Hey, here’s a little late news from the snow shred game. Former Burton team pipe slayer Kazuhiro Kokubo has signed with Capita Snowboards. Believe it.
CAPiTA President Blue Montgomery commented, “We’re honored to have Kazu join us. Normally we don’t sign athletes outside our farm system, but Kazu is a perfect match. Who he is, how he presents himself, what he stands for… he’s a very unique person and such a stylish, powerful snowboarder. He defends awesome. The future around here looks bright.”
Follow the jump for the official word. (Yeah, we’re playing a little post holiday catchup if you hadn’t noticed.) [click to continue…]
Steven Mark Anderson, 49, a snowboarder from Hirschadale, California ,died today (December 24, 2012) at Donner Ski Ranch in an inbounds avalanche, according to a story in the Vancouver Sun.
The sheriff’s department received a call about the missing man at noon Monday, nearly three hours after the avalanche. Deputy David Lade said it took that long for Anderson’s friends to determine he was missing. The friends had not been skiing as a group, but rather went their own way in the morning, Lade said. . . “They spent a lot of time trying to locate him,” he said. . . A search dog found the man’s body about 1:30 p.m. under 2 to 3 feet of snow at the base of the avalanche. Lade said the wind had blown snow to depths to 7 feet or more where the man was snowboarding, which was inside the ski area’s boundaries near the main lodge.
The Donner Pass area has received close to eight feet of new snow over the last week. Alpine Meadows (which is no stranger to avalanches) had one ski patroller hospitalized after getting buried in a slide there on Monday during avalanche patrol and two other people were caught in a slide at Squaw Valley on Sunday.
Our thoughts are with Anderson’s family and friends. No one needs this news on Christmas eve.
We don’t think we’ve spoken to Hudson Riley Hawk since he was two years old, so it’s good to hear what he has to say now that he’s a bit older and wiser. Guy Mariano and Daniel Espinoza also take part in this discussion with Erica Yary and Rob Brink.
The New York Times’ John Branch breaks down the February 19, 2012 avalanche near Steven’s Pass, Washington. Three skiers died in the slide. Now, according to Gawker.com, it has become “the most intensively covered avalanche in the modern history of journalism.” This NYT piece may be one of the best online multi-media story presentations we’ve ever seen. Click the link and you’ll see what we mean.
The BMF is the most extensive, interactive and inspired snowboard demo experience in North America and features four key elements with something for all ages. The first and most prominent feature is the Try Gear 2013 Burton demo, which will be at all stops on the tour. The new demo program will encourage riders to try out Burton’s newest 2013 boards, bindings and boots all for FREE.
For the complete schedule and official details, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
Last summer (August 15, 2012) the Lemelson Center at the Smithsonian Institution invited Rodney Mullen to discuss “the role of invention and innovation” in American Life. As always, Mullen turns out to be as compelling a speaker as he is a skateboarder. Check it.
Ten amateurs learned a riding technique with a wearable system that automatically provided tactile instructions during descents. These instructions were in sync with the movements of the snowboard and signaled how to move the body.
What are “tactile instructions” exactly? Spelzmezan equipped the snowboarders with cellphone controlled vibrating devices that would buzz them on different parts of their bodies to encourage them to make the right movements. Spelmezan said in his paper, “Overall, our findings indicate that tactile instructions could support snowboarders in improving their performance.”
Wonder what kind of results Spelmezan would have gotten by replacing the vibrators with electro shock systems?
Calling Billabong’s last year a “blown-out” session would be an understatement. The company has sold off a piece of itself, turned down a good buy-out offer, lost an OK buy-out offer (along with two others), and now is considering another from Billabong America’s Paul Naude.
It’s not exactly the best time for the companies CFO to quit, but that’s what happened last night (December 19, 2012) according to a company update.
Billabong International Limited (Billabong or Company) advises that after seven years’ service with the Company, Craig White, Chief Financial Officer has left the organisation effective today. . . The Company would like to thank Craig for his service and wishes him well in his future endeavours.
In the meantime Peter Bryant, the America’s CFO, will apparently fill in for the global brand while they hunt for a suitable replacement. The release mentioned to reason for White’s sudden departure.
Vancouver’s Sebastien Boucher is lucky to be alive even after warming his hands with a Ziplock bag full of his own urine. Boucher was riding British Columbia’s Cypress Mountain on Sunday when he took a wrong turn and ended up in the BC backcountry for three days, according to a story in the Calgary Herald.
Boucher did one run down the mountain and back up again. He was alone and although he had gone beyond the boundary ropes, he thought he knew the terrain. He was wrong. . . “In two, three seconds, that’s all you need. If you get distracted, two or three seconds.” . . Those seconds would become three days, lost in a deep freeze with no food or water, wandering to an out-of-bounds area six kilometres from his starting place in difficult terrain. Eventually, he took enormous risks to shinny down a cliff face to a creek, desperately trying to find water and get his bearings.
Boucher got out alive, but now it looks like he might get charged $10,000 for his rescue. Click the link to read the rest of all the things you shouldn’t do if you get lost in the woods.
