by The Editors on February 17, 2008
Jessie Huffman has been writing up a storm lately for the New York Times. His latest was a bindingless trip with the Noboarding crew.
THREE miles into the Kootenay Range backcountry by snowmobile, I stood alongside 50 other riders, gathered at the bottom of a wide and untracked sub-alpine run. The mid-January snowpack was so deep in the Interior Mountains of British Columbia that the effects of logging were buried beneath 180 inches of powder — the downed trees, stumps and rocks all transformed by the bounty of snow into a snowboarder’s paradise.
The conditions were extraordinary, and the crowd included Travis Rice, a professional snowboarder and multiple gold medalist in the X Games. But on this overcast Saturday, the draw was the third annual Greg Todds Memorial No-Board Race, and the challenge was simply to get down the hill — without bindings.
[Link: New York Times]
by The Editors on February 17, 2008
Anyone who has ridden the canyon at Mt. Waterman knows that it is one of the best, if not the best snowboard run in North America. People who haven’t been there, however, would never believe terrain like this could exist one hour from downtown LA.
Now that the resort has reopened after a five year close, everyone has the chance to experience one of California snowboarding’s best kept secrets. Don’t miss it.
[Link: LA Times]
by The Editors on February 14, 2008
We should expect this from the New York Post, but then seeing it in print is still funny. Columnist Ken Moran starts his Stratton Mountain sports story out like this:
STRATTON Mountain was the birthplace of snowboarding and always has offered the best in parks and pipes to boomers, blazers and women’s clinics.
He then loads on a bunch of press release information loaded up with complete fabrications. It’s surprising that writers like Ken are still getting paid.
[Link: New York Post]
by The Editors on February 12, 2008
Robust Flavor spy cam operators grabbed some shots of Shaun White’s new ride. It’s a Lamborghini Murcielago and here are the it’s stats:
It sports a 6.2 Liter version of the legendary Lamborghini V12 engine, a six-speed manual or six-speed sequential automatic transmission, and four-wheel drive. It also has a rear spoiler that can be raised to an angle of 70 degrees, side mirrors that fold in to improve aerodynamics, and side scoops that automatically open to the needed size to let in just the right amount of air needed to cool its engine.
Kinda reminds us of something our favorite former NFL playing rap artist F-a-m to the o-u-z said: “just look at me now, I’m gettin’ it . . . on the Lambdy Lambo, as many bad bitches as a nigga can handle. . . ”
[Link: Robust Flavor]
by The Editors on February 11, 2008
From USA Today:
With unusually deep and unstable snowpacks in many areas of the country this winter, and more skiers and snowmobilers hungry to make fresh tracks, 30 backcountry users weren’t so fortunate this avalanche season. The 30 avalanche deaths have this season nearing the record of 35 from the winter of 2001-02.
Let’s hope we don’t break this record.
[Link: USA Today]
by The Editors on February 11, 2008
Park City Resort created a cool event with the World Halfpipe Championships, but each year they seem to screw it up more and more. This year, snowboarders and skiers will be competing at the same time in the same pipe.
While uneducated spectators may appreciate seeing world class snowboarding and skiing going down in the same pipe, mixing two completely different sports in one contest is just silly. It completely removes all legitimacy and authenticity from the title and the event. It also makes anyone who participates look like performing monkeys. But then we’re guessing they had to pay most of them to come anyway.
[Link: Utah Ski and Snowboard]
by The Editors on February 11, 2008
The Bellingham Herald reports on the Legendary Banked Slalom.
It took a bit of anxiety and an ill-timed break right in its midsection, but the Legendary Banked Slalom celebrated another successful year Sunday. . . The event’s second day (Saturday) didn’t happen and its third day nearly didn’t, but all the necessary factors came together early Sunday morning and the show went on.
The Mt. Baker Highway was closed due to avalanche danger, but on Sunday it was all go.
[Link: The Bellingham Herald]
by The Editors on February 11, 2008
We guess when you design your own contest the chances of you winning it are pretty good. That’s exactly what happened for Travis Rice. According to an early press release the Natural Selection contest was created by Travis and funded by Quiksilver:
This innovative event is the brainchild of Quiksilver athlete and one of today’s most versatile and accomplished snowboarders, Travis Rice, who envisioned a competition that removes the constructs of snow parks and half-pipes, and instead uses a natural-terrain course to bring out the best in riders’ style and technique.
Seems kind of weird to compete in your own contest, but apparently Travis has no problem with it. Congrats, Travis and Quiksilver is nice that you aren’t letting a little thing called a “conflict of interest” get in the way of some great riding.
[Link: Transworld Snowboarding]
by The Editors on February 11, 2008
From Press Media Wire:
A record number of fans consumed the extensive Winter X Games 12 content featured across ESPN’s many global ESPN and ABC distribution platforms, including television, Internet, iPods and more. The unprecedented multimedia offerings provided complete coverage of the world’s leading winter action sports competition, held January 24-27 in Aspen, Colorado, to fans everywhere.
Yeah, the press release is a little over the top, but they did the media right this year, no doubt.
[Link: Press Media Wire]
by The Editors on February 6, 2008
From BusinessWire:
Zumiez Inc. (NASDAQ: ZUMZ) a leading specialty retailer of action sports related apparel, footwear, equipment and accessories, today announced the company’s comparable store sales increased 1.7% for the four-week period ended February 2, 2008, versus a comparable store sales increase of 12.4% for the four-week period ended February 3, 2007. Total net sales for the four-week period ended February 2, 2008 increased 16.3% to $20.7 million, compared to $17.8 million for the four-week period ended February 3, 2007. Due to the addition of the 53rd week in fiscal 2006, January 2007 had five weeks of sales versus January 2008 which had four weeks of sales. Total net sales for the four-week period ended February 2, 2008 decreased 11.7% to $20.7 million, compared to $23.4 million for the five-week period ended February 3, 2007 due to the loss of one week of sales in fiscal January 2008.
To hear the Zumiez prerecorded January sales message, please dial (888) 317-6095 (no passcode is required).
We’re going to dial it up right now just for kicks.
[Link: BusinessWire]
