Snowboarding

RIP: Jason “J2” Rasmus

by The Editors on May 28, 2019

We were saddened to learn that pro snowboarder and all-around smile maker Jason “J2” Rasmus died surrounded by family and friends on May 26, 2019 following a battle with cancer. He was 46.

Designer Aaron Draplin visited him near the end and offered up many good words about Tooz’s life and times. Here are a few of them.

 

 
 
 
 
 
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DOUG LIFE: For Jason “J2” Rasmus. December 12, 1972–May 26, 2019. 👊🏼 Was on my way home from shows in Kentucky & Tennessee, and got to say goodbye to my old buddy J2, just hours before he passed. 👊🏼 I met Tooz when I started at Snowboarder magazine. Would see him at trade shows and the like. We never shredded together. I was out of the “up on the hill” game by the time I met him. When we got Snowboard Mag going in 2004, Tooz was there the night we kicked it off. You can see the pictures of J2, Dave England and Mark Sullivan working up the first ideas of the mag in my shitty basement apartment off Hawthorne & 24th. Page 50 in my book. I left him my book yesterday when I saw him. 👊🏼 I’d be driving through Salt Lake and would crash at Mikey’s. Tooz was a bit of a caretaker there. We’d go to Moca Salsa for lunch and catch up. It was one thing to be around J2 at a movie premier, trade show or party. But to just be having lunch or shooting the shit in Mikey’s basement, his guard would come down a little bit. Kind, creative, honest, feisty, funny and warm. 👊🏼 The last bunch of years, each time I’d rip through Salt Lake City—either on a road trip or for a speaking gig—I’d try to drag him out to hang. I left lots of voice calls, and hell, don’t even know if it was his phone? Just wanted to show him all the stuff I was up to. 👊🏼 Thankful I got to see you, buddy. Sorry it had to be that way, and not over tacos at Moca Salsa, like we did so many times. 👊🏼 “Alright, see ya, doug.” -J2 “Doug? Who’s Doug?” -Aaron “When a guy is both a dude and a dawg…that’s a doug.” -J2 👊🏼 (Thank you to his mom, sister, aunt and wife for allowing me into the room yesterday, during such a scary time. Thank you to Mikey and Whitey for getting me access to Tooz a couple years back. We had a couple awesome calls to get reacquainted. That was the first time he ever called me “Aaron” and not some bullshit “Thunder Thighs” or whatever. Thank you to Bennee and Dead Lung for the heartfelt update just feet from Tooz’ hospital room. Thank you to Mark and Jeff for pep talks. My heart goes out to his family, and all his Salt Lake City homies.) 👊🏼 For Tooz! 👊🏼 #j2 (@whiteymcc photo!)

A post shared by Aaron James Draplin (@draplin) on

Our thoughts are with Jason’s family and friends. 

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Mammoth: Best Holy Bowly Ever?

by The Editors on May 20, 2019

Hitting all our favorite skateparks on the road from the Seattle to Mammoth, Phil Hansen, Brandon Reis, Austen Sweetin, Denver Orr, Tucker Andrews, Ryan Paterson, Matteo Soltane, and Zebbe Landmark roll to Holy Bowly 7, one of the craziest snow sculpture parks Snowboy Productions has ever built. Check it, then you decide.

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Snowboarder Dies Riding Pikes Peak

by The Editors on April 30, 2019

Twenty-four-year-old snowboarder Tucker Shivers died Wednesday, April 24, 2019 while snowboarding on Colorado’s Pikes Peak, according to a story in the Colorado Springs Gazette.

The 24-year-old Colorado Springs man died living out his dream Wednesday after falling while snowboarding above Glen Cove on the eastern face of the mountain, said Patrick Kerscher, El Paso County Search and Rescue operations director. He was snowboarding in a couloir east of Little Italy, Kerscher said. “He had a helmet on, and the helmet was broken, so we do suspect there was head injury,” Kerscher said.

Our thoughts are with Shivers family and friends. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help with expenses.

[Link: The Gazette]

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This Week’s News Headline Dumpage

by The Editors on April 24, 2019

All the headlines, no comments. Scan them, click them, read them, or just ignore them. A couple of these stories are worth reading and we’d point them out to you, but, well, that would take more time. You’ll just have to hunt them out yourself. Cheers.

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Surfer Magazine Parent Sells National Enquirer

by The Editors on April 18, 2019

American Media LLC, the company that purchased a gutted Adventure Sports Network in January 2019 has apparently sold the National Enquirer (and a couple other tabloids) to Hudson Media. for $100 million, according to a story on WWD.

James Cohen, part of the family that founded Hudson News Distributors, is buying the U.S. and U.K versions of the gossip magazine from David Pecker’s American Media LLC (recently renamed from American Media Inc.), which acquired the title 20 years ago. The $100 million deal also includes two other tabloids, Globe and National Examiner. . . Pecker — whose friendship with President Donald Trump and the use of the Enquirer’s coverage to aid Trump’s candidacy and perhaps even his personal vendettas has come under intense scrutinyover the last year — wrote in a statement that the group of magazines actually pull in $30 million in profit annually.

Not sure what this really means other than Snowboarder, Skateboarding, and Surfer Magazine are no longer siblings of the politically embroiled gossip rags and AMI is a little less in debt — only $355 million now. Ouch.

[Link: WWD]

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Jam The Tram At Squaw’s WinterWonderGrass

by The Editors on April 10, 2019

Best Squaw Valley tram jam ever. . . if you’re into that kind of thing. Pixie And The Partygrass Boys and Lindsay Lou take a Roll On The River.

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Jamie Salter Gets Stoned

by The Editors on April 2, 2019

It’s hard to believe, but it appears that eventually every dead fashion brand ends up in Jamie Salter’s hands. So it should be no surprise that he was able to add Volcom to his arsenal of 50 zombie brands which also includes Airwalk and Vision Street Wear.

“We are thrilled to have completed the purchase of Volcom,” said Jamie Salter, Chairman and CEO of ABG. “For nearly three decades the Volcom family has created one of the most iconic brands in the skate, surf and snow markets. During the last few years, the brand has been consistently gaining traction with broader audiences around the world while staying true to its core. We could not be happier to finally get to work with this team.”

Yes, this is an over-simplification of the deal which includes the creation of a new operating group run by Todd Hymel and the current Volcom management of which ABG is a minority partner, but hey at least Vee-Co is out from under the French and zombie brands live forever.

For the official word and no mention of how much ABG paid for Volcom (last time it sold for $607 million, this time we’re guessing much, much, much less) please follow the jump.

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All The News Headlines For Now

by The Editors on March 26, 2019

At this point see skate, snow, and surf headlines in our sleep and though we don’t seem to have time to snark this batch up, we still want them in an easy-to-scan format. So here they are as of March 25, 2019. Click the link for all the headlines you should have seen in the past few weeks (in no particular order, sadly) and enjoy the news.

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Snowboarder Dies On Cliff Near Mammoth

by The Editors on March 21, 2019

Justin Khoshnevis, a 31-year-old snowboarder from Los Alamitos, California died Tuesday, March 19, 2019 after going out-of-bounds at Mammoth Mountain, according to a story on KTLA.com.

Around 3:50 p.m. Tuesday, a 911 caller reported seeing someone fall from the cliffs above Twin Lakes, which is across from Tamarack Lodge and north of the popular backcountry chute “Hole in the Wall,” according to a statement from the Mono County Sheriff’s Office.

Some have mentioned that he had come down Dragon’s Back and may have been trying to ride Hole In The Wall, but was not in the correct zone. “Officials urged skiers and snowboarders to never ride alone through backcountry areas and to have the proper equipment. They should also have a plan and know the route.”

[Link: KTLA.com]

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AMI Kills Off TransWorld SNOWboarding

by The Editors on March 8, 2019

Just as the snowboard industry was getting used to the idea of a future without TransWorld Snowboarding in print, the brand announces that as of March 6, 2019 the entire brand is dead and over. In a post on the site someone explained it like this:

All good things, unfortunately, must come to an end, and effective March 6, 2019, TransWorld SNOWboarding has closed; the 32nd volume of magazines will be our last, and Kamikazu will be our final film. Over the coming weeks on our site and social channels we’ll publish tributes and reflections from the photographers, editors, filmers, and riders who defined the title over the years, so please check back regularly.

According to a Keith Kelly story in the NY Post, what is left of TWSnow will be “rolled into in-house rival Snowboarder” and go digital. So what’s left?

Only three titles — Bike, Surfer, and Powder — will survive with regularly scheduled print editions after 14 titles of The Enthusiast Network were quietly sold to American Media Inc. . . “We always viewed the Adventure Sports Network as an acquisition focused on significant digital scale and unparalleled experiential events,” said an AMI spokesman.

It’s good to see that at least an unnamed AMI spokesman has a plan for the recently purchased titles.  We can’t wait to see how this all pans out.

[Link: TransWorld SNOWboarding and NY Post]

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