snowboarding, skateboarding, music and art and the original pioneer of the action sports industry. Thirty years later, Volcom’s ‘True To This’ spirit comes to life through these uniquely designed uniforms created exclusively for some of the world’s greatest snowboarders.”
A little OG VeeCo 90s punk patterned power suits with knees patches? Volcom really does mean business. Click play for the entire announcement. How do you think they look? Leave a comment.
Former pro snowboarder Trevor Jacob (heir to the Ski Tote fortune) has reportedly had a plane crash called into question. Some suggesting that the crash may have been staged to increase his YouTube video views, (yes, we’re helping him get more right now), according to a story on OutThere Colorado. Someone has pointed out a few inconsistencies in Jacob’s “I had to bail from the plane” video including:
Instagram user @enbm_spotting made this comment on Jacob’s post, raising some of the common arguments of people who are accusing him of crashing on purpose:
“1. You did not troubleshoot the power loss.
2. You had all the cameras angled to not show any of the perfect landing sites underneath the plane when you bailed.
3. You were wearing a skydiving parachute and altimeter.
4. You bailed instead of landing at any of the landing sites, all of which you had more than enough altitude to glide into.
5. You made sure to grab a selfiestick before bailing.
6. You intentionally landed close to the aircraft to retrieve the GoPros.
This is all pure BS. Go find cheaper and better things to intentionally destroy than a vintage T-craft.”
So far the video has been viewed 372,146 times (and the comments have since been turned off), so maybe Trevor’s plan is working. That has not stopped other pilots from commenting, however. Here’s a pretty good breakdown from a Tuber named Jay Alaska:
Here’s another take. . . Begging the question, shouldn’t Trevor get Google ad credit for all the views other people’s comment videos are garnering from “reaction” videos? Penguinz0’s has 2.5 million views (almost triple Trevor’s original video). And the fact that PenguinZ has 9.75 million followers is more frightening than anything Trevor has ever done, however, all to the point the Jacob has attained viral success no matter how you shake it.
It’s a New Year. Time to bury those old habits, get out the list, and start working toward the new you in 2022. Or, just grab another Indian Summer Latte and scroll through this list of stories that you should have read last year. We’d put them in order of importance, but that would take way too much time and it would eliminate the joy you’ll find discovering a story you didn’t know you wanted to read. Take it away.
Mountain High, SoCal’s closest resort, had its largest Santa Sunday on December 19, 2021. The resort hosted 275 Santas dressed in red coats and flowing white beards and raised $21,800 for Christmas Cheer All Year.
This is Mountain High’s 6th Annual Santa Sunday event. Any Santa who dress in costume and made a minimum $20 donation to Christmas Cheer All Year received a FREE Adult Lift Ticket worth $119. This event was open to men and women, skiers and snowboarders, Grinchs and Santas alike.
Wonder if any ho ho ho plants were done? We’ll have to check the photos later.
Mark Carter gives us a bit of a mention this week during his episode of The Bomb Hole podcast. Turns out we all might do things differently had we the chance to do it over. We’re glad he made it through those rough times. Here’s the skinny from Grenier and E-Stone:
Rancher/cattle driving in the summer pro snowboarder in the winter! This week we talk farming, cattle, hunting, being a different kind of pro snowboarder, grounding yourself, hanging with Timberlake and Sir Elton John, Facing jail time, snake milking, river dicking and so much more. Mark Carter is one of the most unique pro’s you will meet join us and hear first hand how this Cow Boy from Wyoming became a pro holding sponsors into his 40’s and beyond.
Mark is another reminder of how many good people there are in snowboarding. But then, you already knew that. Listen up!
Smith has added 21-year-old Australia big air and slopestyle snowboard pro Tess Coady to their global snow team.
Gotta give 
