by The Editors on January 25, 2010
Kevin Pearce is moving units at a Salt Lake City, Utah hospital and that’s good news according to doctors.
Elaine Skalabrin, MD, Medical Director of Neuro Critical Care who has been one of Kevin’s doctors, states “Kevin is making excellent progress and will move from the Critical Care to Neuro Acute Care unit at the University of Utah Hospital today. He is working very hard to make daily progress in therapy, and his sense of humor and optimism are apparent as he begins his rehabilitation.”
Gotta take the good news as it comes.
[Link: Kevin’s Facebook Page]
by The Editors on January 25, 2010
The Canadian Olympic Snowboard team has been announced and is posted on Push.ca. Here are the halfpipe players:
Men
Jeff Batchelor
Justin Lamoureux
Brad Martin
Women
Sarah Conrad
Mercedes Nicoll
Palmer Taylor
For the complete list including the Boardercross and Alpine racers (Jasey-Jay Anderson is on it) follow the link.
[Link: Push.ca]
by The Editors on January 25, 2010
Seems like the Frends logo has been everywhere lately. On the snowboards of Mason Aguirre, Luke Mitrani, Danny Davis, Kevin Pearce and on some get well signs we’ve seen at the bottom of the pipe lately. Now, the whole Frends crew is beginning to make sense. Frends today announced the roll out of a line of six styles of electronic accessories that look amazing.
Our products are inspired, designed, engineered, field-tested and built to meet the same parameters we have for each other. Just like our friends, we want our gear to be strong, reliable, original, fun, dependable, and interesting. Frends has taken the time to build our gear from the ground up using our crew as the inspiration. For us attention to detail isn’t just a slogan we saw on one of those inspiration posters with a bald eagle carrying a baby goat in its talons into the sunset—we actually mean it.
The music listening devices will be available this spring and will retail from $33 to $88. Knowing the people behind the business end of Frends we’re guessing this could be pretty huge. Follow the jump for photos of the first three products off the line.
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by The Editors on January 25, 2010
Not sure if this just shows how out of the loop we are or if it’s been a big secret, but last week Yobeat.com uncovered a strange news item in which Australian snowboarder Torah Bright was awarded the “keys to the City of Gaylord, Michigan“. Huh? Then it was discovered that oddly enough Gaylord, Michigan is the world epicenter of snowboard halfpipe training.
Enter the Otsego Club in Gaylord, MI and Planet Snow (who built the massive pipes at resorts such as Park City and Winter Park) to build a 22′ halfpipe at the private club. To date Canada, France, Poland, South Korea, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Germany, Italy and Switzerland have arrived in the small town to train, and as of Friday the 22nd, and team Finland was en route to the Alpine Village. Not only is there a world class halfpipe, but Marc Andrew Tart brought his own personal mega bag “for people to learn doubles or break fibulas in,” Corey said. Team USA plans to visit the private facilities after the Games are over.
If someone beats Shaun White, Louie Vito, or Scotty Lago we guess we’ll know who to blame.
[Link: Yobeat.com]
by The Editors on January 25, 2010
The crew at IllicitSnowboarding.com has created a beautiful little “infographic” that illustrates how a few corporations run most of the brands in action sports. It makes a nice little quick reference card for those times when you’d like to do business with a small guy.
[Link: IllicitSnowboarding.com]
by The Editors on January 23, 2010
Things keep going like this and it seems we’ll see a couple gold medals on the necks of Shaun White and Kelly Clark as they both threw down the best runs of their lives in Park City for the final US Snowboarding Grand Prix.
When Fuel TV’s Keir Dillon asked Shaun what we should be expecting from him in Vancouver he wasn’t shy. “I think a little bit of that and then some,” White said. “We have a little bit of time before that so I’m going to put a little more practice in. . . The team is shaping up pretty heavy. I’m pumped man. I happy for my teammates.”
The real stand-out of the night was Luke Mitrani. His style, speed, amplitude, and consistency tonight showed that he is totally capable of the kind of riding the Olympics require. He’s always been and amazing kid, but this year it seems that his riding and competitive attitude have matured. Greg Bretz is certainly on the up, but if we had to make the decision on who to send to Vancouver it would definitely be Mitrani. And if you’re wondering what happened to Louie “Tiny Dancer” Vito, he sat on both runs on the same trick: his second double cork.
The women’s event was marred by falls. In the first run Kelly Clark was the only top four rider to make it down the pipe. And after slipping out on her first run Gretchen Bleiler chose not to take her second. She didn’t need too. Hannah Teter slipped into second with a super safe B or C run. All Ellery Hollingsworth needed to do was land one run, but it escaped her. With the big girls out Kaitlyn Farrinton and Madeline Schaffrick had no problem stepping right in. Unfortunately, it was too late.
Follow the jump for the results and our guess at the 2010 US Olympic Team.
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by The Editors on January 23, 2010
Kind of crazy that with all the drama surround the US Snowboard Grand Prix Olympic Qualifiers that it’s taken until the last event in Park City, Utah to get a live Internet feed rolling. Now, thanks to Fuel TV, we can all see the final stop of the Olympic qualifying series Saturday January 23, 2010 at 5:30 PM PT.
Seems like doing more of these live web events would be good for Fuel’s business, doesn’t it? Follow the jump for the official start list.
[Link: Fuel TV]
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by The Editors on January 23, 2010
To commemorate the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, the US Postal Service created a snowboarding stamp. The stamp, created by illustrator Steve McCrackenm, features a snowboarder who looks not un-like Scotty Lago. The “first-day-of-issue” ceremonies followed the US Snowboarding Grand Prix halfpipe event last night.
Alan C. Kessler, member, Board of Governors of the U.S. Postal Service, and Dick Coe, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association, are the dedicating officials.
“We are proud to support the Olympics and are pleased to be able to continue the tradition of honoring the Games by issuing postage stamps celebrating different Olympic sports,” said Gov. Kessler.
As usual with postal art, this image appears to be an artist’s mix of tricks and terrain. Follow the jump, check out the stamp, and let us know who it is and what trick they’re doing exactly.
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by The Editors on January 22, 2010
Neither of them needed to win an event to get into the Olympics because both Kelly Clark and Shaun White already on the team. That didn’t stop either of them from throwing down their best runs of the season tonight and winning in halfpipe number one at for the US Snowboarding Grand Prix at Park City. Shaun even threw in his 1260 double McTwist.
“It was just the run of my life, I don’t know how to say it,” White said. “I’ve basically been practicing this trick for as long as I can remember, and I don’t think I’ve crashed as much (as I have) in the last couple years I’ve been learning it.. . . The wild part about that trick is, the way I’m spinning the double cork hasn’t really been done before by anyone except myself,” White said. “Kevin Pearce was the only one trying something similar in a way, he was doing a double front flip – which is like a 900 but just spinning that way is really difficult.”
Kelly Clark saved her best run for last. ““I’ve always loved competing in Park City,” said Clark, who won Olympic gold in the same pipe in 2002, “They build amazing halfpipes, and it’s always fun for me to come back to get to compete and do well. . . I think I will need a tougher run than tonight in Vancouver. I’m definitely working my way up to it.”
The real battles for Olympic glory are going on directly below them on the results where there are six spots on the US Olympic Snowboard team still up for grabs. But tonight things are definitely beginning to get more sorted out. Here are the results from Park City halfpipe number one, January 22, 2010 (click the headers for full scoring).
Men’s Results
1. Shaun White 49
2. Scotty Lago 47.7
3. Greg Bretz 46.7
4. Elijah Teter 44
5. Luke Mitrani 44
6. Louie Vito 43.3
7. JJ Thomas 43
8. Danny Kass 42.7
9. Steve Fisher 42
10. Dylan Bidez 41.
Women’s overall
1. Kelly Clark 45.2
2. Hannah Teter 44.8
3. Ellery Hollingsworth 43.6
4. Gretchen Bleiler 42.5
5. Elena Hight
Tomorrow there will be no real reason for monitoring the as the entire US Snowboarding Grand Prix will be live on Fuel.TV. Follow the jump for the current US Snowboard Grand Prix standings.
[Coverage and scores thanks to: @686snow, @tbyrnes, @FuelTV, @Burtonsnowboard. We will have the official results up as soon as they are available. ]
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by The Editors on January 22, 2010
It was three years ago today (January 22, 2007) that Burton Snowboards rolled out their Andy Warhol Foundation collaboration featuring boards, boots, and outerwear decorated with Warhol art. Now, in 2010 Burton’s skateboard company Alien Workshop appears to be doing the same thing, according to a post on their website.
As the preeminent American artist of the 20th Century, Andy Warhol challenged the world to see art differently. This distinctive project presents a new approach to skateboard/artist collaborations by pairing unique examples of Warhol’s groundbreaking artwork with each of the ten iconoclast pro riders sponsored by Alien Workshop. . . .Featuring five pro decks with works from Warhol’s Death & Disaster Series and five pro decks showcasing his iconic Pop works, the complete set is shipped in custom printed board box packaging inspired by Warhol’s box sculptures from the 1960’s.
Andy would likely be happy to see the same company recycling his art over and over again. We’re wondering when the Channel Islands dead artist collab will be announced, or did we already miss that one?
[Link: Alien Workshop via High Snobiety via Retrogo.com]
