Due to the high cost of half pipe upkeep Whistler Blackcomb decided to close their halfpipe on Sunday, April 21, 2013. But that hasn’t gone over well with the shred crowd. Canadian national snowboard team member Katie Tsuyki even started a petition, according to a post on Pique News.
For Tsuyuki, now is the worst time of year to close the pipe. “It’s a big feature and it’s intimidating for some people to ride when it’s cold and icy, and I know people wait for spring for it to soften up and you have a bit of leeway before they ride that feature. It’s a great opportunity for the public, not just athletes, to get out and enjoy it,” said Tsuyuki, adding that a lot of riders also get distracted by powder and big mountain riding during the winter months, and wait for spring to ride the park and pipe.
The mountain reportedly says they’ll keep the halfpipe open if Snowboard Canada or others “provided some funding.” Otherwise, guess everyone will just have to head to Mammoth, huh?
We never realized how sloppy shoelaces looked until we upgraded our new Vans Old Skools with some Hickies. These little elastic bands thread through your shoe lace eyelets and clasp back together in a slick and seamless fashion and turn laced up shoes into slip-ons just like that.
Hickey’s was founded in 2010 with Kickstarter.com funding by the husband and wife team of Gaston Frydlewski and Mariquel Waingarten. Here’s why:
“We hated tying our shoes, and we never liked the shoelace bows in our kicks,” Frydlewski and Mariquel said. “They break up the silhouette and lines of the footwear, and they look funny. Have you noticed that all sneaker advertisements show shoes without the bows (even in the stores)? It’s because shoelace bows are not attractive.”
Hickeys are available in all kinds of colors. And a pack of 14 can be purchased online for $19.99. We laughed until we laced up our new Old Schools. Now laces just bug us.
An avalanche near Vail, Colorado claimed the life of one snowboarder on Thursday, April 18, 2013, according to a story on The Denver Channel. The slide happened after the friends had been “taking turns” riding Avalanche Bowl all day on Thursday.
Deputies say it appears the avalanche was triggered by two snowboarders who were dropped off at the top of the bowl by the third person on a snowmobile. . . One snowboarder escaped the avalanche, but the other was trapped. The friends found the trapped snowboarder using avalanche beacons but were unable to revive the person.
The Eagle County Sheriff’s office also thought it was important to mention that the snowboarders were under the includes of “Dead-Head OG” at the time of the avalanche. Our thoughts are with the snowboarders family and friends.
Fenway Partners, the New York-based private equity fund that owns Giro Helmet‘s parent company Easton-Bell is reportedly putting the company up for sale, according to a story on Reuters.
Based in Van Nuys, California, the company sells its products under several brands, including Easton, Bell, Riddell, Giro, Blackburn and Easton Cycling. It generated net sales of $827.2 million in fiscal year 2012.
According to the story, “people familiar with the matter” say the sale could bring as much as $900 million. Others, say it maybe difficult after a judge ruled that their football helmet arm, Riddell, may not have sufficiently warned players about the danger of concussions while wearing the helmets.
Encinitas, California based style shop, UNIV, is hosting an new collection from artist Charles Bergquist on Friday night, April 19, 2013 entitled Night Shift. The event will also feature music by Tropical Popsicle.
Charles Bergquist is a director, designer and photographer, with a unique style that combines vivid colors with elegant imagery. Most of Charles’ work is the filtered result of working in multiple mediums of image capture and heavy layering. All textures, photos and imagery are shot and then combined, regardless of format. He continues to push his boundaries by constantly creating new work.
The Agenda Show is quickly escaping from the “four people on staff” mode that saw it through most of its first decade with a series of quality staff additions. The newest member of the team is Jim Shubin. He’s the new director of endemic relations for the show.
Shubin’s deep connections in the industry will undoubtedly strengthen AGENDA’s firm standing as the leading forum for both up-and-coming and established brands as the show continues to expand globally. A Southern California native, Shubin helped launch and grow Drawls and Stepson apparel lines to over $10 million sales before joining Dwindle Distribution, where he oversaw sales and marketing for the most influential brands in skateboarding and also launched Almost Skateboards.
Congrats, Mr. Shubin. For the official word from Agenda, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
The latest work of shred artists Ben Allen, Will Barras, Pete Fowler, French, Michael C. Hsiung, Tim Karpinski, Phil Morgan, Schoph, Corey Smith and Owen Tozer will be featured at the 71a Gallery in London’s Shoreditch in a show titled, Looking Sideways London April 26-28, 2013.
“I wasn’t gonna show in the UK for a couple of years”, says Schoph. “But the opportunity to exhibit at a show where all the artists still shred, surf or skate makes sense. The line up is brilliant as well, with such a diverse range of styles. They’re all great artists with their individual deal going off. Standard”.
The last thing South African Surfer Brett Archibald, 50, remembers was waking up in the ocean and watching the boat he was on (the Naga Laut) motor off into the night, according to a story on IOL News.com.
“He said he came close to drowning at least eight times during his 27-hour ordeal, swimming and drifting at sea, and that he had been stung by jellyfish, picked at by fish, and seagulls had tried to pluck his eyes out,” said NSRI spokesman Craig Lambinon.
Archibald reportedly became “sea sick” while on his Mentawais surf trip and may have passed out. Apparently, no one on the boat noticed his was missing. He was eventually picked up by a passing surf charter boat at 1 AM Thursday, April 18, 2013 near Sipura Island. Yeah, we’ve heard all about how “sea sick” one can become on those surf trips. . .and we’re just glad he survived.
Vans Off The Wall TV features a show titled DERP aka “derelict places.” For whatever reason, ruins have always be cool places to hang out and especially to skate. In the first episode of DERP skaters to go the Kupari Tourist Complex in Dubrovnik, Croatia. After that it was on to Hanover, and Athens. Click the links to watch them all.
Due to the high cost of half pipe upkeep Whistler Blackcomb decided to close their halfpipe on Sunday, April 21, 2013. But that hasn’t gone over well with the shred crowd. Canadian national snowboard team member Katie Tsuyki even started a petition, according to a post on Pique News.
