Time Magazine asks the age old action sports question: Is Snowboarding Getting Spoiled by Big Money, and Big Risks? Writer Christina Crapanzano then dives into the now cliché story of Shaun White vs. Kevin Pearce. It’s the over-simplified story of one snowboarder who risks everything learning a new trick and goes on to become a huge celebrity and the other who took the same risk and ended up in the hospital with a traumatic brain injury.
As the money and risks rise, the loss for snowboarding could be the very things that draw so many to the sport — its accessibility, esprit de corps and sheer pleasure. “I really believe that it will never lose that — it can’t lose that primarily because snowboarding is really fun,” Rice says. “That’s the base of it. It’s as simple as that.”
We have to agree with Travis. Forget all the Olympic hoopla, the media, the big dollar sponsorship and go hike a hill. It’s still fun. And they can never take that away. Not even in the pages of Time Magazine.
A 19-year-old snowboarder died Saturday, April 24, 2009 from injuries he sustained while reportedly attempting and inverted air in the Park Place terrain park, according to a story on Fox 12.
Deputies released very few details about the incident, but they said the snowboarder was wearing a helmet. . . Ski patrol crews from Mount Hood Meadows responded to the terrain park and an ambulance soon took the man to Hood River Providence Medical Center. From there, an ambulance took him to a Portland-area hospital, but he died while en route, deputies said.
Our thoughts are with the snowboarder’s family and friends.
Alright parents. . . here’s a 1.3 year old Ava Marie shredding Mammoth’s Canyon Lodge (we still call it The Hut) earlier this month. Who can go even younger? Huck your babies. Maybe they’ll get sponsored.
Yesterday, Greg Bretz, Louie Vito, Gretchen Bleiler, Elena Height, and Kelly Clark joined other US Winter Olympic Team members and finally got to live their dream of visiting the White House and meeting the President and First Lady. Sadly, a downpour messed up the entire presentation and everyone was forced to move indoors.
For everyone stuck indoors behind a computer today when they should be out shredding slush, we present Celtek Riders Sage Kotsenburg, Blaze Kotsenburg, and Griffin Siebert ending their season at Park City with some Shorts and Shades!
We can’t explain how annoyed we’ve become with all the Grenade Games Six crap that has hit us on facebook the past couple weeks. But now that The Games have begun, we’re not so bummed. Check out this video and decide for yourself if you want to follow the rest of the week’s videos on the Grenade Games Vimeo Channel.
What do you do if winning an Olympic Gold Medal in snowboarding doesn’t bring the breakfast cereal, big-box retailer clothing money falling in like rain? If you’re two-time Olympic medalist Ross Powers you go back to your alma mater, apparently.
According to a news item posted on the Stratton Mountain School website, Ross Powers is the school’s new Snowboarding Program Director.
“Ross returns to us with more than a decade of experience competing at the highest levels of world-wide competition,” said Christopher Kaltsas, SMS Headmaster. “Ross is one of the most highly profiled figures in the history of the Halfpipe snowboard circuit, and we are pleased to have him join our staff.”
Ross, who is replacing Mike Mallon, will join the staff at the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year. At least he’s not teaching gym.
On Saturday night (April 17, 2010) Shaun White became the first snowboarder since Ross Rebagliati to be clowned on Saturday Night Live and as several snowboard pundits have mentioned: it wasn’t even that funny.
It appears that Shaun White had to get up a little too early for his interview with The Today Show’sMatt Lauer. Is all that late-night Vegas party action “spending time with his family” catching up with him a little. . . ?
[Editors’ Note: Turns out Shaun does say the word “Target” once in the interview. We missed it the first time. Thank you to our astute readers for pointing that out. The post has been corrected.]
Todd Dunkel, 27, for Federal Heights, Colorado died Wednesday, April 14, 2010 while riding at Breckenridge Resort in Colorado, according to a story on KWQC.com.
Summit County Coroner Joan Richardson Thursday identified the man as Todd Dunkel. Ski patrol members found Dunkel in some trees Wednesday while doing a final check of the slopes. . . They tried to revive him, but determined he was dead. Richardson says Dunkel was originally from Iowa and had lived in Colorado for more than six months.
The story says that he “suffered a fractured neck.” Our thoughts are with his family and friends.
Time Magazine asks the age old action sports question: Is Snowboarding Getting Spoiled by Big Money, and Big Risks? Writer Christina Crapanzano then dives into the now cliché story of Shaun White vs. Kevin Pearce. It’s the over-simplified story of one snowboarder who risks everything learning a new trick and goes on to become a huge celebrity and the other who took the same risk and ended up in the hospital with a traumatic brain injury.
