Shop Eat Surf founder Tiffany Montgomery announced today (December 9, 2019) that she has sold her industry focused website to trade show and events company Emerald X for what is likely, not a whole lot, because, hey, she’d probably like a more consistent paycheck and better health insurance (wouldn’t we all).
“We are proud of what we have accomplished as a stand-alone, bootstrapped start-up in a rapidly evolving media environment,” Montgomery said in a post announcing the sale. “What started as an experiment 12 years ago has turned into a news service that is read by industry leaders around the world.”
We always hated the site’s name. We also felt that Montgomery was an opportunistic, interloping, outsider looking to feast on what was left of the rotting corpse of the action sports industry, but turns out she is a talented, likable, honest journalist who took seriously what we often write jokes about. So, nice work Tiffany. Sad to see you go.
[Editors’ Note: We’re posting this news a long time after the actual sale and in light of current events it seems like Montgomery had perfect timing.]
Officials from the company he founded, Burton Snowboards, confirmed his death to the Associated Press on Thursday. . . He emailed his staff this month saying his testicular cancer had returned. He had been diagnosed in 2011 but after several months of therapy had been given a clean bill of health. . . Carpenter brought the snowboard to the masses and helped turn the sport into a billion-dollar business.
Thomas Campbell is one of our favorite skateboarding, surfing, artist people and we wanted to have his talk with Tommy Guerrero logged right here for future reference (like for the part about how Thomas introduced Larry Clark to Harmony Korine). If you didn’t already enjoy this on ThrasherMagazine.com, then by all means click play and watch them right here, right now.
Call it a beacon of laziness, or a blinding neon sign of boredom, but we’re still at it. Putting up a list of headlines for stories we might have read over the past who knows how many days.
It takes us back to when we were just starting out. Each week we built an HTML page of links with a bit of commentary. Then the commentary took over, and now, it looks like we’re back to just blasting out an occasional list of links for you to chew through all by your lonesome. Just the ebbs and flows of action sporting news dissemination. Enjoy.
Team USA’s return to the top of global junior surfing in 2019 is their third Gold, first winning the Team Title in 2015. . . Team Hawaii followed USA with the Silver Medal, riding a wave of momentum behind the individual Gold Medal performances of Jackson Bunch in Boys U-16 and Gabriela Bryan in Girls U-18.
We are saddened learn that Columbia Sportswear’s guiding force of nature Gert Boyle died today (Sunday morning, November 3, 2019), according to a story in the Oregonian. She was 95.
Boyle’s dedicated work with product and more importantly her full embrace of quality advertising and willingness to be the face of her company inspired thousands.
A resilient, demanding, charismatic woman in what was long an outdoorsman’s world, Boyle ran Columbia Sportswear from 1970 to 1988, firmly establishing the company’s brand. . . Before her son, Tim, took charge as president and CEO, Gert inspired the 1984 ad campaign, “One Tough Mother,” a catch phrase that also graces her 2005 autobiography.
Seeing her at the old SIA Shows will remain one of the highlights of our time on the show floor. Our thoughts are with the entire Boyle family.
Leave it to the skiers to properly appreciate the work of a snowboarder. In Flylow’s most recent video profile we get the best, most succinct explanation of the Snowboard Journal, Funny Feelings LLC, and its co-founder Jeff Galbraith that we’ve seen yet.
As the founder and publisher of three print titles, based in Bellingham, Washington, Galbraith has provided endless pages of high-quality content, including top storytelling and world-class imagery, during an era when everyone else has said that print is dead. He’s out to prove them all wrong. All three magazines celebrate the rich history and culture of their respective sports, as well as look to the future.
After 17 years with their pinkie toe dipped into the surf industry wading pool, Nike has finally jettisoned Hurley out into zombie brand land by selling it to Bluestar Alliance for an undisclosed sum on October 29, 2019. Bluestar, owners of other zombie labels like bebe, Brookstone, and yak pak, seem very excited about the licensing opportunities ahead.
“We have always admired the Hurley brand as it has maintained its leadership role and premium positioning in the surf world,” stated Joey Gabbay, CEO of Bluestar Alliance. “This is a transformative acquisition for Bluestar as Hurley’s international footprint will enhance Bluestar’s reach around the world. We look forward to building upon the existing Hurley network and expanding to additional countries with the deep relationships that already exist within the Bluestar portfolio of brands. We see Hurley continuing to evolve into a 360-degree lifestyle brand, with action sports playing a key role.”
We see this as one more reason to never, ever, name your startup after yourself (not saying that fellow OCers Paul Frank, Shawn Stussy, and Mossimo aren’t great Zombie company for Bob and the boys). For the official word from Bluestar Alliance, please follow the jump.
An outerwear collaboration from the heart of LA? Yeah. The Hundreds has joined forces with snowboarding brand 686 to bring a collection of outerwear to wish for.
The Hundreds X 686 features bright pops of neon colors, bold stripes, classic Jib branding, even down to the placement of the logos. Everything about this project was a throwback for us, pure nostalgia. The memories you have of riding up to the mountain with your friends for weekends that turned into whole seasons, the last run of the day before the first party of the night.
The rad collection goes on sale October 24, 2019 through The Hundreds App, Online Shop, and select retailers worldwide. For all the details, please follow the jump. [click to continue…]
First Row (l to r): Stess, Wettstein, Carmona; Second row (l to r): Zeuner, Duran, Santana, Smith, Baker, Brevard, Sablone, Barratt; Third row (l to r): Huston, Eaton, Jordan, Rennie, Schaar, Reynolds, McCoy, Wright, Juneau PHOTO CREDIT: Robert Brink/ USA Skateboarding
In the latest sign of the apocalypse or skateboarding’s continuing rise to respectability USA Skateboarding has named the official 2020 USA Skateboarding National Team uniforms and all. All this because men’s and women’s skateboard park and street events will make their Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Games.
“There wasn’t a better way to cap off five national championship events than being able to announce our 2020 national team,” said Josh Friedberg, CEO of USA Skateboarding. “With the support of Toyota, Nike, and the USOPC, we have been able to evolve as an organization to better support the needs of more skateboarders during the second season of qualifying for the Olympics in Tokyo. We’re really excited to be a part of skateboarding’s impact on the Olympic movement and can’t wait to watch our American skateboarders do what they do best in Tokyo next summer!”
For the official word from USA Skateboarding, please follow the jump.