Jason Borte takes on the persona of the core surf shop and points out some of their challenges and why they are not going to go away any time soon in a rambling rant on Surfline.com titled Reports Of My Death Are Greatly Exaggerated.
Along the way he drops the names of the bad guys; Hollister, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Target, and quotes the good guys Bob Hurley, Quiksilver’s Tom Holbrook, Billabong’s Royce Cansler, and Whalebone Surf Shop’s Jim Vaughan. This is how Borte wraps it up:
Surfing is magical, and the one place where we all gather outside of the water is magical as well. We, the authentic surf shops, are nothing less than shrines to the sport. We provide the essentials for riding waves, and we provide a place for surfers to connect, communicate, and share the stoke. Just as wavepools fail to deliver the magic found in the ocean, pseudo-surf shops fail to offer a genuine experience. Truth be told, I don’t deserve the credit. It isn’t the building or the smells that make a surf shop special. It’s people. And those people don’t just smell like surf, they do it.
If only we had a lighter handy, we’d be waving it high above our heads right now and typing one-handed.
Yesterday, on Australia’s Gold Coast Jonathon Beard, 31, was surfing with three friends at Fingal “when a shark inflicted a bite about 40cm long and 5cm deep to the top of his leg.”
Apparently there was a group of dolphins nearby and then the next thing he realised was he received a large bite to the top of his leg,” he said. “The blokes he was with then saw some violent thrashing in the water and called out ‘Shark!’. . . . “They showed a lot of initiative — they used his leg rope as a tourniquet and got him into shore quickly and got help.”
Meanwhile at Binalong Bay 13-year-old surfer Hannah Mighall was surfing with her 20-year-old cousin when she was chomped by a 5 meter white pointer.
The shark twice dragged the girl under the water before her cousin reached the scene on his surfboard and hit the animal, causing it to let go of the girl’s leg. . . . The cousin managed to pull the teenager on to his surfboard and began to paddle towards the shore. But the shark followed and circled the frightened pair as they frantically paddled.
Luckily, both surfers escaped major permanent damage though as the story points out they will have some great scars to talk about.
Marty Odom, the Vail sharpshooter photographer who captured the photos seen around the world lied when he said that he was not on the job and was using his own camera when he shot the photo, according to a story in the Denver Post.
We apologize for what this rogue employee did,” said David Peri, a spokesman for SharpShooter Imaging. “Our reputation has been sullied. This is not the way we conduct business.” . . . Peri said Odom was wearing a SharpShooter uniform, had checked out the company’s camera and had even
Looks like the skier isn’t the only one caught with his pants down.
A 39-year-old Amercian man and his 19-year-old son were caught in an avalanche while heli-snowboarding at Alice Mountain on January 8, 2009. According to the Calgary Herald the father was severely injured.
The U.S. citizen was buried for approximately 10 minutes, before rescuers dug him out, RCMP said. . . . His 19-year-old son was caught in the avalanche but remained on the surface, while the two others were able to ski out of the avalanche to safety.
The man is reportedly in stable condition at Mills Memorial Hospital in Terrace, B.C.
[Editors’ Note: Sadly the 39-year-old father has died from the injuries he suffered according to a story on BC Local News]
The reese forbes ollie challenge has been postponed. . . . just talked to reese forbes. after quiksilver pulled out of the show, i guess asr didn’t really want them getting any promo off the ollie challenge. so according to reese, “it’s postponed, and the location is YTBD.”
Somehow we’re not surprised, thought this time it may have more to do with ASR then Quik’s support of skateboarding.
God, we love local news coverage of those crazy urban boarders who get all urbany all over the urban landscape to shoot for their boarding videos. This time they were in Spokane, Washington shooting an urban boarding commercial for Nike.
These guys are urban snowboarders they board in cities, down railings, and over alley gaps, jumping from one building to another. . .
According to a story on KGW.com the days of trauma between skiers and “scum of the earth” snowboarders is long gone.
On the slopes these days, most skiers and snowboarders give little thought to what is strapped to whose feet. They go about their similar goals of riding powder, caching air, or just reaching the bottom of the slope. . . Skiers and snowboarders even ride together as friends. The image of snowboarders as young, rebellious outcasts is long gone.
Ah, harmony on the hills. Blue birds tweeting everywhere, and yet, most skiers are still tools. How do you explain that?
The Santa Cruz Surfing Museum is running out of funding and may close, but O’Neill founder Jack O’Neill has an idea, according to a story on SantaCruz.com: “Write checks, please.”
Always the type to take his own advice, O’Neill handed over a $4,000 large novelty check inside the museum to members of the Santa Cruz Surfing Club Preservation Society, the new name for Santa Cruz Surfing Club members that hope to take over the museum.
The City of Santa Cruz and the Preservation Society still have a few details to work out including raising at least $20,000 to finish out the year, but with friends like Jack it seems the museum has a good chance of living on.
Early this morning a snowcat and driver were caught in an avalanche while grooming an access road on Whistler Mountain in an area that was closed to the public, according to a story on Pique Newsmagazine.
The machine was operating on Pika’s Traverse when the slide occurred at approximately 1:30 a.m. Thursday, according to a release from Whistler Blackcomb. The slide pushed the snow groomer sideways approximately 100 metres down the side of the run. . . .The driver of the snowcat sustained minor injuries from broken glass that cut his hand.
Damn, Whistler certainly is having trouble keeping snow on the mountain. This is the fourth avalanche at the resort since December 31, 2008
Jason Borte takes on the persona of the core surf shop and points out some of their challenges and why they are not going to go away any time soon in a rambling rant on Surfline.com titled Reports Of My Death Are Greatly Exaggerated.
