by The Editors on January 7, 2008
Shares of Zumiez fell 13 percent to a new year low when the retailer “slashed its fiscal 2007 outlook after it posted holiday sales below its expectations.
Shares of the online and mall-based retailer have slumped nearly 65 percent since their October 2007 highs, as concerns about warm weather hurting winter sales worried investors. . . “Although holiday sales were positive, we did not experience the across the board strength that we had planned for,” Zumiez Chief Executive Officer Rick Brooks said in a statement.
[Link: Reuters]
by The Editors on January 5, 2008
First they start a site that hopes to get kids to pay them money for the possibility of “getting sponsored” and now they say they’re launching an action sports version of Myspace and facebook. It appears that Sponsorhouse.com Scott Tilton and RJ Kraus have found a new way to talk action sports companies out of their money. It’s called Loop’d. They’ve even rallied Oakley’s Pat Mac (which isn’t all that difficult to do).
Patrick McIlvain, global sports marketing director for Oakley, said the promotion it’s running on the Loop’d Network is one way for the company to tap into the grass roots of the action-sports market.
Hey, with a name like Loop’d you know the kids are going to be down.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]
by The Editors on January 3, 2008
Steve Klassen and his brother had a “tandom board” back in the day, but now Butch Brady and Eric Sweet, a pair of snowboarders from Jackson Hole, may have ridden a snowboard built for two into the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest snowboard.
“It seemed initially like going down a mountain in a canoe without a paddle, but after taking a few runs, a light went on,” Sweet said. “You’re splitting the duties, so it feels like a marriage. You give up half of the control, and if it’s a good one you don’t crash.” . . . The snowboard, called the “XJ-13,” is 9 feet, 7 inches long.
Somehow we’re more comfortable with these kinds of boards being ridden by brothers. You know?
[Link: Associated Press]
by The Editors on January 3, 2008
Former world longboarding champion Joel Tudor, 31, placed second in his division at the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi World Championships in November, and now the San Diego Union Tribune is telling the story of Joel’s new sport.
The San Diego-born surfer began practicing jiu-jitsu five years ago, but said he’s seen it throughout his life, especially when living on Oahu’s North Shore and watching Hawaiian and Brazilian surfers there. Accustomed to the ocean’s physical beatings that sometimes accompany serious surfing, the prospect of jiu-jitsu’s bumps and bruises didn’t faze him.
This will certainly help Joel get along better with some of his Hawai’ian longboarding acquaintances.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]
by The Editors on January 3, 2008
Ben Moses, a 21-year-old snowboarder who survived a New Year’s day avalanche that killed his friend has been banned from Whistler Blackcomb Mountain for one year and may face charges.
Mr. Moses, who is from La Salle, Ont., but lives in the resort town north of Vancouver, will not be allowed on Whistler Blackcomb terrain for at least one year, Whistler vice-president Doug Forseth said. . . . While sending condolences to the family Mr. Forseth also said: “These are needless loses. There are so many places people can go to get good powder without putting yourself or others at risk.”
The avalanche happened at 11:20 AM in an area known s the Hanging Roll off the Peak Chair.
[Link: National Post]
by The Editors on January 1, 2008
By founding the High School Skateboarding Association Jeffrey Stern just wanted to help high schools compete against each other in skateboarding. Now, he’s got 20 California schools on the program.
High schools have shied away from fielding competitive skateboarding teams because of concerns about liability. School districts don’t carry liability insurance for what some call an “extreme sport,” nor do schools want to build skate parks on school grounds for competitions. . . So Stern, a recent Ventura College of Law graduate, drew up licensing agreements for new teams. Once they are affiliated with the nonprofit association, they have insurance, and the schools are off the hook for the liability.
Finally, skaters can take part in high school prep rallies. Just what we’ve all be waiting for.
[Link: Ventura County Star]
by The Editors on January 1, 2008
In a 10b5-1 prearranged stock sale Richard “Wooly” Woolcott reported that he sold 11,104 shares of Volcom stock at about $25 a piece netting him a $277,000 after Christmas bonus. He squeaked that in under the 2007 tax year.
[Link: Forbes]
by The Editors on December 29, 2007
The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that thanks to some new findings the legendary Duke Kahanamoku may not have been the first person to ride the wild surf on the beaches of Australia.
The story of the Duke being the first to surf in Australia is a romantic myth,” Mr Maddox said. “I think it is time that Manly Council acknowledged the true birthplace of surfing and put up a monument outside the club on Manly Beach to rival the bronze statue of the Duke.” . . . Mr Maddox’s research, contained in a new book, 100 Years – A Celebration Of Surf Life Saving At North Steyne, has caused a stir in the surfing community.
Historian Mark Maddox claims that Charles Paterson, the first president of the North Steyne lifesaving club, brought a surfboard back from Hawaii several years before Duke’s widely celebrated ride.
[Link: Sydney Morning Herald]
by The Editors on December 28, 2007
Snowboarder Eric McConeghy, 28, suffocated to death at Mt. Hood Meadows yesterday, December 27, 2007, after falling into a large hole at the base of a lift tower.
Investigators said the man fell in a snow well at the base of a pole under a chairlift face first. Friends tried to pull him out of the well, authorities said, but he suffocated. . . Authorities have not released the victim’s name.
Though it has been officially ruled an accident, we find it hard to believe the mountain would have allowed those wells to exist. Packing in the snow at the base of lift towers is job number one for rookie ski patrollers.
[LInk: KomoTV and WoodTV]
by The Editors on December 23, 2007
