by The Editors on December 23, 2008
A favorite topic of discussion whenever it snows in SoCal is how badly everyone there drives. For five Whittier, California snowboarders who “took a wrong turn” on the way home from Big Bear on Sunday, driving in the snow became an overnight nightmare, according to a story on KABC.
The teenagers were headed back from Big Bear down Highway 18 when they apparently took a wrong turn onto a road that hadn’t been plowed. It was very dangerous, they got stuck, and they had to spend the night in their car freezing. There was no cell phone service so they couldn’t get through to their parents.
Luckily, the next morning with the help of a Sheriff’s deputy and a snow loader they were able to get out and back home. To those who live in the “real snow” this is probably more fuel for the SoCal drivers suck fire. But we’re glad they made it out okay.
[Link: KABC]
by The Editors on December 22, 2008
In a letter to Stone Douglass, Chairman of Orange 21 dated December 16, 2008, and recently filed with the SEC, Spy Optic and No Fear founder Mark Simo announced his resignation from the board of directors of the company. It appears to be mostly over the Orange 21 board’s rejection of Simo’s repeated attempts to get the company to buy (or merge with) No Fear’s retail business.
I am convinced, as much as I ever have been, that real opportunities exist for enhancing shareholder value while at the same time doing right by the company’s employees and business partners. I believe that, in this radically changing environment, the merger I have proposed with No Fear Retail Stores offers the best opportunity to achieve those goals. There may be other options that the board also should consider, but the one thing this company cannot afford is to do nothing. That, unfortunately, is the course this board has chosen to take.
We’re going to guess that this came neither as a surprise nor a disappointment to the Orange 21 board. But that’s just a guess.
[Link: Edgar Online]
by The Editors on December 22, 2008
Friends reported Crested Butte snowboarder Michael Bowen, 36, missing on Thursday after he did not return from a snowboard trip in the “Happy Chutes” on the east side of Mount Emmons.
“He frequently and routinely skied in precarious, extreme conditions, hundreds of times,” Smith said. “The . . . area he was in could only be accessed by an expert.”
According to a story in the Denver Post Bowen’s body was found Saturday December 20, 2008 under 3 to 4 feet of snow at the bottom of an avalanche path.” The avalanche was located below the ridge of Trapper’s Way in the backcountry three miles south of the Crested Butte Ski Area. A memorial services will be held in Crested Butte on January 3, 2009.
[Link: Denver Post and 9news.com]
by The Editors on December 22, 2008
Facebook and eBay have joined to help seven celebrities (including Tony Hawk) raise money for their favorite charity. It’s called Re-Gift The Fruitcake on Facebook, according to a story on VentureBeat.com.
“It’s an incentive to get the Facebook generation into philanthropy,” Hawk said. “It encourages people to pass along the message about the charities and donate money.”
Sadly, we ignore all apps. If we didn’t, this would probably be a cool way to make a donation to the Tony Hawk Foundation.
[Link: VentureBeat]
by The Editors on December 22, 2008
Bob McKnight, Joe Scirocco, Bruce Thomas, and Marty Samuels covered a lot of ground in last week’s conference call, but there was one topic that they didn’t go over: the rumor that Quiksilver is actively negotiating the sale of DC Shoes.
This rumor has gained momentum lately most likely because the deal seems to make sense. On the conference call DC was repeatedly spoken of as a bright spot in Quiksilver’s brand portfolio. If Quik could unload DC Shoes for somewhere in the $700 million range, that would go a long way toward covering the company’s $1 billion debt. It would also allow Quiksilver to get back to basics with its core business after spending a couple years running the whole expansion thing into the ground. Not to mention it being a relief to many DC employees who believe all their hard work is being blown by bad business decision at the mothership. It probably wouldn’t hurt the company’s stock price, either.
So far no “official word” on the sale.
by The Editors on December 22, 2008
Camp Woodward has signed a licensing and consulting agreement with the Chinese government to help develop the next wave of Chinese action sports automatons as they create their “first international camp in Beijing next summer.”
Woodward Camp President Gary Ream is obviously looking forward to monetizing China’s billions.
[Link: Sports Business Journal]
by The Editors on December 22, 2008
EXPN’s snowboard blogger Tracy Anderson got to sneak in a little interview during the media storm that followed Danny Davis‘ Winter Dew halfpipe win at Breckenridge yesterday and it perfectly captures the kind of chaos that the new media spotlight is brining to snowboarding:
Okay, okay…listen for all ya’ll who don’t know what snowboarding is, this is my run: I dropped in, did a switch back 7, umm…back 9, front 10, cab 10, front 9. You got it?
And for all ya’ll who do know snowboarding, click the link for the rest of the interview.
[Link: EXPN]
by The Editors on December 22, 2008
The LA Times continues their surf coverage blitz with this Jerry Crow story on how Surfing Still Shapes The Life of Landlocked Gerry Lopez.
A master at the notorious Banzai Pipeline on the North Shore of Oahu, one of the world’s most dangerous breaks, Lopez says he continues to surf “pretty much any time it looks good,” even though doing so requires making the four-hour drive between his home in Bend and the distant waves off Pacific City.
Seems a great surf icon is always good for a story, and for business.
[Link: LA Times]
by The Editors on December 22, 2008
Mavericks contest organizers finally got their sponsors are all lined up and the waiting period starts on January 1, 2009, according to a Bruce Jenkins column in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Sources indicated that details are forthcoming, but the primary sponsors are said to be Jim Beam bourbon and benefactors Moose Guen and Jane Sutherland of MVision Equity Partners. . . . We’re all stoked that the sponsors stepped up and we’re back for another year,” said contest director Jeff Clark, the Half Moon Bay surfer who pioneered Maverick’s in the mid-1970s. “When Maverick’s is on, it’s the most challenging venue in surfing.”
Nice to see the economy isn’t killing everything.
[Link: San Francisco Chronicle]
by The Editors on December 21, 2008
Apparently, Shaun White is going to win everything this year. For the complete press release follow the jump.
[click to continue…]
A favorite topic of discussion whenever it snows in SoCal is how badly everyone there drives. For five Whittier, California snowboarders who “took a wrong turn” on the way home from Big Bear on Sunday, driving in the snow became an overnight nightmare, according to a story on KABC.
