Sierra-at-Tahoe, one of our favorite NorCal resorts, is opening on Friday, November 20, 2015.
“The last time we opened this early was 11 years ago,” says General Manager, John Rice. “A November opening is giving us a great outlook for the rest of the season. In a similar year, we logged as much as 499 inches of snowfall. It should still be noted that early season conditions exist and we will open more terrain once conditions permit.”
For the official word from Sierra, please follow the jump.
The duck boot-inspired Sk8-Hi Del Pato MTE features all of the weather-defying advantages of the Vans Mountain Edition technology including an innovative vulcanized lug outsole for maximum traction and a water-resistant build. This hybrid silhouette debuts in two colorways – black/black and ginger/navy – that are outfitted in pig suede materials and reinforced with a tech tuff-coated mudguard.
The shoes are winter ready with Scotchgard®-treated uppers, warm linings and a heat retention layer between sockliner and outsole. Keep those piggies toasty for certain.
For an up close look at the rest of the goodness, please follow the jump.
Arbor Snowboards is launching their new pro model from snowboard legend Bryan Iguchi on November 11, 2015.
Bryan brings a lifetime of experience to this Camber System design. The Bryan Iguchi Pro is a big mountain twin, with a slightly tapered tail and somewhat longer nose for performance in deep snow. This stealthy shape delivers cross-terrain finesse for backcountry, steeps, and speed. Bryan’s experience and passion underpin this new design, which he put through its paces in Jackson Hole, Europe, and AK before we confidently brought it to you.
The newly patented system, which looks similar to the Burton SI bindings of yesteryear with the addition of an elaborate heel latching mechanism, was apparently “invented” by Raymond Robert Kavarsky, Jr., Christopher M. Doyle, and Scott T. Keller.
Click the image to look at it more closely or to check out the pages and pages of official references, schematics, descriptions, click this link.
We especially enjoyed the references list which includes patents held by a host of familiar names including: Fournier, Karol, Morrow, Sanders, Raines, Meiselman, Alden, Warburton, Pelchat, and even Spademan.
For the past 30 years LibTech founders Mike Olsen and Pete Saari have been making summertime treks from their factory in Washington to test out new technology on snow at Mt. Hood. This summer was a little different. You’ll know just how different after watching this.
The SnowSports Industries of America has created a video series to help communicate what they feel is the current “State of The Industry.” The above edit is the snowboard version. Here’s their pitch:
“We understand people are short on time and the State of the Industry Video Series provides a quick snapshot of last season. We focus on the stats that mean the most to all snow sports professionals – be it retail sales, marketing or manufacturing — to help everyone make sound business decisions in the year ahead,” commented Kelly Davis, director of research for SIA.
What do you think? Are they on target? We’d tell you what we thought, but that would means watching the video and really, who has time for that?
Pretty Great, the Portland, Oregon based parent company of Bonfire, Nikita, Sessions, and SLVDR has hired former Quiksilver sales worker David Kozak as global sales director.
Dave brings with him 15 years of sales experience in the action sports industry, working first with Volcom before a tenure at Quiksilver, Roxy and DC, where he most recently served as the Director of Sales for Snow for all three brands in the Americas region. . . “Based on Dave’s multi-brand sales experience, ease to work with, creative sales perspective and work ethic, I could not think of a better person to lead sales for Pretty Great,” said Pretty Great President Rob Myers.
For the official word from Pretty Great, please follow the jump.
Shaun White just upped his LA real estate game with brand new $6.4 million home in “Los Angeles’s heavily celebrified Outpost Estates,” according to a story in Variety.
The approximately 4,500-square-foot house, a boxy but still sleek and architecturally masculine interplay of poured concrete, horizontally applied wood siding, and dramatic expanses of glass, features five bedrooms, 5.5 bathrooms, and a glass-doored side-facing two-car garage.
Oh, those Hollywood nights, in those Hollywood Hills. . . above all the lights. . . (how’s that for an ancient reference?) Have to say, we totally approve of Señor Blanco’s real estate choices. For interior photos and a look at the view, click the link.
Rip Curl snow turns the girls (Marion Haerty, Olya Smeshlivaya and Kristiina Nyman) loose in a motorhome tour of California last winter. Yep, California’s pretty rad. So are Marion, Olya, and Kristiina.
The new Mashman Helmet and shield from Electric may be our favorite snowboarding helmet concept for 2016.
Inspired by the counterculture period of the 1960’s, where motorcycle culture embodied a rebellious spirit of a new generation looking for freedom. That same freedom can be found on the hill today; riding as fast as you can with the wind in your face.
Not only will it allow us to zone out like Daft Punk while on the lift, the Mashman also offers total protection from those pesky drones (see below).
