We wondered what plans Jamie Slater aka Athentic Brands Group had for Quiksilver, Billabong, et. al. when he purchased the Boardrider Group back on September 1, 2023, so we’re not surprised to see him begin selling it off in little pieces to whomever is interested. The first piece of Boardriders is reportedly going to French group Beaunamoir, according to a story on Fashion Network. The company, which owns a load of fashion brands you’ve likely never heard of, has reportedly “entered into exclusive negotiations . . . to buy the Western European activities of the Boardriders Group made up of Quiksilver, Billabong, Roxy, DC Shoes, Element and RVCA.”
Roland Beaumanoir, the group’s CEO, believes that this takeover “would develop the Beaumanoir Group’s expertise in the lifestyle segment, which is doing well. The Boardriders brands are emblematic and offer a lifestyle that is both relaxed and driven by a passion for outdoor sports. We would therefore be delighted to take on the challenge of promoting these brands on the European market.” Details of the countries covered by the agreement have not yet been released.
Brands are brands and apparently they have value long after they’ve died. If Jamie knows anything, it’s Zombie brands. So we’re going to just trust him to do the right thing for his wallet.
This new Vibram soled “Half Cab Reissue 33’ shoe” that Vans has dropped is the latest sad attempt to correct the brand’s sales freefall. It’s called OTW by Vans and it is an attempt by VF Corp to force the Vans brand back into mainstream fashion relevance. Apparently, the execution of this VF force has been left up to this guy:
Ian Ginoza, VP of Creative Direction for OTW by Vans, said: “OTW by Vans is a frontier for progression, experiences and collaboration. The skateboarding mindset is core to Vans, and OTW enriches that spirit through a distinct perspective to propel culture forward.”
If anyone can pull it off Ginoza can. He has deep roots in sneakers and culture marketing, however using a tag like “skateboarding mindset” as sales euphemism for “not skateboarding” has never ended well. Read the whole piece if you’d like. And if these become Vans best selling shoes ever, we will apologize. Promise.
It’s not often that a rad, little resort in Vermont makes the pages of The New Yorker Magazine, especially in a story featuring hundreds of millions in potentially mishandled funds. But that’s exactly the position Jay Peak and former resort manager Bill Stenger are in this month with a story titled “The Rural Ski Slope Caught Up in an International Scam,” by Sheelah Kolhatkare.
The crux of the story revolves around how Stenger and a business partner raised money for development at the resort and what they actually did with the money they raised. Here’s the how:
He [Stenger] raised money using the EB-5 visa program, which aimed to channel foreign investments into businesses that created jobs for Americans, especially in rural or economically depressed parts of the country. For five hundred thousand dollars (the amount has since risen to nine hundred thousand), foreign investors and their families became eligible for green cards, so long as that money succeeded in creating at least ten jobs.
As for what they did with all the money, you’ll have to read the story. In the end, it goes to show that running a resort isn’t always about keeping the snow guns blowing and the cats repaired. There is much, much, more involved. And sometimes it even a little prison time. Click the link for the rest of the story.
There’s nothing we love more than scrolling social feeds for hours looking for crazy videos from famous people that we can repost with a clever caption. Take this video for instance. It features amazing footage of something really crazy. It will blow your mind when you see it. And then send you out on an hours long scroll through the same stuff we’ve been looking at. For more crazy videos from action sports super stars, please click the link.
Now that the sun has set over the Sierra, the press conference is over, and releases have gone out, here is the official word on the day:
At around 9:30 AM on Janaury 10, 2024 four Palisades Tahoe guests were involved in an avalanche in the “GS gully area, to the skier’s right of the KT-22.” One skier, Kenneth Kidd, 66, of Truckee and Point Reyes, California died. Another was injured, and two others were able to get free of the snow with no serious injuries. No one is currently reported missing.
According to the resort the “cause of the avalanche is under investigation.” In other words, the resort is attempting to figure out how their avalanche mitigation measures failed to recognize the potential dangers on a slope that in hindsight was totally unstable.
This is not the first time the Palisades Tahoe has had an avalanche event or issues with avalanche control.
The thing that no one ever mentions about Westbeach (and Lululemon) founder Chip Wilson is that the guy can dance. Put on some swing music and he will drag the most uncoordinated person out on the floor and make them look like Willa Ma Ricker. This vision keeps coming back to us as we’ve watched Wilson negotiate all kinds of business successes and snafus over the years. But now, as a guy with a reportedly $7 billion wallet and a large chunk of Atomic and Salomon parent company Amer Sport some are wondering what he’s been up to lately. Forbes finds out.
Wilson, who famously stepped away from the yoga-inspired fashion brand he started in 2013 after landing in hot water for blaming an issue with see-through leggings on “some women’s bodies,” specifically those with thicker thighs, has spent a good chunk of the past year opening up about his disease, a rare form of muscular dystrophy that slowly eats away at muscle strength in the upper body and shoulders. Though he was diagnosed with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) over 30 years ago, more than a decade before he started Lululemon in 1998, it wasn’t until last year that he revealed his diagnosis and launched a full-scale assault on FSHD, which impacts an estimated 870,000 people around the world. Citing his likely need for a wheelchair in the next few years, the Vancouver-based billionaire in March 2022 pledged the equivalent of $75 million to a new organization he set up to stamp out FSHD by 2027.
For the rest of the interview, please click the linkand if you don’t have a subscription to Forbes, you can just turn javascript off in your browser and read it for free.
This clip from Shaun White’s Bomb Hole interview gets to the crux of the issue Shaun and snowboarding have always had. And what no one pointed out to him is that the “issue” has nothing to do with what he has done or not done for snowboarding or snowboarding culture.
The bottom line is that Shaun White is, and always has been, a total sweat. He takes things very seriously. From the time he started in action sports he’s put every single waking moment into getting better at whatever he is doing. He has very little time for anything (or anyone) else. Every move he makes is calculated to get him closer to his current goals.
Even as a kid skateboarding at the Encinitas Y he attacked it with the complete lack of joy one sees in German fetishists. Doing a trick over and over and over, not noticing anything else. Many snowboarders (and even more skateboarders) don’t like sweats. It’s that simple.
Shaun is trying to be nice in this interview. He wants to show that he’s just a regular guy who loves snowboarding like everyone else. But that’s not really true. He approaches it like no one else. As a result, he became the best in the world. He doesn’t need to apologize for the way he approaches life and shouldn’t feel bad for even a minute. But if he’s wondering why he was (and is) treated the way he is by snowboarders and “the industry” (and that seems to be his question in this clip) then that’s the reason. Glad we could help.
[Editors’ Note: Donna Carpenter is also a sweat. A business sweat. So, yeah, it’s funny she would call out Shaun. Then again, we are all most critical of what we are.]
In a story you rarely see, Miguel Vega, 33, of Corona, CA, a former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy, was just sent to federal prison for two years for “violating the civil rights” of a skateboarder at the Compton skate park by “improperly detaining him and then acting to cover up his actions,” according to a story on MyNewsLA.
Vega pleaded guilty in September to one count of deprivation of rights under color of law, a crime that carries a sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison. He admitted to having falsely imprisoned the 23-year-old skateboarder in his patrol car, which crashed during a subsequent chase, leaving the man injured. He also admitted filing false reports to cover up his and his partner’s unlawful conduct. . . Vega’s former partner, Christopher Hernandez, 37, pleaded guilty in July to one count of conspiracy. A sentencing hearing is set in Los Angeles federal court for Jan. 8, at which time he will face up to five years in federal prison.
Bad cop, go to prison. Skateboarding finally wins one. We’ll keep you posted.
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We wondered what plans Jamie Slater aka Athentic Brands Group had for Quiksilver, Billabong, et. al. when he purchased the Boardrider Group back on September 1, 2023, so we’re not surprised to see him begin selling it off in little pieces to whomever is interested. The first piece of Boardriders is reportedly going to French group Beaunamoir, according to a story on Fashion Network. The company, which owns a load of fashion brands you’ve likely never heard of, has reportedly “entered into exclusive negotiations . . . to buy the Western European activities of the Boardriders Group made up of Quiksilver, Billabong, Roxy, DC Shoes, Element and RVCA.”
It’s not often that a rad, little resort in Vermont makes the pages of 
In a story you rarely see, Miguel Vega, 33, of Corona, CA, a former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy, was just sent to federal prison for two years for “violating the civil rights” of a skateboarder at the Compton skate park by “improperly detaining him and then acting to cover up his actions,” according to a story on 
