It was Matt Kass and his passionate, creative, hardworking drive that created the Grenade Gloves brand as we all knew it. Yes, he was technically the co-founder, but he was the one who kicked it into over-drive from an old converted gas station in the tiny village of June Lake, California. It is the rest of the Grenade story that is not so clear. It includes family feuds, threats of lawsuits, bodily harm, and questions of sanity on all sides.
Yobeat’s Brooke Geery sat down with Matt Kass for his “Hump Day” interview and tried to get the Grenade story straight from the inventor of the Kassrole. Kass, who currently lives on the Oregon coast with his fiancé and young son, works as a professional fisherman but he still has action brand idea. Kass says:
It’s kinda cheesy. I sit around and everyone has their story about this or that. I was there, I know what happened. Some things that happened I still don’t understand. Like I ask myself, “what the fuck happened? What could I have done differently?” Then I was reading Yobeat and Colin’s interview and it all came together for me. It wasn’t about me. It was about a group of guys and a time and place…like a movement…like a band! And when they break up it’s never the same!
Follow the link for the rest. And yes, there’s some good stuff in this interview. Click the link to read the rest.
Snowboarder Eric Jackson has a new accessories sponsor now that he’s signed up with Los Angeles electronics covering company Hex.
“Practically everybody who sees my iPhone asks me where I got the case, not to mention the nano® watchbands and bags which completely blow them away,” said Eric. “It feels so good to be a part of a brand that supports me and makes such fresh products…the sky’s the limit!”
Now that he mentions it, those cases are pretty cool. . . follow the jump for the official word. [click to continue…]
Powder & Rails takes a look back at the life and legacy of Chuck Barfoot the legendary snowboard shaper, skateboard maker, and always smiling board sports ruler. Looks like nothing has changed even the way Ken Achenbach can hi-jack pretty much anything. . . including a video profile. . .
Tomorrow (or actually today in Australia Tuesday, February 21, 2012) the week of skateboarding madness known as The Festival of the Skateboard begins at Bondi Beach with the Tic Taco Art Show and once it gets rolling there is no slowing down until the official Bowl-A-Rama wrap party on Sunday night.
The 2012 World Snowboarding Championships closed on Sunday, February 19, 2012 with Chas Guldemond and Spencer O’Brien taking world titles in Slopestyle. On Saturday, February 18, 2012 Iouri Podladtchikov and Kelly Clark nabbed titles in the halfpipe.
For the complete results, follow the jump. (How’s that for in-depth coverage?) [click to continue…]
A 41-year-old snowboarder died after an avalanche swept him 500 feet off a cliff near Washington’s Alpental Resort, Sunday, February 19, 2012, according to a story in the Seattle Times.
The Alpental slide happened around 11:30 a.m. . . The man’s friends called the ski patrol, who found the man partially covered in snow, the Sheriff’s Office said. Rescuers were unable to revive the man.
According to a story in the Seattle Times, rescuers were not able to find the man for “a hour and a half.” The snowboarder was one of four people to die in two separate avalanches on Sunday. Our thoughts are with the victims family and friends.
Shawn Stussy is someone we often wonder about. There is much about the action fashion business word that Shawn hasn’t experienced two or three times. Having sold off his last name years ago, he continues to dabble in the things that made him famous, but at a much slower, lower pace. Seth Epstein rolled by Shawn’s S/DOUBLE Studio with a Canon 5D Mark 2 and rolled some video for a while. This is the result.
Sandra Thompson, a retired British school teacher, was celebrating her 59th birthday with her family at Austria’s Kitzbuhel Resort when she fell and hit the back of her head in what is being reported as “an innocuous little fall” according to a story in the Daily Mail. Two days later she was dead.
The following day Mrs Thompson, who was wearing a helmet, fell and hit the back of her head on the snow, while coming down an easier ‘blue’ route. . . She was airlifted to hospital but never regained consciousness and died at Innsbruck University Hospital – just a week after her 59th birthday. . . Holding back tears, her husband Mr Thompson, a managing partner at a solicitors firm, said: ‘One minute everything is fine, you’re all enjoying yourselves, laughing and joking. . . ‘The next minute Sandra was unconscious and never came around.
Friday morning, February 17, 2012 features the Finals of the Quarterpipe with Halfpipe finals on Saturday (Norway time) and with Slopestyle finals on Sunday. Remember: they are 9 hours ahead of PST. Click here for all the details.
Podium Distribution’sTim Gavin joins Torey Pudwill on the Ride Channel’s The Weekend Buzz with Erica Yary and Rob Brink. Was it hot in there or was that just Erica?
It was Matt Kass and his passionate, creative, hardworking drive that created the Grenade Gloves brand as we all knew it. Yes, he was technically the co-founder, but he was the one who kicked it into over-drive from an old converted gas station in the tiny village of June Lake, California. It is the rest of the Grenade story that is not so clear. It includes family feuds, threats of lawsuits, bodily harm, and questions of sanity on all sides.
