As you might imagine Louie Vito and Kelly Clark took home the halfpipe cups and Sebastien Toutant and Spencer O’Brien grabbed cups for slopestyle. The above clip features the last Slopestyle event, if you were wondering. Watching it makes us wonder how much longer the Winter Dew Tour can keep sliding on? Next year we figure they’ll be down to just one winter event at Breckenridge.
For the complete results from the 2012’s last event in Ogden follow the jump. [click to continue…]
Sylven Walton, a 29-year-old snowboarder died at Jay Peak, Vermont died Saturday, February 12, 2012 after hitting a tree, according to a story in the Salem News.
Vermont State Police say Sylven Walton of Cambridge died of head injuries sustained in a fall at Jay Peak Ski Resort shortly before noon Saturday. . . Police say Walton fell on an expert trail and hit his head on a tree off the trail.
Walton was reportedly wearing a helmet at the time of the collision. Our thoughts are with Walton’s family and friends.
Editors’ Note: Sadly, this video has apparently been squashed by the copyright owners as A man says:
Vid got squashed. Weird. After a week and ~20K views? Red Bull media cops need to drink more Monster or something. Sleeping. I imagine Red Bull offices full of flatbrimmer MMA-looking monomaniacs stomping around half the time all aggro, frothing at the (lip-ringed and soul-patch decorated) mouths; and the other half on the flip side: hearts barely beating, those same bro-faces lying in puddles of neon puke. . . Doesn’t make sense to expect logical timelines or reaction from anyone who drinks that shit, so who knows what happened?
As if the Supernatural hasn’t gotten enough grief already, now comes the Trevor Reese Red Bowlface. And no, we can’t stop laughing. Thanks, a man.
686 has added a slew of new team riders in the last month. Minnesota’s Ryan Paul and Canadian Phil Jacques have joined the global pro team.
Hailing from the great state of Minnesota, Ryan has been a fixture on the rail jam contest circuit over the past few years, winning countless events and always showing up with his patented progressive moves and unique way of showcasing his style. His most recent accomplishment was a Silver X-Games medal in Street. Ryan reached the podium with 686 teammate, Forest Bailey, who took the Gold. . . As McCarthy says of Paul, “Ryan’s easy-to-approach demeanor and outgoing personality really makes him the person that he is, but his riding does all the talking. When we snowboard with him people stop to see what new ideas and creations that he has up his sleeve. RP always has a smile on his face and a progressive way to view the mountains in front of him.”
We saw Ryan slay it at Hot Dawgs & Hand Rails in September 2011. He’s the real deal for sure. For details on Jacques and the rest of the am additions follow the jump. [click to continue…]
Hossegor, France based and lushly inky print magazine Desillusion is celebrating their 10th year by honoring people who have influenced and inspired them over the past decade. First on the list is a six-part documentary on Trouble Andrew in association with Nixon.
This is Trouble, is a short documentary on the life and philosophy of Trevor Andrew, former pro icon of snowboarding, who is now pursuing a successful music career.
Follow Trevor arounds as he walks his large dog through the streets of New York, gets a tattoo, skateboards, and works on recording some music all in Desillusion’s grainy dark tones.
The one bar that the Supernatural event at Baldface February 4, 2012 set higher than any other was for hyperbole. What looked like an insanely cool freeride snowboarding contest became the greatest snowboarding event ever and a “game-changer” that completely rearranges everything we know about snowboarding competition when left in the hands of a squadron of energy drink promoters. Have “the last 30 years of snowboarding . . . inevitably led to this place?”
As everyone knows, Travis “Yeah, I won my own event” Rice won on a course he designed, at a mountain he choose, in front of judges he selected, at a made-for-TV event that he endlessly hyped. And what a storybook finish it was for his major sponsor to see him destroy the best snowboarders in the world (thanks for coming, guys) in front of the Brain Farm Cinema cameras.
The fact that Rice is arguably the best all mountain snowboarder in the world (and a good guy) who earned his contest win hardly even matters when it gets weighed down by all this. But hey, this is snowboarding designed to sell more caffeinated sugar water drinks, and that’s the way they do it, apparently.
On a not entirely unrelated note: the next time you invite all your friends to a party it would probably be in good form to leave at least one slice of pie for them.
Follow the jump for the complete results and official word from that drink sponsor. [click to continue…]
“Chip Wilson exemplifies the values of a visionary entrepreneur,” Peter Gustavson, founder and chair of the Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year Award committee, said in a statement Monday. “He turned a passion for health and fitness into a world-wide movement and has inspired countless others through his unique outlook and commitment to quality. His values permeate everything he does.”
The annual snow buying cycle is well underway and with it comes the nationwide on-snow demo tours. The Western Winter Sports Reps Association holds two separate events in California (in addition to their Northwest demo)—the Nor Cal demo was held at Alpine Meadows on Monday and Tuesday, February 6 and 7, 2012 and will end the week with two consecutive days for SoCal retailers at Mammoth Mountain on the 8 and 9th.
Though the WWSRA/SIA National Demo at Winter Park, Colorado was well attended, according to WWSRA Director Cami Garrison, this years buying cycle and subsequent demos have been a bit of an afterthought for many retailers struggling in the current season. “When I went to SIA we literally had only 40 people pre-registered for the Nor-Cal event,” she says. “But, as soon as we got back, bam—everyone started signing up.”
All told, Garrison had 256 people sign up ahead of time for the Alpine Meadows event and by the end of day one she gauged attendance at about 390. For $25 a person, retailers are able to test boards, boots, bindings, accessory items from the various rep and manufacturer booths set up in the parking lot at the base of the resort. The WWSRA also throws in free beers and a hot-dog lunch each day.
According to Derek Thompson story in The AtlanticVail Mountain’s revenue isn’t down at all this year. While we find that pretty hard to believe Vail Resorts CEO Robert A. Katz says that’s exactly how it is this year and that the reason revenue is not down is because Vail has made their business about much more than snowfall.
Vail and Whistler hedge against bad snow by turning skiers into members. “Just under 40 percent of our lift tickets come from season passes sold before the ski season begins,” Katz told me. For just under $700, skiers can buy the Vail Epic Pass, which offers total access to all six Vail Resort mountains.
In other words, Vail gets people to give them money ahead of time and then when no snow comes the resort doesn’t have to worry about it because they already got paid. Genius. And, since people have already paid they’re more likely to come stay in hotels and eat resort food even though the snow sucks. And that is reportedly good snow farming. . . or something. For the rest of the story, follow the jump.
Yesterday, we got to make a few laps with Burton’s Dave Downing and checked out the the new Anon M1 goggles with “Magna-Tech.” In the past swapping lenses usually resulted in fogged, smudged, and maybe even cracked lenses. We usually just get another pair of goggles before we swap out lenses. Those days are over with the M1. Magnets snap the lenses right into place just like that. . . rad.
