This morning (Thursday December 31, 2009) while training in the Park City Halfpipe snowboarder Kevin Pearce, 22, was seriously injured during a “double cork,” according to a story in the New York Times.
Pearce’s mother, Pia, said that she was told that Pearce hit his head against the edge of the half pipe and was knocked unconscious. He was taken to the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City, she said, where doctors planned external ventricular drainage to relieve fluid buildup. They hoped to lessen the sedation after surgery, she said, hoping he would regain consciousness.
Our thoughts are with Kevin and his family and friends.
[Update 10:06 AM Jan. 1, 2010:The New York Times reports that Kevin is still in “critical condition” this morning and “A spokeswoman for the Pearce family, Danielle Burch, declined to say on Friday morning whether Pearce was conscious. The hospital is not providing further information at the family’s request.” Click here for a facebook well-wishes page.]
[Update 3:09 PM PT: The University of Utah Hospital has confirmed that Kevin Pearce is in their hospital and is currently listed in critical condition. According to ESPN Pearce suffered a concussion during qualifying at the US Grand Prix at Copper Mountain on December 11, 2009.]
Sometimes we forget about Boardercross being in the Olympics. So it’s nice of NBC’s Today Show and the gnarly boardercross team to keep us all up-to-date.
Costco, the bastion of action sporting bargains, is now happy to be selling trips to Valdez Heli-Camps for only $999.99 according to their website.
The Alaska Heliskiing Experience 3 Day Trip: . . 3 days all-inclusive lodging with a 25,000 vertical feet punch card . . Vertical feet is measured by the distance between where the helicopter drops the skier off to where to the skier gets picked up . . Guided skiing . . Deluxe lodging, meals, all specialized safety gear, local transportation are included . . Must be 18 yrs old to participate or have valid parent or guardian waiver . . Airport transfers in Valdez and local transportation is included.
That’s a savings of $600. Costco really is the future of action sports retailing.
Here’s a rad idea: Hot girls as skateboard graphics. Beverly Skates is apparently back (not really sure what their story was last time around) and they’re ready to rock:
Located in Beverly Hills California our small skateboard company strives for perfection. We try to uphold the high standards of our community, at the same time leave an open invitation for you to be a part of it. Beverly Skates was founded upon principals that put our heart and soul into our product as much as you the skater have chosen to put your heart and soul into skateboarding.
“You the skater?” This should fit in nicely at The Crossroads.
Ever been lost at a new resort? Those days could be over with the RealSki augmented reality app for the Apple iPhone. This heads up display shows run names, points of interest, and will hopefully help oblivious skiers stay away from the snowboard parks.
REALSKITM utilizes the camera, compass, GPS, and other 3GS features to overlay ski runs and key points of interest in augmented reality. . . Version 1.1 includes demo maps for five resorts and offers more than 80 mountains in North America from which to choose.
Sounds great for getting around the mountain, not so good for oblivious visitors who already seem to have enough distractions. The app works only on iPhone 3GS and is currently free in the iTunes store.
Surfers out at Kauai’s Targets on Christmas day say they were surfing through a hail of bullets according to a story on The Garden Isle.
A former professional surfer, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal, said the surf spot known as Targets and Rifle Range is one of the five best waves in the world when it breaks correctly (usually just two to three times a year), and Christmas Day was one of those rare days. . . “There was [sic] actually bullets flying overhead while we were surfing. Not cool,” he said. . . “It was downright scary,” said the surfer, who hid behind his board and was able to catch a ride from a friend on a Jet Ski to leave the area he had been surfing some 200 yards offshore.
Not so strangely officials deny that any shots were fired into the water. . .
Adage.com announced their top ten viral videos of 2009 and the Mad Media produced Gymkhana Two featuring Ken Block behind the wheel placed number four on their list ahead of a Wieden & Kennedy spot for Nike.
Among the lessons from this list? Viral video is not solely the domain of big-budget brands. While Microsoft was the only marketer to have a pair of spots in this list, Air New Zealand and DC Shoes were right up there as well.
Not bad for a couple cameras and a couple empty loading docks.
The snowboarder who died at Killington Resort on Thursday, December 24, 2009 was Alex Westphal, 20, a sophomore at Hofstra University, according to a story on WPIX.com.
Just minutes minutes before his death, Westphal took a cell phone picture at 11:54 a.m. of the mountains and sent it to his parents, who were cross-country skiing. . . . He then began his decent down the resort’s expert slope and apparently hit an object like a pole or sign post. . . Vermont State Police Detective Sam Capogrossi says though the student from Cheshire, Conn. was wearing his helmet, he sustained massive internal injuries.
Westphal was an only child. Our heartfelt sympathies are with his parents, Ryan and Ann.
This beach house in the Dominican Republic designed by Spanish architecture firm A-cero appears to have more skateable surfaces that your average skatepark.
. . . stunning housing project in La Romana (Dominican Republic) built entirely with the indigenous stone of Coralline that really prospers with the abundance of sunshine. The two blocks that shoot up like waves are fantastic and provide vertical covering. They also look like something Tony Hawk might dream up for his beach house.
This morning (Thursday December 31, 2009) while training in the Park City Halfpipe snowboarder Kevin Pearce, 22, was seriously injured during a “double cork,” according to a story in the New York Times.
