Kevin Jones has always been one of our favorite snowboarders. While we may have been rough on him in the past (when we couldn’t figure why he was giving up so much) it’s good to see that, aside from mucking things up on Buoloco, he’s back on his snowboard as well.
“Maybe I just love it too much,” Kevin Jones says with more than a hint of nostalgia. “But I feel like I owe it to the snowboarding community to tell it how it is. I owe it to my friends now and gone. I owe it to myself to say what I really think.”
The story (with Jeff Curley photos) pretty much answers every questions we’ve had about why Kevin left snowboarding, where he went, and why he’s back. And it’s all good.
A snowboarder who “undercut a cliff area just sound of No Shadows couloir” got buried in an avalanche on Tuesday morning, December 7, 2010, according to a story in the Jackson Hole News & Guide.
[The snowboarder] was buried with only his fingers exposed in 15 feet of debris at the toe of the slab. The slab propagated up through a cliff area and into drifted snow beneath a cornice.The snowboarder, who was the fourth person to ride or ski the slope, survived with minor injuries.
Quick work by friends got the snowboarder freed. It always helps to ride with good people.
The last thing we need while stumbling though one of our favorite snowboard parks is more distractions. Apparently, Mammoth, AR4T and the JLA Project aren’t building their new Round Robin Art Park for us.
“Snowboarding has always been about creativity – finding your own line. Art is the exact same. That’s why cultures like snowboarding, skateboarding and art have always gone hand in hand. The great part about the Art Park is that there are no rules; we can get as creative as we like. The artists can go nuts, Dustin – the person who makes the rails come to life and who is an amazing artist himself – can push the limits, and hopefully the folks who come through the park will have fun and go home inspired, feeling a part of the whole experience” said Torrey Cook, AR4T’s curator.
Torrey may be right. It could be quite inspiring to see something beautiful moments before folding into a face whip halfway through an up/flat/down. For the rest of the details, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
Kevin Pearce was interviewed by Fox Boston at the opening of his father Simon Pearce’s Newbury Street store grand opening on Thursday, December 2, 2010. It’s good to see Kevin doing so well at getting his head around his injury and his recovery.
Using her new ESPN Women blog as her launch pad Gretchen Bleiler has announced that she is eliminating “most of the halfpipe competitions from [her] schedule this season.”
Just as the decision I made in high school wasn’t easy, this one isn’t, either. Competing in the halfpipe is what I know and love, and what I’ve been great at for the past 10 years, which is exactly why it’s time to forge into this new territory. It’s time to learn and time to grow. Seeing snowboarding differently, seeing the mountain differently, and riding with creativity and style — that’s my new goal.
Sometimes the transition from athlete to spokesmodel can be difficult, especially when sponsors’ memories for why they sponsored athletes in the first place seems so short these days.
Jake Burton outlines his “life as a pioneer” with Burton for Fortunemagazine and offers up some solid business start-up advice.
“I underestimated the cost and time it would take to get the business going.”
“Once I became focused on growing the sport, instead of just getting rich, things took off.”
To go global, live global. Three years living in Innsbruck “opened my eyes to being a global company.
Own it if you want to control it. “I’m fortunate that I didn’t take on shareholders who would expect numbers, or Burton wouldn’t be the success it is today.”
“Plan lots of lead time for starting any business. It will take longer than you think, and it will cost more than you imagine.”
Mammoth’s sister mountain June Mountain has always been one of our secret spots. When there is snow (and there is now) June Mountain has one of the best blowing powder runs in the world. And on Thursday, December 16, 2010 the mountain will open for the first time this season with $5 lift tickets.
With over 500 acres of terrain and a vertical rise of 2,590 feet, June Mountain lies just 21 miles north of Mammoth Mountain Ski Area. June Mountain is widely regarded for its utter lack of crowds, pristine conditions and great variety of diverse terrain. . . June Mountain was voted by the readers of Transworld Snowboarding as the third best terrain park and sixth best pipe in North America. For opening day, June Mountain is scheduled to have terrain parks open on Upper and Lower Sunrise and Mambo.
All that and getting Carson untracked? Might be worth a flight up for the day. [click to continue…]
We haven’t made it all the way through Todcast The Movie part one which is now up on VBS.TV, and we’ve never seen the movie. We like Todd. But if this one sucks, it will be the last one you’ll have to see taking up room on our site.
[Editors’ Note: We just added part two after the jump. Seems part one passed (in spite of TR’s rude comments).]
Sebastien Toutant took the Oakley Shaun White Air & Style Beijing tonight in China and strolled away with $100,000 USD with a 1260 double cork. Belgium’s Seppe Smits landed a backside 1260 for second place. And Germany’s Elias Elhardt landed in third with a backside 1080 double cork. It was a spin-o-poluza as usual.
“It’s awesome,” Seb said. “I think it’s by far the best moment of my life, for sure. My first 6Star win, I’m stoked to be in China for the first time. Couldn’t have been better than to win the event today!”
It was also so nice that Shaun White had the decency to not win his own contest (unlike some other shredderswe know).
Kevin Jones has always been one of our favorite snowboarders. While we may have been rough on him in the past (when we couldn’t figure why he was giving up so much) it’s good to see that, aside from mucking things up on Buoloco, he’s back on his snowboard as well. 
