by The Editors on February 13, 2009
After all the Love stories that clouded the media space last fall it is nice to finally read something good about Burton snowboards on MSNBC.com. The story explains how the Burton’s Chill Program is changing the lives of children at risk.
They look like any group of young snowboarders decked out in the latest Burton gear, but looks, as we know, can be deceiving. These kids can’t afford snow sports or the gear, much less bus fare to the mountain. In fact, some live in homeless shelters, others live in group homes around Burlington, Vt., about a half-hour’s drive from this locally-owned ski area. Some have been in trouble with the law. . . . They are here thanks to Jake Burton Carpenter, the founder of Burton Snowboards and the recognized pioneer of the snowboard industry.
See, in addition to introducing young people to “pornography” and “self-multilation“ Jake and Donna Carpenter are also making it possible for many kids to snowboard who otherwise wouldn’t be able to. And that’s good for everyone.
[Link: MSNBC.com]
by The Editors on February 13, 2009
Friday the 13th turned out to be a lucky day for snowboard TV personality Todd Richards and the Nixon crew. The Air Pacific 747 jetliner they were on bound for Fiji and the NIxon High Tide Hold ’em on Tavarua was forced to turn back to LAX when it was discovered that the plane had a “fuel transfer problem,” according to a story in the LA Times.
Airport police Sgt. Daniel Vaughn says the Boeing 747, carrying 441 passengers and crew, landed safely shortly before 2:30 a.m. Friday.
Todd was feeling very lucky this morning in a chat with Yobeat.com:
“Luckiest day of my life so far. Two and a half hours out, the pilot comes on and says we have a fuel problem, we need to turn around. We head back, then circle Catalina Island for 2.5 hours then come in to land with a full fire brigade right there. Smash ass down, then the fire trucks were on us at high speed as the plane rolled down the runway spraying with foam and water.”
We’re all glad that Todd didn’t end up on a real life episode of Lost.
[Link: LA Times]
by The Editors on February 13, 2009
by The Editors on February 13, 2009
The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics are one year out and already the Chicago Tribune is making medal predictions. Writer Philip Hersh is making what he calls “glass half-full” guesses. Here’s how he believes snowboarding is going to end up with 8 medals, three of them gold: (Turin’s medals are in parentheses):
Snowboard (7 medals, 3 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze): Boardercross (1 gold, 1 silver): Champion Seth Wescott and Lindsey Jacobellis, whose hot-dogging turned gold into silver, both return: Prediction: 2 medals, 1 gold. Parallel giant slalom (1 bronze): Prediction: No medals. Halfpipe (2 gold, 2 silver): Shaun White, now a grizzled 22, will be hot again. U.S. women, including 2006 1-2 Hannah Teter and Gretchen Bleiler, good enough to sweep. Prediction: 4 medals, 2 gold.
When we add in Nate Holland, Kelly Clark, and Steve Fisher, we think there will be even more medals.
[Link: Chicago Tribune]
by The Editors on February 12, 2009
People like to think that the mountains of Southern California are all soft and cushy. They’re not. They’re hard. Just ask 33-year-old snowboarder Timothy Triche. He went out of bounds at Mt. Baldy Ski Area on Wednesday, got lost in a storm and ended up barely surviving the night, according to a story in the Daily Bulletin.
He called 911 with his cell phone but weather conditions delayed his rescue until Thursday morning. . . . Rescuers reached Triche at 7 a.m. at the 10,000-foot level, according to the release.
Search and rescue apparently told Triche to huddle under some rocks and stay about of the wind for the night. After his rescue he was taken to “San Antonio Community Hospital where he was treated for frostbite and exposure.”
[Link: Daily Bulletin]
by The Editors on February 12, 2009
Woodward at Copper, a collaboration between Camp Woodward and Copper Mountain Resort kicks open on February 28, 2009, according to a story on First Tracks Online. Apparently, there will be three levels of “training” offered:
- Winter Camp Days, Introductory price $199, Season Passholder price $159 (includes lift ticket and lunch)
- The One Hit Wonder, Introductory price $69
- Drop-In Sessions, Single Session $25, 5-Session pass $100
Then, in the summer a whole new set of snow training will go down.
[Link: Woodwardatcopper via First Tracks Online]
by The Editors on February 12, 2009
Writer David Ebner of Canada’s Globe and Mail breaks down the Shaun White phenomenon in his story U.S. snowboarder at top of fame mountain. And it all comes down to one thing: Shaun is a comfortable, cool guy who is enjoying his life right now.
Whether it’s on the cover of business magazine Fast Company, or Rolling Stone, or in a new film about his visit to the remote Hokkaido backcountry in Japan for sponsor Red Bull, the energy drink, White is casual and never stiff, a relaxed Southern California style, where he grew up and lives, a guy you’d actually like to hang out with. Never mind that he’s a ridiculously amazing halfpipe rider, and is a double threat – a top-tier skateboarder in his spare time, with an eye on the 2012 Summer Olympics in London if skateboarding, as speculated, enters the Olympics.
While we’re not so sure about the snowboard fame lineage coming down from Jake Burton, Craig Kelly, and Terje Haakonsen (we’d put Shaun Palmer in there), it is true that Shaun White is doing the snowboard celebrity thing better than anyone before him has ever done. And a reported $10 million in annual endorsement money helps keep him right there.
[Link: Globe and Mail]
by The Editors on February 11, 2009
Like it or not, the moms of the suburban west shop at Sport Chalet for snowboards and skateboards (and ping pong balls) so it is no real surprise that the retailer whose 55 stores are all in “the housing states” would be down in the third quarter ending December 28, 2008, according to a story on Sports One Source.
Sport Chalet, Inc. saw sales for its third quarter of FY09 ended Dec. 28, 2008 declined 10.3% to $104.6 million compared to $116.6 million last year. Eight new stores not included in same store sales contributed $4.7 million in sales for the quarter while same store sales decreased 15.4%. . . . Gross profit as a percent of sales was 22.3% compared to 30.2% for the third quarter of last year.
The last quarter was bad for almost everyone.
[Link: SportsOneSource]
by The Editors on February 11, 2009
The palatial mansion that Target rented as Shaun White’s homebase for the X Games 13 at Buttermilk is on its way to foreclosure according to a story in the Aspen Daily News.
A notice of election and demand — a document that starts a foreclosure proceeding in Colorado — was filed on the property Dec. 22. The 14,000-square-foot palace that Target Corp. rented out for its extreme athletes is set to be auctioned off on the steps of the Pitkin County Courthouse on April 29 unless the $4.6 million note securing the property is satisfied.
The “Target House” was a spec house that was reportedly finished last fall and “was listed for $26 million but was recently marked down to $19.5 million,” the paper said. Ah, the X Games glamor fades so quickly, doesn’t it?
[Link: Aspen Daily News]
by The Editors on February 11, 2009
After all the Love stories that clouded the media space last fall it is nice to finally read something good about Burton snowboards on MSNBC.com. The story explains how the Burton’s Chill Program is changing the lives of children at risk.
