Leap day (February 29, 2012) signals the end to the waiting period for the Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau. Aside from the breath of relief likely heard around the Quiksilver Board of Diectors table we’re bummed we didn’t get to see things get massive at Waimea Bay.

“As much as we’d like to see this dedication run every year, the event is committed to meeting the criteria of 20 feet,” said contest director George Downing. . . “Those special winters of Eddie-sized waves seem to only come around every three to five years, so a season like this is to be expected. . . “On behalf of the Aikau family, we sincerely thank this year’s Invitees, Alternates, Quiksilver and the organizing team who remained dedicated and enthusiastic throughout the holding period. We would also like to thank the Hawaii Tourism Authority and the City & County of Honolulu for their special efforts to make this an enjoyable event for all.”

Guess we’ll just have to wait until next year and let Greg Long hang onto that 2009-10 title for one more year. Follow the jump for the official word. Continue reading ‘The Eddie Window Has Officially Closed’

Spy announced today that they’ve added surfer/shaper Ryan Burch and surfer Jared Mell as “multidimensional surf-sojourning brand ambassadors” for the eyewear company’s new Crosstown Collection.

“Ryan and Jared are super talented and respected at the creative forefront of contemporary surf culture, and they also have classic vibes in what they do that really resonate with what’s happening with SPY now,” says Devon Howard, SPY Marketing Director. “Ryan is a craftsman with a penchant for innovation, tempered by a deep reverence of classic surfing style applied to his board designs inspired by shaping pioneers like Bob Simmons and Carl Ekstrom. With Jared, his approach to nose riding and what he does with his clothing line at Insight are similarly progressive, hedged with deep roots. We’re really stoked to have these guys rounding-out an already stellar team of incredibly creative surfers backing Crosstown.”

The Crosstown Collection is billed as a “limited-edition line of vintage-inspired, handcrafted sunglasses” which sounds like a great market for Spy to paddle into. For the official word, follow the jump. Continue reading ‘Spy Lines Up Ryan Burch And Jared Mell’

Tomorrow night (March 1, 2012), at select theaters across the nation Vans is presenting Stacy Peralta’s Warped Tour documentary No Room For Rockstars.

Directed by Parris Patton (Amazing Journey: The Story of the WHO) and produced by Stacy Peralta and the team that brought you Dogtown & Z-boys, No Room For Rockstars is a feature documentary culled from more than 300 hours of film shot on the 2010 Vans Warped Tour. . . No Room For Rockstars depicts the true stories of modern era rock and roll from the kids in the van playing parking lots hoping to be discovered, to the veteran stage manager whose life was saved by the tour, to the musician who crosses over to mainstream success while on the road.

If you can make it to Santa Monica’s Laemmle’s Monica 4-plex, you’ll get the chance to see Stacy Peralta and hear the band Suicide Silence live. For the complete list of cities, theaters, showtimes and to purchase tickets for No Room For Rockstars, check out: www.noroomforrockstars.com.

If you missed the Burton European Open Slopestyle semi-finals today from LAAX, Switzerland you can watch a complete replay right here. As for the rest of the live online webcasts films for Feb. 29 – March 3, 2012 in the US, Central Europe, New Zealand and Japan follow the jump. And yes, West Coast US, to watch it live you’re going to need to stay up late. Continue reading ‘Burton European Open Live Online’

The 2012 US Snowboarding Grand Prix Tour wraps up this weekend at Mammoth Mountain with slopestyle and halfpipe, Wednesday, February 29 through Saturday, March 3, 2012. Snowboarder scheduled to compete include: Sage Kotsenberg, Eric Willett, Elena Hight and local Greg Bretz. Click here or here for photos from the 2010 Mammoth Grand Prix or here for the famous Danny Davis vs. Shaun White pipe shoot out.

For the complete schedule of events, follow the jump. And if you can, you should come up and watch it live. Seriously. Oh, today’s practice (February 28, 2012) has been cancelled. Bet it’s a bit windy at Mammoth right now.
Continue reading ‘US Snowboarding Grand Prix Mammoth 2012′

Olympic snowboarder Elena Hight’s mother, Myra Hight, 51, of South Lake Tahoe, California has been arrested and accused of being part of a “large-scale marijuana operation” according to a story in The Washington Post.

The elder Hight was reportedly carrying $77,500 cash at the time of her arrest in Hamburg, New York on February 20, 2012.

Myra Hight, 51, of South Lake Tahoe, Calif., was being held on $1 million bail after being charged in Buffalo with federal conspiracy to distribute marijuana. . .Erie County Sheriff’s investigators announced the arrest Monday, saying they had not wanted to impede their investigation into the operation, which they said reached into Utah, Nevada, California and Hawaii. . . “These people were probably dealing in millions of dollars of marijuana,” Senior Detective Alan Rozansky said.

According to the story investigators say there is “no reason to believe Elena Hight had any knowledge of the organization or was involved.” Hmmm. . . we certainly hope not.

[Link: Washington Post]

It’s a little rough, there’s snow on the lens, and some of shots are questionable, but it February, the sun is out and there is no denying that Joey is having some fun at Bear Mountain.

[Link: Ashbury]

Sure, there are all kinds of reasons to check out Globe’s new Bantam “behind” the scenes look book, however, as you might expect brightly colored plastic skateboards aren’t very high on that list.

[Link: Globe]

OG skateboarding photographer Glenn E. Friedman talks to Paradigm Magazine and the result is this Rear Window. It’s like a video collection of punk rock aphorisms. Check it.

[Link: Paradigm Magazine]

Tony Hawk’s Black Jeep Hennessey Jeep SRT 600 has been around the world (thanks to 2009 Gumball 3000), but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy it. It is currently on ebay with a starting bid of $32,000.

This is Tony Hawk’s personal 2008 Jeep SRT8 with a Hennessey SRT600 Turbo package. This car was driven on the 2009 Gumball 3000 and featured in an episode of MTV “Cribs”. . . . This model came stock with 420 hp and Tony jumped at the opportunity to work with John at HPE on the engine. They installed the SRT600 Turbo package.

And yes, it is fast. It will go 0-60 in 3.4 seconds and turns in 11.9 second quarter miles if you’re into that. It’s currently up on a 7 day auction so you have a week to think about it.

[Link: ebay via @TonyHawk]