It’s been a pretty big media week for Westbeach and Lululemon founder Chip Wilson. First, he was featured in the Talk of the Town section of The New Yorker magazine regarding the launch of his wife and son’s new clothing line (and retail stores) Kit & Ace, and then yesterday (February 2, 2015) he was profiled in The New York Times.
More than once, the way Wilson spoke reminded me of the airhead fashion model Ben Stiller plays in “Zoolander.” But for all his off-putting and impolitic utterances (in a blog post about Lululemon’s origins, he infamously linked the use of birth control to rising divorce rates, and claimed this led to his future market), he has a kind of genius for forecasting trends and assessing the human impulses — vanity, insecurity, the yearning for perfection — that make people pay more for something they could buy much cheaper elsewhere.
Yep, the same old Chip we remember from back in the snowboard days. It’s good to see someone stick to their opinions and become action sports single most successful billionaire at the same time. There are lessons to be learned here somewhere.
Looks like X Games 4th place finisher Shaun White is having a little trouble drumming up sales for his upcoming Air & Style event in the Rose Bowl parking lot (not the bowl) in Pasadena, California in February (you know, “Coachella meets X Games”). Either that, or he just likes having local news crews (San Diego CBS 8) follow him around to his favorite Mexi joints.
The famous Snowboarder was at one of his favorite taco shops this morning – Ricos Taco Shop in Encinitas to surprise fans and promote Air + Style. . . The event features a combination of the world’s greatest snowboarders, skiers and skateboarders, as well as live performances from some of the top music acts.
With Mr. Blanco it seems the hustle never stops. Truth is, with a music line up featuring the Lips (both Black and Flaming), Sleigh Bells, Surfer Blood, Steve Aoki, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, and more it’s going to be a great show regardless of the hucking going on the crushed ice tower. Click here for all the info.
Spy announced today that they will be the official eyewear sponsor of all eight Powdr-owned and operated resorts and Snowbird Ski and Summer Resorts. That means the you can look for Spy eyewear on employees at Copper Mountain, Mt. Bachelor, Boreal, Ski & Snowboard Las Vegas, Soda Springs, Killington, Pico and Gorgoza Park (looks like that last one’s a sledding hill).
“We’re very happy to enter into an exciting union with Powdr,” says Michael Marckx, SPY president and CEO. “Bolstering our commitment to snow, this opportunity will allow us to spread the cheeks of Powdr resort visitors each season through our happy presence. It will also allow us to gain vital feedback from retail employees and resort staff regarding our sunglass and goggle offerings, most notably our Happy Lens and Lock Steady™ quick change goggle technology. This is our largest partnership with a mountain resort in the history of SPY, and we’re looking forward to expanding SPY’s presence on-hill and in the market.”
We’re not in Denver, Colorado this week for the 2015 Snow Industries of America Show. In fact, we haven’t attended the Denver show since January 2013. Why? The most simple reason is that it’s easier not to go, but the truth may be that like many other companies who are skipping this year (Burton, Mervin, etc. . . ) our SIA cost-to-benefit ratio had been sliding for years.
Seeing as this is SIA Season (not to mention Throw-back-Thursday), join us as we look back on all the people, parties, products, and booths that we’ve covered over the past few years. Here’s the breakdown:
In April of 2014, snowboarders Josh Dirksen, Forrest Shearer, Adam Haynes and a small media crew from frequency TSJ rode fat bikes to the base of South Sister, Oregon. From there, they donned split boards and spent four days camping and riding on the mountain the locals call Charity.
All around big mountain snowboard ruler John Jackson has joined Dave Lee at Signal Snowboards and together they’ll be working on some new projects. We’re looking forward to seeing what they produce. Aren’t you?
We have nothing but good things to say about Snow Industries of America President David Ingemie. In the 39 years that he has been working with SIA he’s had to put up with hot dogging, mono-skiing, the dawn, domination, and decline of snowboarding, renaming the organization because not everyone liked the “ski” word, and hundreds of other seemingly pointless hassles that would have had most of us flipping the double birds and running in the opposite direction.
Yet, Dave somehow rolled through it all with a kind, warm, thoughtful smile on his face. We don’t know how he did it, but we’re glad he did, and it makes us all the more bummed to see that he has announced that he will be stepping down following the 2016 SIA Snow Show.
“I feel so fortunate to have been a part of an industry that represents one of my life’s greatest passions – snow sports. It has been a great run, working under twenty-one different Board chairmen/women and seeing so many changes within the industry; equipment, resorts, retailers, reps, and even ways to get down the hill,” said David Ingemie.
We’re not going to the Denver this year, but hopefully, Mr. Ingemie will stop by the SIA show when it returns to Las Vegas in 2020, otherwise, we may never get to see him on the show floor again. And that would be sad. For the official word from the SIA, please follow the jump. [click to continue…]
Amy Purdy has taken a lot of steps since losing her legs. Dancing With The Stars, an Olympic Medal, and now a commercial for Toyota with the words of Muhammad Ali. What will she come up with next?
Guess the cool kids aren’t down with the snowboards anymore. Seems the number of snowboarders fell off by 28 percent between 2003 and 2013, according to a report from the “often misled by their own survey results” National Sporting Goods Association and quoted by the Associated Press.
The decline in snowboarding continued last season, with snowboarders making up just under 28 percent of visitors to U.S. resorts, down from about 31 percent the year before, according to the Kottke National End of Season Survey for 2013-14.
Not to worry. As soon as all the fickle civilians stop cluttering up the snow we’ll head back out for a couple runs, we promise.
