British snowboarder Nelson Pratt, 33, has reportedly hanged himself in the garage of his parents house, according to a story in The Sun.
In a story on Whitelines editor Ed Blomfield says Pratt was “one of the most talented and popular snowboarders in the UK.” Blomfield continues:
Nelson’s grounded perspective perhaps came from his upbringing on an arable farm in Hampshire. He hated technology (famously rocking a trusty brick of a mobile phone) and seemed profoundly connected to nature. Indeed he was only truly at home outdoors, where he could spend his immense physical energy digging jumps or helping his family with the harvest. Nelson was a man with giant strength, a giant appetite and a giant heart. A true gentleman.
According to the story Pratt was found by his father. Our thoughts are with his family and the entire UK snowboarding community.
Skateboarding is where I came from and I couldn’t be more stoked. We’ve been longtime fans of Matix and have solid relationships with the Dunlap brothers as well as current and former Podium employees,” said Michael Akira West, President/CEO of Westlife Distribution.
Congrats to Westlife. Matix always has been a brand with great potential and it’s good to see it land in good hands. For the official word follow the jump. [click to continue…]
Ignoring for a moment the fact that very few skateboarders in the world dream of riding a skateboard down a set of stairs, Po-Chih Lai’sStair Rover is an interesting design. Here’s what the artist Po-Chih says about it:
The piece aims to expanding the capability and possibility of extreme sports as we understand them. Inherited from our natural instincts, sliding as children and snowboarding as adults, the focus is on one of the most influential and stimulating sports – skateboading, aiming to push the boundaries further. The piece creates a groundbreaking form of sport which previously never existed and utilises the hidden energy of our cities – stairs. STAIR ROVER – the Stairboard is a product that relies on the other product – stairs, which are found easily within the human habitat, especially in cities. This is an outstanding performance reflecting where we as residents live and what we love.
JVC, one of the sleeping Japanese electronics giants, has apparently decided that it wants a piece of that action sports personal video market with the launch of the Adixxion GC-XA-1. (Addiction, get it?), according to a post on Slashgear.com.
The camera weighs 0.28 pounds and is waterproof to a depth of 16.4 feet, shockproof with the ability to survive a drop from 6.5 feet up, and it’s dustproof and freeze proof as well. The outside of the camera is covered with a scratch resistant rubber texture and the rear LCD is a 1.5-inch unit. The camera also has dual standard tripod holes for mounting the camera on a tripod. . . Integrated Wi-Fi functionality allows the camera to sync with a smartphone wirelessly to frame a shot and check recording even when the camera is mounted in a spot that you can’t reach easily.
Sounds like just the camera we’ve been looking for.
Tony Hawk takes up behind the scenes at the 2012 X Games street practice (yeah, apparently they’re going on) with Paul Rodriguez, Manny Santiago, Tom Remillard, Ryan Decenzo, David Loy, Mike Taylor, Lizard King, Nyjah Huston, David Gonzalez, Ryan Sheckler and all the heads.
Former Volcom Berkeley store manager Damian Kordick cut right to the bone when asked by the Daily Californian why the store on Telegraph Avenue was closing on Wednesday, June 27, 2012.
Store manager Damian Kordick said the store closed due to a lack of sales. . . “Rent for all the businesses on Telegraph is extremely high,” Kordick said. . . Not long ago, Kordick’s finance team decided it would be best not to resign the store’s lease, both for Volcom and for Berkeley customers.
He also pointed out that clothing stores were “kind of saturated in the Berkeley area, what with Urban Outfitters, American Apparel, different department stores in the city.” Well, at least Volcom still has Pac Sun, right?
Wow. Things just seem to be getting worse and worse from Pacific Sunwear. The action mall retailer reported a net loss of $106.4 million dollars in the year ended January 28, 2012, according to a story in the Orange County Business Journal.
Chief Executive Gary Schoenfeld told shareholders in the company’s 2011 annual report, released Wednesday [June 27, 2012], that improving “clarity with consumers about what PacSun stands for as a brand and why they should love to shop with us” is among its top priorities.
Yes, getting people into the stores to buy things would seem like a pretty good plan, especially as the ongoing “turn around” has only resulted in in increasing losses (Pac Sun lost only $96.6 million last year). Retail is hell.
BNQT the “action sports” content aggregation site owned by USA Today has some new division mates as the parent company rolls all their online sports properties (MMAjunkie.com, Big Lead Sports properties, etc. . . ) into one mammoth sporting media property called USA Today Sports Digital Properties.
“USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties is designed to strategically integrate our premium sports properties to create compelling content for sports fans,” said Tom Beusse, President of the USA TODAY Sports Media Group. “Chris brings the digital marketing expertise necessary to lead this team, which we believe will make USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties a one-stop shop for fans, and for brand advertisers seeking to engage sports fans in meaningful and unique ways.”
Let’s see if we’re reading this cartoon right: The Agenda Show is leading the way over competitors like (LMFAO) Surf Expo and Magic/S.L.A.T.E.? Reminds us how much we’re looking forward to Agenda NYC July 16-17, 2012.
British snowboarder Nelson Pratt, 33, has reportedly hanged himself in the garage of his parents house, according to a story in The Sun. 
