by The Editors on March 3, 2009
A 14-year-old snowboarder from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada is lucky to be alive today after being swept away in an avalanche while riding out of bounds at Mt. Washington, according to a story in the Vancouver Sun. His friends reported him missing at 3:30 PM.
Two hours later, at 5:30 p.m., searchers heard the boy calling for help near a precipice and were only able to reach him by descending on ropes. . . .The avalanche had pushed him up against a tree, which rescuers said saved him from being pushed over the cliff. . . .When rescuers uncovered him, they found he was hypothermic and both his legs were broken. . . He was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Comox, then air-lifted to B.C. Children’s Hospital in Vancouver.
[Link: Vancouver Sun]
by The Editors on March 3, 2009
Rob Williams, the 29-year-old founder of British online music equipment retailer Dolphin Music died Sunday March 1, 2009 at Verbier after falling more than 60 feet off a cliff, according to a story in the Daily Mail.
[Williams] and Jason Tavaria, also 29, had become separated from friends while snowboarding in the resort of Verbier. . . . They were part of a group of London-based entrepreneurs attending a conference. . . . Mr Williams’s body was discovered by search teams late on Monday, shortly after they found his mobile phone. . . .Local police confirmed that he had fallen 66 feet onto a bed of rocks.
Williams was in Verbier with Michelle Dewberry, the winner of the BBC show The Apprentice.
[Link: Daily Mail]
by The Editors on March 3, 2009
Snowboarder John Zsolt, 45, of Toronto, Canada died Sunday March 1, 2009 while riding at The Beaver Valley Ski Club according to a story in the Sun Times.
Zsolt, who was wearing a helmet and who was described as a skilled snowboarder, died after he fell and crashed into a tree at about 10:30 a. m. Several witnesses, who watched the crash from a chairlift, said Zsolt was traveling fast when he tried to carve a turn and fell. He slid into a tree.
[Link: The Sun Times]
by The Editors on March 2, 2009
Snowboard photographer Cole Barash is only 21 years old and it seems like he’s been around for ever. Shooting first for the snowboard mags when he was fresh out of high school, then Forum Snowboards, and for the past two years he’s been on the Nike Snow program. This month Photo District News has chosen Barash as one of their top 30 new and emerging photographers in their story PDN’s 30 2009.
While shooting action is a big part of his business, Barash also shoots portraits and behind-the-scenes images. “Snowboarding culture is much more than just the action,” he relates. “I want to show what the trip is like getting there. I want to show the crazy story in the hotel room after.”
Wonder if Cole ever had to sit through a “you’re wasting all your talents” lecture with his high school principal. We’re guessing no.
[Link: PDN via Jared Sourney]
by The Editors on February 28, 2009
Last night three snowboarders triggered an avalanche just before dusk on February 27, 2009 in the Central Kootenays of B.C. Canada, south of Nelson, according to a story in The Province. All are lucky to be alive.
The trio were swept up and carried an estimated 150 metres before coming to a rest. One of them had his snowboard snapped in half and ended up caught in a tree. . . . Professional ski guide Patric Maloney immediately hopped on the chopper, setting out with his wife, Mariah Grant, colleague Shawn West and pilot Ben White.. . “He was cut up pretty bad,” said Maloney of the injured snowboarder. “Our initial assessment was he had a broken leg, broken pelvis and internal injuries.”
Because the terrain was too dangerous for the helicopter to land, it reportedly took the rescuers four hours to get the snowboarder to an ambulance and a helicopter ride to Vancouver General Hospital.
[Link: The Province]
by The Editors on February 26, 2009
Royce Morgan, 18, was found dead near Alaska’s Hatcher Pass on Wednesday after snowboarding with his brother and getting separated, according to a story in the Anchorage Daily News.
Morgan was snowboarding with his brother, 25-year-old Matthew Theodore, in the late afternoon when the two became separated, troopers reported. . . . Theodore looked for his brother but couldn’t find him, troopers said. He went to the Hatcher Pass Lodge and called troopers. Theodore then went back up the mountain to look for his brother.
Theodore reportedly found Morgan a second time, but Morgan could not walk. So Theodore tried to push him back to the lodge on a snowboard, but was unable to and again went back for help. By the time searchers found Morgan at 9:15 PM he had no pulse and was not breathing.
[Link: Anchorage Daily News]
by The Editors on February 26, 2009
Next year all snowboarders who ride in Quebec may be forced to wear helmets if provincial lawmakers get their way, according to a story from the Associated Press.
Sports Minister Michelle Courchesne is echoing arguments by an association of provincial emergency medical specialists that helmets are needed to prevent head injuries in some winter activities.
When we think about how hard the snow is in Quebec most of the year (okay, icy), it’s probably not that bad of an idea.
[Link: Associated Press]
by The Editors on February 26, 2009
Steamboat Ski Resort ski patroller Paula Lepporoli jumped right into action when she saw a snowboard sticking out of some branches while she skied through the trees on the resort’s Typhoon run, and a 40-year-old snowboarder from Denver has her to thank for saving his life, according to a story in the Steamboat Pilot.
Lepporoli’s training kicked in as she popped off her skis and rushed to help. She dug out the rider’s head, stuck 3 1/2 feet under the snow in a tree well. . . . “He wasn’t breathing when I got there, and I cleared his airways, and he started breathing,” the 20-year Ski Patrol veteran said. “It took us 10 minutes to get him out of there.”. . . The 40-year-old Denver man survived and wasn’t hospitalized, Lepporoli said.
A few minutes later and the man’s wife and three-year-old son would have lost a husband and father. Reminds us to stick together in the trees. This can happen to anyone.
[Link: Steamboat Pilot]
by The Editors on February 26, 2009
Trevor Andrew has apparently caught the eye of Women’s Wear Daily and they decide to go shopping with him:
Inappropriately dressed for the bitter cold in a denim jacket, hoodie and skinny black jeans — accessorized with gold chains, a Gucci belt and oversize pink Oakley sunglasses — Andrew has a scrappy hipster-meets-B-boy look that doesn’t mesh with his “Trouble Andrew” moniker. Nevertheless, he insists, “I’m trouble — in a good way.” . . . A two-time Olympic snowboarder, Andrew is shopping for a few pieces to add to his wardrobe, which, he says, has been stretched thin by the spate of press obligations surrounding the release of his self-titled debut album earlier this month.
Guess this is the kind of coverage that starts happening when you win MTVU’s Freshman contest.
[Link: Women’s Wear Daily]
by The Editors on February 25, 2009
