by The Editors on January 8, 2009
Nathan Fletcher suffered a broken femur Wednesday January 7, 2009 while surfing Pipeline, according to a story on Surfermag.com:
Fletcher caught a clean west peak, ducked under and then emerged cleanly from a six-foot spinning tube. He sped out onto the shoulder in full afterburner mode. Fletcher then lay his outside rail into a massive Mach 5 roundhouse. He headed into the oncoming foam ball with a prodigous amount of speed. Too much speed. It was one of those cutbacks. His speed and velocity actually increased through the turn. Unfortunately, the mountainous white cotton ball grinding towards him was anything but fluffy and soft. “I heard his leg snap,” said Wassel. “It was the eeriest sound. Myles and I looked at each other and we just knew it was bad.”
Myles Padaca and North Shore lifeguard Dave Wassel went out and were able to drift with Nathan down to Gums and get him to the sand. We wish Nathan a speedy recovery.
[Link: Surfermag.com via Transworldsurf.com]
by The Editors on January 8, 2009
On January 13, 2009 Town & Country Surf Designs will release their “one-of-a-kind Obama’s Inaugural Luau” T-shirt according to a story in the Hawaii Reporter.
“The design ties the historic moment of Obama’s inauguration to his roots in Hawaii,” says graphic artist Lani Isherwood, who created the artwork. “It depicts a Hawaiian luau fronting the U.S. Capitol, complete with kalua pig, a poi bowl, fresh island fruits, hula dancers and more. The luau scene represents the truly unique way Hawaii celebrates a milestone.”
The front of the tee features a yellow pineapple and the T&C Surf logo with the word’s “Hawaii’s own” scripted underneath. These luau shirts will be available at T&C Surf stores and retail for $20.
[Link: Hawaii Reporter]
by The Editors on January 8, 2009
NorCal surfers deal with a lot more sea life than those in Southern California and sometimes their cavalier attitudes make us feel downright soft; especially during shark season.
Being bitten by a great white shark six years ago has not kept Michael Casey out of the water, nor did seeing a shark again while surfing this past New Year’s Day near the Bodega Dunes Campground. . . . Instead of giving up for the day, Casey went a quarter mile up the beach and went back in the water. . . . “I saw other guys out,” said Casey, a Santa Rosa assistant city attorney. “I just felt more comfortable, it was uneventful, I caught some good waves and it was a good way to start the new year.”
Then again, maybe Casey expects a little professional courtesy this time around.
[Link: Santa Rosa Press Democrat]
by The Editors on January 8, 2009
Kyle Suske, 25, of Athens, Wisconsin died Wednesday night at Granite Peak Ski Area from blunt force trauma to the chest, according to a story in the Chicago Tribune.
Capt. Diane Lotter of the Marathon County Sheriff’s Department says no one saw the accident but it appears Suske was trying to cross some moguls, lost control, became airborne and landed awkwardly. A friend who was snowboarding ahead of Suske found him face-down in the snow. He was wearing a helmet.
[Link: Chicago Tribune]
by The Editors on January 8, 2009
Sometimes when we get so jaded that we start thinking magazine covers are just photos on the backside of a spread ad, it’s nice to read some local coverage to remember how stoked people are when they make the cover.
Here’s what O’Neill surfer Jesse Hines, 29, had to say about his January Surfer magazine cover in the North Carolina’s Outer Banks Sentinel.
It’s the Surfer magazine cover shot, however, that is huge. . . . “It’s a miracle just to get a photo in there,” Hines said. “They just happened to like the image, it’s just chance. . . “They look at millions and millions of photos from all over the world [for each issue],” he added. . . .”I used to look at surf mags and dream of it [surfing],” he said.
Nothing like a hometown paper to put everything in perspective.
[Link: Outer Banks Sentinel]
by The Editors on January 8, 2009
The amount of money going into the promotion of the Mathew McConaughey film Surfer Dude DVD release (it is currently selling for $5.99 on Amazon) could have financed a couple years of round the world surfing for someone. And now they’re stepping it up by giving away Surf Prescription boards on Movieweb.com
One lucky grand prize winner will win an actual surfboard from Surf Prescriptions, which will be signed by the film’s star Matthew McConaughey himself! We are also giving away a few posters for the film signed by McConaughey as well. These prizes will surely go super-fast, so be sure to enter this contest today!
So we guess in Hollywood speak an “actual surfboard” means a Doc Lausch surfboard.
[Link: MovieWeb.com]
by The Editors on January 8, 2009
Slapmagazine.com Editor-In-Cheif Mark Whiteley gets interviewed on Club Mumble. The big question: now that Slap is out of the paper printing business are they still going to do any old-media projects? Mark says they might:
We’re talking about a few ideas, from something like you mention to a best-of issue from all the stuff that goes on the site every six months to little ‘zine-type projects when we do trips with companies for them to distribute with product to all kinds of little ideas. I think we’ll do something in the next few months to get the ball rolling, it mainly depends on money right now as as everybody knows, money is a little tight these days. But yep, there shall be ink!
One other questions we might have asked: how’s that online advertising thing going?
[Link: Club Mumble]
by The Editors on January 8, 2009
William “Billy” Khourie III, 22, a snowboarder from Elk City, Oklahoma died Wednesday night after hitting his head while riding an advanced-intermediate run at Breckenridge Resort on Tuesday January 6, 2009.
The Breckenridge ski patrol was called to the accident on an advanced-intermediate trail at about 1 p.m. Tuesday and they took Khourie to Breckenridge Medical Center before he was transferred to Swedish Medical Center.
Khourie suffered a massive head injury after running into a wood post at the resort. According to the Denver Post on January 8, 2009 he was “brain dead” but being kept alive “awaiting organ harvesting.”
[LInk: Newsok.com and Devner Post]
by The Editors on January 8, 2009
Apparently, Hurley swimsuits are big for apres ski. . . sadly this is exactly where snowboarding is headed.
[Link: Rocky Mountain News]
by The Editors on January 8, 2009
Lately there are simply too many doom and gloom retail stories hitting to even try to keep up, so here is this morning’s round up:
And the New Year’s joy continues to roll in.
