by The Editors on January 9, 2008
Adam Putnam, 36, and his fiancee, Rachel Fehl, 30, spent three days in the outback near Ski Sante Fe ski resort in New Mexico after they got lost while hunting powder. Worker searched for them for three days, but the conditions were too stormy.
. . . the couple . . . slept on pine boughs in snow caves. They had a backpack hydration system with them that they filled with snow and stuffed into their clothing to melt. . . A rescue helicopter spotted the couple waving their hands near the top of Little Tesuque Peak, Anglada said. “They had stamped out SOS in the snow with their feet,” Anglada said.
Sounds like they were dumb enough to get lost, but smart enough to survive.
[Link: Associated Press]
by The Editors on January 8, 2008
Leigh Barnier, 21, of Sydney, Australia died Sunday in an avalanche in Parachute Bowl at Big White Ski Resort. Though he was last seen Sunday morning, his body was not found until Monday moring.
McLachlan said the body was found in the main debris field of the slide, under three to four metres of snow. “After two RCMP police dogs gave strong indication in the area, mechanical equipment was utilized to dig down (to) where the deceased was located.”
Barnier was living the dream and working for a housekeeping company at Big White. He is the seventh person to die this year in Canadian avalanches. Our thoughts are with his friends and family.
[Link: Canada.com]
by The Editors on January 7, 2008
The ASP 2007 World Champ Mick Fannning, 26, was doing a little snowboarding in Japan during his time off and apparently fell causing what his mother Liz referred to as a “minor fracture that would not affect his preparations for this years ASP World Tour” which kicks off at Snapper Rocks on February 23.
“I love snowboarding, it’s so much fun, it’s like surfing but it does hurt more,” he recently told Japanese magazine Powderlife. “I’ve been doing one week snowboarding holidays every year since 2003 – California, Whistler, Colorado and Australia.”
Water, it appears is softer than snow.
[Link: The Age]
by The Editors on January 7, 2008
Jesse Brigham, 27, was riding with two friends on Friday in the East Vail Chutes when an avalanche buried him.
His two friends, who located him by the beacon sounding from his helmet, spent 10 to 20 minutes digging him out. But they were not able to revive him, Cordingly said. The pair, who have not been identified, used a cellphone to call the Vail Ski Patrol. The Eagle County Sheriff’s Department also responded to the avalanche, which happened in cold, sunny conditions and was the 14th to hit Colorado this winter, according to the department.
Our thoughts are with Brigham’s family and friends.
[Link: Boston.com]
by The Editors on January 7, 2008
Shares of Zumiez fell 13 percent to a new year low when the retailer “slashed its fiscal 2007 outlook after it posted holiday sales below its expectations.
Shares of the online and mall-based retailer have slumped nearly 65 percent since their October 2007 highs, as concerns about warm weather hurting winter sales worried investors. . . “Although holiday sales were positive, we did not experience the across the board strength that we had planned for,” Zumiez Chief Executive Officer Rick Brooks said in a statement.
[Link: Reuters]
by The Editors on January 5, 2008
First they start a site that hopes to get kids to pay them money for the possibility of “getting sponsored” and now they say they’re launching an action sports version of Myspace and facebook. It appears that Sponsorhouse.com Scott Tilton and RJ Kraus have found a new way to talk action sports companies out of their money. It’s called Loop’d. They’ve even rallied Oakley’s Pat Mac (which isn’t all that difficult to do).
Patrick McIlvain, global sports marketing director for Oakley, said the promotion it’s running on the Loop’d Network is one way for the company to tap into the grass roots of the action-sports market.
Hey, with a name like Loop’d you know the kids are going to be down.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]
by The Editors on January 3, 2008
Steve Klassen and his brother had a “tandom board” back in the day, but now Butch Brady and Eric Sweet, a pair of snowboarders from Jackson Hole, may have ridden a snowboard built for two into the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest snowboard.
“It seemed initially like going down a mountain in a canoe without a paddle, but after taking a few runs, a light went on,” Sweet said. “You’re splitting the duties, so it feels like a marriage. You give up half of the control, and if it’s a good one you don’t crash.” . . . The snowboard, called the “XJ-13,” is 9 feet, 7 inches long.
Somehow we’re more comfortable with these kinds of boards being ridden by brothers. You know?
[Link: Associated Press]
by The Editors on January 3, 2008
Ben Moses, a 21-year-old snowboarder who survived a New Year’s day avalanche that killed his friend has been banned from Whistler Blackcomb Mountain for one year and may face charges.
Mr. Moses, who is from La Salle, Ont., but lives in the resort town north of Vancouver, will not be allowed on Whistler Blackcomb terrain for at least one year, Whistler vice-president Doug Forseth said. . . . While sending condolences to the family Mr. Forseth also said: “These are needless loses. There are so many places people can go to get good powder without putting yourself or others at risk.”
The avalanche happened at 11:20 AM in an area known s the Hanging Roll off the Peak Chair.
[Link: National Post]
by The Editors on January 1, 2008
In a 10b5-1 prearranged stock sale Richard “Wooly” Woolcott reported that he sold 11,104 shares of Volcom stock at about $25 a piece netting him a $277,000 after Christmas bonus. He squeaked that in under the 2007 tax year.
[Link: Forbes]
by The Editors on December 28, 2007
Snowboarder Eric McConeghy, 28, suffocated to death at Mt. Hood Meadows yesterday, December 27, 2007, after falling into a large hole at the base of a lift tower.
Investigators said the man fell in a snow well at the base of a pole under a chairlift face first. Friends tried to pull him out of the well, authorities said, but he suffocated. . . Authorities have not released the victim’s name.
Though it has been officially ruled an accident, we find it hard to believe the mountain would have allowed those wells to exist. Packing in the snow at the base of lift towers is job number one for rookie ski patrollers.
[LInk: KomoTV and WoodTV]
