As if Mountain Dew’s caffeinated, carbonated high fructose corn syrup weren’t enough of a strain on the health of snowboarders and skateboarders, scientists are now suggesting further study of another of the soft drink’s ingredients brominated vegetable oil, according to a story on Scientific American.
Patented by chemical companies as a flame retardant, and banned in food throughout Europe and Japan, BVO has been added to sodas for decades in North America. Now some scientists have a renewed interest in this little-known ingredient, found in 10 percent of sodas in the United States. . . After a few extreme soda binges—not too far from what many gamers regularly consume—a few patients have needed medical attention for skin lesions, memory loss and nerve disorders, all symptoms of overexposure to bromine.
Hell yeah! Drink more Mountain Dew, kids. You may have all kinds of problems, but at least you won’t spontaneously burst into flames.
Guess we’re going to have to rename that action sports tour the “flame retardant, caffeinated, carbonated high fructose corn syrup tour,” or the FRCCHFCS Tour for short.
Sole Tech/etnies has lost another one as 2011 Street League champ Sean Malto officially moves over to Nike SB. Says Malto:
“I’ve always been a fan of Eric Koston and Paul Rodriguez. Being on the same team as them is truly amazing. Plus, Nike has always been the leading brand in sports, with the most incredible athletes past and present—including my favorites Michael Jordan and Kevin Durant. It’s just an honor to be associated with a company like Nike. I feel like we can do awesome things in and for skateboarding!”
Funny how long it takes for the rumors to be official. Guess all these contracts are on the calendar year. Follow the jump for the official word from Nike. [click to continue…]
The suits claim that all three companies continue to manufacture products that infringe patent (US D572,865 S) for a helmet with a small brim. The helmets Bern claims are infringing include the Red Mutiny, the Vans Pro-Tec Riot and the Salomon Ghost and Brigade Audio.
In their “Prayer For Relief” Bern lawyers from the Boston, Massachusetts firm Birnbaum & Godkin are requesting that Burton, Vans, and Amer Sports enjoin from further infringement and that Bern Unlimited, Inc. be awarded “damages in an amount to be proven at trial” and “multiple damages, costs and attorneys fees.”
The patent, awarded to Jonathan Baker of Thornton, New Hampshire on July 8, 2008, shows a helmet that looks much like a batting helmet with no ear covers and a shorter brim. It will be interesting to see if lawsuits based on helmet brim length do in court.
For a full view of the patent (and the lawsuit filed against) follow the jump. [click to continue…]
We at Snowbasin Resort had an incident yesterday for which we have received much deserved criticism. We are frankly embarrassed by this situation and have taken measures to prevent this type of incident occurring in the future. Snowbasin strongly believes in treating all of our guests with respect. We strive to deserve the respect and exceed the expectations of everyone visiting our resort.”
The patroller, seen above, told a snowboarder to “shut his fucking mouth” after one of the snowboarders friends had his pass pulled for what appears on video to be absolutely nothing. Patrollers obviously have a rough job during the holidays, but there really is no reason for them to act like Baltimore Police officers. To his credit the patroller did apologize later in the video.
The Sacramento Bee has run a photo essay on just how bad the Tahoe winter is going right now. And from the looks Squaw Valley, it’s worse than most could imagine. For the rest of the slideshow, click the link.
Oregon’s Mt. Hood Meadows resort was forced to close early yesterday (Wednesday, December 28, 2011) after the resort got over five inches of rain in 24 hours, according to a story on KOIN 6.
Several inches of water pooled on top of the snow creating a wet sloppy mess for skiers and snowboarders. . . “It looks like a lake over there,” said snowboarder Katie Kesee of the puddles near the lodge. Kesee drove up to Meadows from Vancouver Wednesday morning. “Usually it’s snowy and nice around Christmas, not this year,” she added. . . Meadows decided to close all lifts and lodge operations at one o’clock. “There’s nobody up here, nobody,” said Kesee.
Looks like the West’s worst season ever, continues in full effect.
Surfline founder Sean Collins died on Monday, December 26, 2011 after suffering a heart attack while playing tennis in Orange County, California according to a story onSurfline.com. He was 59 years old.
Collins served as President, Chief Surf Forecaster, and Founder for Surfline. Over the past 30 years, he helped develop a sophisticated, proprietary system of wave forecasting — much of which is currently used in LOLA, Surfline’s Global Swell Model. Now, Surfline provides weather and forecasting services to every lifeguard agency in California, the Coast Guard, US Navy Seals, National Weather Service, numerous television and movie production companies, multiple domestic and international governmental agencies and nearly every surf company in the world.
Our thoughts are with Collins’ wife, Daren, and two sons, Tyler and AJ. For more on the life of a truly amazing member of the surfing community please click the link.
Matthew Box is an watercolor artist who has created a skateboarding video by using his brushes to paint every single frame of some Jason Dill footage, according to a story in The Atlantic.
It’s an old animation technique called rotoscoping, but I didn’t know that at the time though. It’s essentially tracing over stills of footage. While I was experimenting with this technique I used different colors and really enjoyed how it had a psychedelic feel. That’s when I came up with the name Acid Drops for the project. It was a lot of painting but I’m kind of an amateur insomniac. It gave me something to do when I couldn’t sleep and it’s quite addictive seeing something you’ve painted come to life.
The short is called Acid Drops. For the rest of the interview, click the link.
Kimberly Bland, a skier from Florida is suing South Lake Tahoe’s Heavenly Ski Resort after she was hit and injured by an on-the-clock mountain employee riding a snowboard, according to a story in the Reno Gazette-Journal.
[Bland] was stopped on the lower Olympic downhill run on the Nevada side of the resort, at about 3:50 p.m. on Jan. 18, trying to decide where to ski next, when Heavenly lift operator Daniel Barreno crashed into Bland on his snowboard, the suit said. . . Bland, a paramedic in the Miami area, was knocked unconscious by the impact and was taken by ambulance to the Barton Hospital emergency department, said the lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Reno. . . She suffered injuries to her head, neck, shoulder and back, the suit said.
In the suit Bland is seeking “at least $350,000 in damages, plus costs and fees.” We’ll say this again, though it seems so obvious to us. Any snowboarder who can’t avoid hitting a person stopped on a run, has no right being on the snow. The courts will decide how responsible Heavenly is.
As if Mountain Dew’s caffeinated, carbonated high fructose corn syrup weren’t enough of a strain on the health of snowboarders and skateboarders, scientists are now suggesting further study of another of the soft drink’s ingredients brominated vegetable oil, according to a story on Scientific American. 
