Utah snowboarder Alecsander Barton, 24, died Saturday, Janaury 28, 2012 after being buried in a self-triggered 700-foot-wide avalanche after dropping in from the top of Kessler Peak, according to a story in the Deseret News.
Barton’s death came on the heels of a slew of avalanche warnings prompted by heavy snowfall and weak snowpack. . . “The backcountry conditions are extremely dangerous,” Hoyal said. “This is a sad reminder for people to know that conditions are so extreme right now that people need to stay out of the backcountry.”
Barton was riding with two friends at the time of his death, and though they were not buried and had proper avalanche equipment it was not enough to save Barton’s life. Our thoughts are with Barton’s family and friends.
Day two of the 2012 SIA Show in Denver began with sunshine and partly cloudy skies, but by 10:30 AM Downtown Denver was engulfed in a classic mid-winter snowstorm making getting to the show a lot more like getting to the lifts. But it is the Snow Show, right?
On day two the mood of the show began to make itself more known. Traffic is definitely down in the aisles. Booths that last year were a non-stop parties are quiet and business-like. The parties that last year required pushing, shoving, and friend calling to get in were casual walk-ins this year.
While those at the show are doing business and brand reps have been busy showing lines, a snowless December really did its damage to the shops. As one retailer told us, “Fall was great. But December was terrible. January is right back to normal, but we’ll never be able to make up for December.”
An overall mood of caution seemed to hover over every discussion and it seems that trickled down to the parties as well. That said, the slight drop in hype made everything that much easier to negotiate.
We’ll continue to add more images to these galleries, so check back often for updates. For live updates during the day be sure to follow us on Instagram @Boardistan or Twitter @boardistan or on Facebook.
Travis Rice (above with C-3 President Bob Gundrum and Union’s George Kleckner) has added Union Bindings to the list of brands he whole-heartedly supports. During his Transworld Riders’ Poll acceptance speech Rice let everyone know he was on the program.
It’s amazing what Union has been able to achieve in the past eight years. More than just making the best bindings on the market, they have created a successful business with family values. I’m very proud and honored to join the incredible Union team.”
Rice joins Dan Brisse, Jess Kimura, Danny Kass, Gig Rüf and the rest of the Union team. Follow the jump for all the official details. [click to continue…]
Pro snowboarders and civilian fans of snowboarding gathered last night (January 27, 2012) in Denver’s Fillmore for the 13th Annual Transworld Snowboarding Riders’ Poll Awards hosted by Greg “GT” Tomlinson and Dave Lee to celebrate the best snowboarders of 2011.
In a night filled with gracious acceptance speeches (Jess Kimura made three, Travis Rice did two), the highlight was Jamie Lynn accepting the Legend Award from Bryan Iguchi and Dave Lee.
At 7:30 am on day two of the 2012 SIA Show (Friday, January 27), a ballroom-full of snow industry professionals gathered to hear a panel discussion on the ever-confounding women’s market. Titled Growing SnowSports Participation from a Woman’s Perspective and moderated by SIA’s Kellyann Davis, panelist included Burton President Donna Burton Carpenter as well Roxy’s Kyre Malkemes, Ski Utah’s Raelene Davis, Wachussett Mountain’s Carolyn Crowley Stimpson, Caldwell Sports’ Amy Caldwell, Freelance Writer Heather Schultz, and Outdoor Divas Kim Walker.
While much of what was discussed has been tossed around in similar panels and snowsports conference roundtables during the past twelve years, a few notable points did jump out. Most obviously, women have different shopping habits than men and with that comes a need for separate customer service training on the retail floor. “Women want to be included and educated about things that are specific to them personally,” says Malkemes. “They don’t necessarily want to know the technical benefits to each item, they just want to know how a product will make snowboarding more fun and more enjoyable for them.”
GoPro is proud to announce the addition of Shaun White to their team of action sports stars who like to film themselves while they do what they do.
Shaun White is joining GoPro’s progressive team of snowboard athletes that include Mike Basich, Tim Humphreys, Eric Willett,Jamie Anderson, Hannah Teter and Devun Walsh.
For the honor we’re guessing GoPro is paying Shaun an ungodly amount of money, and in return they’re going to get hours of promo and some amazing footage. Not a bad trade. [click to continue…]
Burton held it’s annual SIA Party last night, Thursday, January 26, 2012 inside the Jonas Bros Fur Co. loft in So-Co at 1037 Broadway street in Denver, Colorado. Sponsored by 3M-Thinsulate, SoCo Nightlife District, Hornitos Tequila, Effen Vodka, and Jim Beam, the party was a multi-roomed event with mini parties occuring on different levels of the building at all times.
Once past the velvet rope outside, guests climbed three flights of stairs to the front room. The area had a living room feel with small conversation areas and coffee tables piled with bottles of the above mentioned booze, it felt so convincingly intimate and small that at first glance it seemed like the whole party was going to be a mellow affair. But this was “The Burton Party” after all and a glance past the bar showed the room up front was just the beginning. Spilling out to the side was a long open space where the brand had set up an L-shaped catwalk for a fashion show, and past that was another room to mingle along with the stairs leading to the roof. The Morroccan-style “Rooftop Hooka Bar” had a couch set up in front of the camera lights so guests could pose for photos that looped back for viewing on a TV screen across the room.
The fashion show was a big draw with the latest wears from Burton making their way down the runway on minimally clad girls and boys. After the show was over, Cosmo Baker and Kissette took to the turntables and the party went on. Click here for photos from the party and click on through.
Night one of the 2012 Snow Industries of America show began at Denver’s Casselman’s for 686 Outerwear’sLights Out! boxing. The night featured The Dingo on the mic, Danny Kass as a referee and some of action sports’ biggest names duking it out in the ring.
Transworld Media Editorial Director Rob Campbell went toe-to-toe with Frends‘ Sean Lake (Lake prevailed). Sketchy D got in on the action. But the night’s biggest brawl came in a classic battle of “my CEO can beat up your CEO” when Electric Visual Co-President Bruce Beach and Vestal CEO Johnny Gehris stepped into the ring in what looked like a Costa Mesa grudge match royal. Neither fighter saved anything for later. The two fought like warriors trading damage until a Beach right cross to the nose forced Gehris to throw in the towel late in the last of three rounds.
Aaron Easter, a 32-year-old snowboarder, was found “unresponsive” at 11:30 AM on Tuesday, January 24, 2012, at Steamboat Ski Area, near the “intersection of Buckshot and Quickdraw,” according to a story on CBS Denver 4. He was riding alone at the time.
Those who found him immediately began CPR until Ski Patrol arrived on scene. Ski patrol then continued to administer CPR while Easter, 32, was brought down the mountain to a Routt County Ambulance. . . Easter was transported to the Yampa Valley Medical Center and later flown to Denver Health Medical Center. That’s where he died.
According to a story on First Tracks Easter was found “in a depression where snow had been undermined by ground water. The hazard had been marked by the resort’s ski patrol at the time.” Investigators are still looking into the accident. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.
Video nerd alert! Ever wondered how the title sequence of Travis Rice’s The Art of Flight was done? Studio Daily talks with Bozeman, Montana’s Helio Collective on exactly how they did it.
“Working on Art of Flight was an amazing opportunity to combine motion graphics with beautiful live action,” says Chris Murphy, Helio’s founder and creative director. “We were part of everything, including conception, shooting, and editing for the intro title sequence and it really helped us capture the mood and tone of the film.”
They also used Maxon’s Cinema 4D and Andersson Technologies SynthEyes. Nope, doesn’t mean a thing to us, either. But it almost makes us want to see the movie once and for all.
