by The Editors on January 23, 2014
Louie Vito may not have made the 2013 US Olympic halfpipe team, but you think he’s going to crawl into his cave and cry about it? Not for a minute. Mr. Vito is out there making things happen with a freshly inked three-year co-hosting deal with both the summer and winter X Games.
“I have always been a huge supporter of X Games since I was a kid, so I was stoked at the opportunity to join the ESPN/X Games family,” said Louie Vito. “Being a competitor in the event, I look forward to bringing insight to the fans watching worldwide.” . . Performing in-air and on-air for the duration of X Games 18, Vito will commentate on multiple disciplines in addition to competing in Men’s Superpipe today (Thursday, January 23, 2014). A must-have during competition, Louie Vito will don his signature SPY Marshall snow goggles during the Men’s Superpipe event.
Not sure this is going to make us actually watch the X Games this time around, but at least there will be someone solid on the mic when we do. For the official word on Mr. Vito and to check out his Spy signature goggles, follow the jumpus, rumpus. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on January 23, 2014
When we spoke to Graham Stapelberg at the Agenda Show two weeks ago and asked him how things were going at Billabong, he smirked and said, “I’ve been wearing a lot of hats lately.” Now the comment makes a little more sense. Today (January 23, 2014), the Association of Surfing Professionals announced that the former Billabong Global Vice President of Marketing (and former ASP Tour Judge) is taking the roll of chief strategy officer for the organization.
Stapelberg will support ASP CEO Paul Speaker and the executive team across multiple divisions of the organization as professional surfing enters into a new era of its existence as a global sports league. . . “Graham has exhibited excellence in virtually every sector of the sport throughout his celebrated 20 years of involvement,” Speaker said. “His extensive experience across events, sponsorships, athletes, judging, operations, finances, marketing, media and activations both inside and outside the industry will prove invaluable as we grow professional surfing in exciting new ways. We’re very fortunate to have Graham with us and we look forward to accomplishing great things together.”
Guess it’s now okay for any remaining surfers in the Billabong building to pack up and head out. For the ASP, however, this is another great move in a positive direction. Especially if they hope to replace all those surf fashion sponsorships with money from the real world. For the official word from the ASP, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on January 22, 2014
Johnnie Balfour (right) is a snowboard cross course builder from Australia by way of Canada. He helps build FIS World Cup snowboard cross courses and is now in Sochi, Russia to help build the courses for the 2014 Winter Olympics (which begin in two weeks).
In all the discussions regarding how ready Russia is for the Winter Games all we seem to hear about is terrorists and suicide bombing “Chechen widows” and how the Russian military has everything under control. What we haven’t read is much on the ground reporting from the snowboard venues. Luckily, for us Johnnie Balfour has a tumblr. And on it he is kicking down the straight scoop from Sochi. According to Balfour, things aren’t going so well.
Here’s a slice:
Nothing is finished here and there is piles of garbage everywhere. Muddy water is pouring off the mountain and flowing through the streets and the cobblestone pavers are all lifting up or disappearing into sink holes. This entire place was built in the last few years, it looks nice at first glance but look a little closer and you can see that it was just thrown together. Most of the buildings are not finished and with only two weeks to go before the games start, they never will be finished. It is pouring rain and close to 10 degrees above zero [50 Fahrenheit]. The little snow they have is rapidly disappearing.
Click the link for the rest of his first, and hopefully not last report from Sochi. We’re pretty certain it’s going to get either more entertaining or banned completely from the Internet.
[Link: Johnnie Balfour]
by The Editors on January 22, 2014
On Friday, January 24, 2014 the biggest names in big wave surfing will be making their way to famed Northern California big wave spot Mavericks for this year’s running of the Body Glove Mavericks Invitational Presented by GoPro, and yeah, the swell report looks huge.
Mavericks Invitational Contest Director Jeff Clark stated, “This is going to be a powerful and memorable swell, and we are looking at waves upwards of 40 feet.” The first heat takes place at 8 a.m.
The entire event will be streamed live on mavericksinvitational.com and the finals will be air on “national television” on Universal Sports Network. You didn’t want to get any work done on Friday, anyway, did you? Follow the jump for all the official details. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on January 21, 2014
While Scotty Lago was battling away in the Mammoth Mountain superpipe for a spot on the 2014 US Olympic snowboard team, his “long-time girlfriend” Bridget Brunet (real name, apparently) was busy participating in the Miss New Hampshire USA pageant in Manchester, New Hampshire.
NewHampshire.com couldn’t have been much blunter with their coverage:
While Brunet was winning the Miss New Hampshire USA crown, her longtime boyfriend, snowboarder Scotty Lago, fell short of the scores needed to put him on the four-man halfpipe Olympic Snowboarding Team nominated by the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association Sunday afternoon at the conclusion of the Sprint U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix in Mammoth Falls, Calif.
Well, at least they have something to celebrate!
[Link: NewHampshire.com]
by The Editors on January 21, 2014
by The Editors on January 21, 2014
Ken Block has Hoonagan’d out a new Ford F-150 Raptor for winter driving. We’re not too into those big green letters on the sides, but if someone could cover those up, we’d be down to take a test drive. . . sure we would.
[Link: Snowboard Mag]
by The Editors on January 21, 2014
This Salomon Snowboards edit from Saas-Fee has skateboarding, snowboarding and features Jed Anderson, Josh Dirksen, Wolle Nyvelt, Bode Merrill, Chris Grenier, Louif Paradis, Annie Boulanger, Victor Daviet, Sylvain Bourbousson, and Jamie Nicholls, but we’re going to watch it one more time just for the music.
by The Editors on January 21, 2014
Just checked the weather for New York City over the next two days. The current temp is 18 and it should be up to 19 tomorrow with a low of 5 tonight. The good news comes in twos: it’s supposed to stop snowing on Wednesday and if you’re in the city you’ll have a great place to hang and look at a kinds of gear for warmer weather, the Agenda Show. Think of it as an island of summer right in the middle of frosty Manhattan.
[Link: Agenda Show]
by The Editors on January 21, 2014
686 is bringing the blood, sweat, and beers to the 2014 SIA Show with another savage round of industry showdowns with 686 Lights Out amateur boxing charity event benefitting S.O.S. Outreach on January 30, 2014.
Come watch professional snowboarders and industry insiders step up for three rounds of hard hitting action to separate the men (or women) from the boys, all in the name of charity. . . Guest hosts Danny Kass and Dingo, will be on hand making sure things stay on the border of under control and insanely fun, while a panel of pro shreds will sit as guest judges throughout the night. “I’m excited to see all of our industry coming back together like this,” said Dingo. “Last year rocked and everyone is looking forward to what this year has in store!”
For the official word from 686 follow the jump.
[click to continue…]
Louie Vito may not have made the 2013 US Olympic halfpipe team, but you think he’s going to crawl into his cave and cry about it? Not for a minute. Mr. Vito is out there making things happen with a freshly inked three-year co-hosting deal with both the summer and winter X Games.
