We all hold our breaths each time an avalanche story reaches the mainstream news. First, hoping no one was hurt while at the same time recalling our own interactions with slides, and then selfishly hoping that it was no one we knew.
Unfortunately, on Saturday April 20, 2013, the action sports industry was faced with the sobering reality of Mother Nature’s deadly power when five comrades died in deadliest Colorado avalanche since 1962 when a huge field of snow slid near Loveland Pass in Colorado.
The four snowboarders and one skier who died in the slide all lived in Colorado and were all either ski and snowboard industry professionals or veterans of the backcountry, They were equipped with avalanche beacons and proper backcountry gear. The victims included Christopher Peters, 32, of Lakewood; Joe Timlin, 32; Ryan Novak, 33; Ian Lamphere, 36; and Rick Gaukel, 33.
The group had gathered on April 20, 2013 at Loveland Pass Resort for the Rocky Mountain High Backcountry Gathering sponsored by Snowboard Colorado Magazine according to a Colin Bane story on ESPN.com. Timlin was a sales representative for Jones Snowboards and an organizer of the backcountry event. Lamphere was the founder of Gecko Skins and Gaukel was an American Mountain Guides Association-certified climbing guide from Estes Park with extensive avalanche eduction. Jerome Boulay, the only person to survive the slide is the sales manager for Silverton, Colorado-based Venture Snowboards.
The skaters definitely earned their money in the Brazilian X Games held April 19-21, 2013. Here’s how Nyjah Huston won in the Street League Skateboarding finals. For the complete, condensed, easy-to-process results, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
Legendary skateboarding photographer Grant Brittain will be opening a showing of his photos from the Oceanside, California skateboarding scene tonight, April 22, 2013, at The Privateer in Oceanside, California. The show titled The O-Side Skate Connection runs April 22 through May 19, 2013. The opening reception begins at 6 PM Monday, April 22, 2013. The Privateer (a great coal fired pizza restaurant) is located at 1706 South PCH 101, in Oceanside, California.
This new Lowcard edit makes backyard pools look so smooth and buttery, but if you think it’s easy you probably need a little one-run reminder of just how tight and kinky they are. Speaking of which. . . Oh, just watch the edit.
Earlier this month, with all the talk of Apple, Samsung, and Microsoft coming out with smart watches, we were thinking about the action fashion watch marketplace and what companies like Nixon, Vestal, Freestyle, Home etc. . . are going to do now that all that most of their products do is report the time of day.
In the always-on era we’re all beginning to suffer from what writer Douglas Rushkoff calls Present Shock. Thanks to digital technology we’re all living so in the moment that the past and the future are losing their impact on our daily work flow. So, not only have watches become useless jewelry, but the time of day (our only reason for wearing them) is quickly becoming one of the least important data points in our digitally cluttered lives.
This is probably why G-Shock is making their wrist jewelry a little more useful by loading it up with Bluetooth so it can communicate with a smart phone and subtly let people know know if they’ve got mail, a message, changed time zones, or even lost their phones to an unscrupulous mini market manager. Here, let Stevie Williams explain. . .
Billabong has reportedly wrapped up their exclusive talks with Paul Naude and his Sycamore Partners bakers and now it’s time for them to make a decision, according to a story in The Australian. They could make an announcement sometime today. But some analysts don’t like the deal at all.
Credit Suisse research analyst Grant Saligari has said the 60c offer is a weak one for shareholders, and he criticised Billabong’s decision to allow the Sycamore consortium to have exclusive access to its books after months of due diligence studies and without dropping any of the conditions attached to the proposal. . . The consortium has made its offer conditional on there being no material adverse change in the company’s performance, availability of funding and a minimum 15 per cent of Billabong shares being swapped for scrip in the new holding company.
It’s April 22nd and “everybody knows today is Earth Day, Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday to whoever’s being born,” and to celebrate the day, Burton Snowboards has announced that they have “stepped-up efforts” to support Protect Our Winters.
“Burton has a deep responsibility to the sport we helped pioneer and to the people and environment that sustain it,” said Burton President Donna Carpenter. “We are riders, and we take climate change personally because snowboarding is our life, our livelihood and our passion. By working more closely with POW, our hope is to encourage snowboarders to get involved with the very important work the organization is doing. Together, we can protect our winters.”
Burton is also working to “encourage more riders to join POW’s efforts.” Today they’re launching an “awareness campaign on Instagram. . . To get involved, riders simply upload a photo and caption that shows how they protect our winters to @burtonsnowboard on Instagram and tag #HowYouPOW.” For the official details, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
Four snowboarders and one skier died on Colorado’s Loveland Pass Saturday afternoon, April 20, 2013, in an massive slide officials believe they likely triggered themselves, according to a story on NBC News.
Search and rescue crews recovered the bodies several hours after the slide, which was about 600 feet wide and eight feet deep, said Clear Creek County Sheriff Don Krueger. . .A sixth snowboarder caught in the avalanche was able to dig himself out and call for help, Krueger said. That person’s condition wasn’t immediately known. . . The victims all had avalanche beacons, Krueger added.
The names of the snowboarders have not yet been released. According to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (quoted in a story on ABC News) this is the second deadliest avalanche in the United States since 1950. Our thoughts are with all of their families and friends.
[Update Sunday, April 21, 2013 via Fox News: The Sheriff’s office released the names of the snowboarders and skier this morning and sadly they are snow industry family. They are: Christopher Peters, 32, of Lakewood; Joseph Timlin, 32, of Gypsum; Ryan Novack, 33, of Boulder; Ian Lanphere, 36, of Crested Butte; and Rick Gaukel, 33, of Estes Park. The survivor was Jerome Boulay.
For more details check this Colin Bane story on ESPN and another in the Denver Post.
We’ve haven’t seen Adam Dyet skate for a while and this little outtake from Darkstar’s Forward Slash is a good reminder that things are all good with the man.
We all hold our breaths each time an avalanche story reaches the mainstream news. First, hoping no one was hurt while at the same time recalling our own interactions with slides, and then selfishly hoping that it was no one we knew.
