by The Editors on August 13, 2009
Two snowboarding companies relaunched their websites today: 686 and Burton. The sites both feature black backgrounds with red accents, both use Flash, both feature a lot of product, and yet they are perfect examples of completely different user interface philosophies.
One is a simple, clean, attractive, easy-to-navigate blog with all the social tools built right in. The other is an overly complex, heavily “designed” monster, that offers up spinning logos and new menus at every turn, and looks more like a CD-Rom game from 1996 than a website for 2010.
We’ll let you decide which is which.
[Link: 686 vs. Burton]
by The Editors on August 11, 2009
Two American snowboarders who last week were found in possession of marijuana in New Zealand have apparently been granted “diversion,” according to a story on Planetski.eu.
The court heard the evidence yesterday and decided to grant them “diversion”. . . .This is a process whereby first-time offenders who meet certain criteria then pay an amount of money to a charity. . . They then avoid having a conviction entered against their name. . . It’s not clear how much the men had to pay or which charity benefited.
And the cool thing about New Zealand? Their names were never released. . . so we’ll never know who it was <smirk>. But we’re guessing they’re both going to do well in the New Zealand Open.
[Link: Planet Ski and Otago Daily Times]
by The Editors on August 11, 2009
Apparently, while not polishing his Olympic Bronze medal from Salt Lake City, snowboarder JJ Thomas has been crafting some electro pop music under the name of MileHi with friend Jeff Cormack.
Their new album Hits and Misses is available for download right here. Check it and you’ll get hot on the dance floor lyrics like this from For The Girls.
You, me, him and her, everybody lets roll. Don’t stop back it up come on lets go go. You girls look good tonight. This place is poppin, poppin. Since you walked in that door my jaw’s been dropping, dropping. Skinny jeans, my gawd girl you look so mean. Girl see the way you’ve been looking at me so right. I can’t wait to be alone and see what’s under those clothes tonight. Red lips, hair’s a mess. I like how you wear that dress. So stop take a drink and let’s get loose. Hey, girl it’s you and me grab your friend let’s make it three.
JJ getting freaky. Looks like he’s going more than his snowboard skills to work on this project. And it sounds, well, not that bad, actually.
[Link: MileHi Sound via TransWorld Business]
by The Editors on August 6, 2009
When Nissan Canada decided to give away 50 new Nissan Cubes their advertising agency Capital C thought it would be cool to have a “social media” contest and use snowboarder Leanne Pelosi as one of their three English language judges.
Contestents were to use social media to show of their “creative skills” and then a panel of judges would select 50 winners who would drive away in a brand new car. After the winners of the cars were announced on June 23, 2009 a website EncyclopediaDramatica noticed that of all the entries across Canada, three of Leanne’s friends happened to win new cars, according to a story in Marketing Magazine.
Judge Leanne Pelosi in particular has connections to at least three winners, one of whom, Jeff Keenan, was alleged by Encyclopedia Dramatica to be her boyfriend. . . While Nissan claims the two do not even reside in the same province, there is a significant, easily verifiable connection between judge and contestant. Pelosi once headed up snowboard video production company Runway Films, which listed Keenan as its primary contact. Pelosi also appeared in snowboard videos directed by Keenan.
The other two winners who Leanne knows were Robin Van Gyn, and skier Anthony Bornonowski. Then again, Leanne knows a lot of really talented people. . .
[Link: Marketing Mag via Shredbetties]
by The Editors on August 3, 2009
Two snowboarders, one “understood to be Winter Olympics double medallist” and another an Olympic hopeful are scheduled to appear in court next week in Wanaka New Zealand on charges of possessing the weed, according to a story in The Southland Times.
The pair, aged 26 and 21, were arrested in Wanaka on Saturday night after being stopped for random roadside breath testing. . . Sergeant Paul Crosswell, of Wanaka, said the pair were allegedly caught with “not an insignificant amount” of cannabis in their car. . . They will appear in the Queenstown District Court on Monday.
According to the New Zealand Herald “The maximum penalty for a conviction for possession of marijuana is three months’ jail and/or a NZ$500 fine (US$330),” or about the same fine as running a red light in LA. . . now let’s see. . . who is 26, American, and has two Olympic medals. . .
[Link: The Southland Times via Snowjournal.com]
by The Editors on August 3, 2009
Ryan Manu Campbell, 30, of Queenstown, New Zealand died on Sunday August 2, 2009 while snowboarding with two close family members. One of the group triggered a category 2.5 avalanche at 5 PM near Coronet Peak and Campbell was buried, according to a story on Stuff.co.nz.
Campbell was buried under 2½ metres of snow. . . . His female companions raced to raise the alarm, and emergency alpine rescue services were sent to the area. . . Rescuers managed to free Mr Campbell yesterday afternoon, after almost two hours of frantic digging. . . He was given medical attention at the scene before being airlifted to Lakes District Hospital in Queenstown, where he was pronounced dead.
[Link: Stuff.co.nz]
by The Editors on July 31, 2009
Yesterday we linked to a completely erroneous story on a European website involving Salomon and Bonfire’s parent company Amer Sports. Maarit Mikkonen, Communications Manager, for Amer Sports was kind enough to set us straight.
Amer Sports Corporate headquarters is not moving from Finland to Germany. Amer Sports operations in Germany are moving under one roof.
We apologize for unknowingly promoting incorrect information on the site.
by The Editors on July 30, 2009
Regis Roland, visionary founder of the original Apocalypse Snow films and brand, put his French snowboard/freeski company Apo Snow “into administration protection” on July 6, 2009, according to an interview on Board Sports Source. Here’s some of what he had to say about it.
I think everybody has noticed that the financial crisis has hit companies badly and it has unfortunately hit my company at the wrong time. Indeed, in the past 5 years, we have been investing in costly innovative projects such as our patented bindings, (Our Dual Entry System) and more recently our new ski range. . .The returns have been decent, but as an independent brand, we do not have the financial clout to support such a large investment without the backing of a strong financial group or the support of our banks.
Roland says the company is “not dead,” production of the 2009/10 has been launched, and he is currently looking for a private investor to make the company stronger.
[Link: Board Sports Source]
by The Editors on July 28, 2009
We just purchased the Transworld Snowboarding Team Shoot Out video from the iTunes store. And while the Rome Team’s winning segment is well-worth the $4.99 in and of itself, we did get the feeling that we were paying money to watch 35 minutes of advertising. And in reality we were.
Borrowed from a similar sort of team competition that Transworld Skateboarding did previously in their print magazine, the Transworld Snowboarding Team Shoot Out video is really a promo video in four parts featuring teams from DC, Burton, Forum, and Rome (click for team bios via TWS). And yeah, it was kind of weird that of all the companies in the snowboard world this video would be 50 percent Burton, but we’re guessing that these were the only companies who bought into the concept of Transworld’s editorial/video package.
Each team, armed with a Transworld Snowboarding photographer, was allowed to do whatever they wanted to set up the best possible photo/video shoot. All the teams had to complete their builds and shoot in the same two week period each at a different resort. The teams then were to submit a five minute video and 10 images for the judges to rate. The five minutes videos were then compiled and released as the Team Shoot Out, while the still photos were used as editorial in Transworld’s print magazine.
[click to continue…]
by The Editors on July 27, 2009
Pro snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler and pro skater Lauren Perkins are joining pro baller Steve Nash, pro paintballer Johnny Perchak (and others) in backing a new website that reportedly will help people learn how to become pro athletes. The site, which launches Wednesday July 29, 2009 is called Makeitpro.com, according to a story on Forbes.com.
These optimists are launching MakeItPro.com July 29, a site targeted to young athletes, especially those not growing up in sports hotbeds, offering them sport-by-sport advice as well as a social network to help connect with coaches and recruiters.
Because we all know that by following a few tips from our favorite pros we all be living the good life in no time. God, we just hope Gretchen and Lauren are getting paid upfront. . .
[Link: Forbes.com]
