Four surfers have already clinched spots in the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo according to the International Surfing Association.
South Africa’s Jordy Smith, Australia’s Sally Fitzgibbons and Stephanie Gilmore, and Japan’s Kanoa Igarashi are all lined up to represent their nations at the Games. . .”The qualification race is heating up as we have already seen many of the world’s top surfers earn their pass to Tokyo,” ISA President Fernando Aguerre says. “We also are proud to highlight the wide geographic reach of surfing and the surfers that have qualified for the Olympics. All continents are represented, which will truly bring all corners of the globe together for the Surfing competition at the Games.
For the official word from the ISA, please follow the jump.
Academy Snowboards is “absolutely stoked” to announce the return of former sales manager Kyle Kennedy to the brand.
After a sojourn through the dying side of the winter sports industry that included stops at Snowboarder Magazine, Kids KNOW Distribution, Snowboard Magazine, and the SnowSports Industries of America, Mr.Kennedy is back to making sure the Auburn, California snowboard company’s distribution is “on point” and that sales are on the up. What a crazy round-trip tour that has been.
The downside of holding an open design competition is that someday, someone is going to design something that someone else has a problem with. Well, Vans experienced that this week, according to a story on CNN. The someone is “a Canada-based user named Naomiso” and the someone else with a problem just might be the People’s Republic of China. Vans reportedly pulled the design (along with others) from their Custom Culture design competition on Saturday, October 5, 2019 saying in a facebook post:
“As a brand that is open to everyone, we have never taken a political position and therefore review designs to ensure they are in line with our company’s long-held values of respect and tolerance, as well as with our clearly communicated guidelines for this competition,” the statement said, without referring specifically to the protest-themed design.
The shoe, shown above, features “a red bauhinia, the flower on Hong Kong’s flag, and one of the yellow umbrellas synonymous with the city’s 2014 pro-democracy protests.” The designer was told the submission was pulled for the following reason:
“Not allowed: Trademarked or copyrighted material, business or brand logos, images of celebrities, professional team logos or mascots, nudity, images of weapons/violence, images referencing drugs, alcohol or smoking, offensive contest, obscenity or hate.”
Obviously, there are a few people upset by the shoe’s removal, and now a #boycottvans movement has apparently started. According to CNN, one Hong Kong shoe retailer has closed three of their stores because of “the controversy created by the contest.” Rough going for a contest about creativity and expression. For the rest of the story, please click the link.
Teton Gravity Research’s new snowboarding film, Roadless, hits the road this month with theater (and pub) showings all over the US and Canada. The film follows Bryan Iguchi, Jeremy Jones, and Travis Rice on a 10-day human powered expidition to explore an untamed “vast and remote” part of Wyoming.
For the first time in their illustrious careers, these snowboarding legends are united by a common goal: To trek deep into the Yellowstone wilderness in search of groundbreaking first descents in the most remote region of the lower-48. This arduous journey through this winter landscape not only yields world-class riding but allows these three to reflect on their shared past and love of snowboarding in one of America’s last wild places.
The Roadless tour kicks off this week at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco on October 10, 2019. For all the details click the link.
In his October letter to what’s left of the Snowsports Industries of America, President Nick Sargent announced that the SIA is now opening membership to “include retailers, reps and resorts,” because, well, what else can the organization do to increase revenue?
With our mission to “help the industry thrive, “ we believe that it is imperative to truly speak to the entire industry so that together, we can find common areas of alignment within our key initiatives: climate advocacy, participation, research, education, and B-to-B events to drive the entire industry forward. We are excited about this new, more collaborative direction for SIA.
Hopefully, there are still winter sports retailers and reps left who will ante up. What do they get exactly for this membership? You’ll have to read the rest of the letter to figure that out ’cause we have no idea.
It was only a matter of time before old media sports titan Sports Illustrated felt the bite of digital publishing, and that time was yesterday according to a story in The New York Post.
As news of the impending cuts circulated, about three-quarters of the staff signed a petition calling on SI’s new owner, Authentic Brands, to rescind its 10-year licensing deal with digital publisher The Maven, headed by Jim Heckman. . . “The Maven wants to replace top journalists in the industry with a network of Maven freelancers and bloggers, while reducing or eliminating departments that have ensured that the stories we publish and produce meet the highest standards,” read the petition, which was first reported by NPR.
Why is this interesting to us? Well, Mr. Salter was involved with Kemper Snowboards, co-founded Ride Snowboards and, in addition to Sports Illustrated, currently owns Airwalk, Vision Street Wear, and most of Volcom. And if things keep going in this direction he will eventually own everything. Yes, he’s seems to have a knack for reanimating profits from dead brands.
Each fall weather predicators from The Old Farmer’s Almanac to The Weather Channel send out their predictions for the coming Northern Hemisphere winter. AccuWeather is no different. And this year they’re going out on a limb predict snow for winter. Yep, not to worry. Winter is coming.
In short they’re calling for near normal in the West. A bit below normal in the Northwest, milder for the midwest and not till January for the Northeast. Oh, and the weather will be mild in Florida this winter, if you didn’t already know that. For more of their vague, overly generalized winter details, please follow the jump.
We’ve rarely had a GoPro camera that functioned at all, let alone allowed us to bring back epic footage of our action fumbling, however, everyone seems to love these cameras so here’s the latest: the GoPro Hero 8. With each additional GoPro product launch we hope Gopro will release something that we can depend on day in and day out. Who knows, maybe this is finally the one.
Rip Curl, today (September 30, 2019) announced that they have sold the company to New Zealand camping gear company Kathmandu for a whopping $350 million Australian dollars, according to a story in the Daily Mail.
Kathmandu, headquartered in Christchurch, is buying 100 per cent of Rip Curl for $350million, it told the Australian Securities Exchange on Tuesday morning. . . The acquisition will create a $1billion outdoor recreation company.
Kathmandu? If I ever get out of here, that’s what I’m gonna do. Oh, sorry. Ah, we’re right happy for the Warbricks and Singers, but it is sad to see the last independent surf fashion rat launch a massive swan dive off the sinking surf industry ship. We are, however, looking forward to Rip Curl canteens and camp chairs for lounging on the slopes of Mt. Cook. For the rest of the story, please click the link.
Academy Snowboards is “absolutely stoked” to announce the return of former sales manager Kyle Kennedy to the brand.
In his October letter to what’s left of the 
It was only a matter of time before old media sports titan Sports Illustrated felt the bite of digital publishing, and that time was yesterday according to a story in 
Rip Curl, today (September 30, 2019) announced that they have sold the company to New Zealand camping gear company Kathmandu for a whopping $350 million Australian dollars, according to a story in the 
