INSIDE

departments
14 Call Out 18 Copy
Rip this page out, put it in Misc useless bullshit that
your wallet (soz in case your you’ll check out after you
caught with the runs, you’ll see the girls’ photos
have something to use it for)

30 Lurker
32
Fresh Blood
Two Calis invade the
Efrim Siram and his sales, north east.
ales, & trails by Sara Ferber

34 Biggest Little
snowboard company in
Carbon Magazine Holiday 2005 America?
Main Photo: Cavataio by Josh Bohar
Inset Photos: Wilson, Cavatiao, Cocozza,
Brady, Deville, Quintana

features
38 40 44
Tenielle Liza
& Liza Sketch & Michelle
Words: Jason Chapman
Photos: Vince Cavataio Photos: Vince Cavataio

46 Day In 50 52
Elaine Jason
The Lyfe & Brie Wilson
Words: by Dr. Zero
Photos: Vince Cavataio Words: Matt Shuster
& The Anonymous

56 58 62
Sara Bud Molly Shay
Keane & Jessica
Photos: John Cocozza
Words: Josh Hudson Photos: John Cocozza

64 VT III: 68 70
Kahau
Rotax, Twitch
Cousino, Gale & Linda
Words & Photos: Nick Ciotti
Photos: Vince Cavataio
Words: Josh Bohar

74 76
Chrissy Mike
& Tenniele Burton
Photos: Vince Cavataio Words & Photos: : Nick Ciotti

80 Adio AC 84
ProAm ACtion
Surf Series EXpo 905
Finale Photos: Sean Brady
Photos: Sean Brady
 on EXp o
ACti
20 06
Surf
2006 Skate
Snow,

ACtion Swim...

The ACtion EXpo invites

EXpo you to come see the

industry’s best for 2006!
Take advantage of the
chance to review this
March 2006
season’s upcoming
Atlantic City, NJ goods! Showcase your
company’s products to
the most kiverse and
Complete booth
powerful regional
packages start at buying market in the
country.

$545 Come to Atlantic City

and see what all the buzz
is about for 2006.
For more information,

please call Mike Fry at

(609) 927-7500

or e-mail him at

mfry@dv8mediagroup.com
 carbon
putting the action back into action sports

2430 SHEPHERD CIRCLE WEST

NORTHFIELD NJ 08225

TEL (609) 927-7500

FAX (609) 927-5500

www.dv8mediagroup.com
www.carbonmagazine.com

EDITORIAL John Cocozza, Jason Chapman,

Matt Vecere,, Robert Brink, Jon
Baker, Sara Ferber, Vince
Cavataio, Dave Nelson, Sean
Talkington, Jon Wright, Sean
Brady, Mitch Martinson, Ramon
Purcell, Andres Quintana, Steve
Melodossian, Deville, Nick
Ceglia, Allen Ying, Mike
McGiness, Keith Eaves, Robert
Skornyand a host of others

SENIOR EDITORIAL Josh Bohar, Josh Hudson, Nick

Ciotti

MANAGERIAL Mike Freihofer, Tom Forkin,

Josh Bohar, Josh Hudson, Carl
CincottaMegan Gillin-Schwartz

RETAILIAL Carbon Magazine is made

available to you at no cost
through specialty stores only,
though we’re working hard on
getting Wawa to carry it. You
can put this mag into your
shop by calling or e-mailing us
and asking for it.
We’re free and easy!

POSTMASTERIAL Please send address

changes/corrections to:

DV8 Media Group, LLC

2430 Shepherd Circle West
Northfield, NJ 08225

SUBSCRIBERIAL 6 (six) issues annually will cost

you $15.95 payable in US funds
only with either a check,
money order, or credit card.
This is for US addresses only...
sorry Tennessee!

WEBSITORIAL You can however download

the entire magazine free
though our website at:

www.carbonmagazine.com

We’ve also usually got a cool

video spinning up there and
some other stuff about what
we do.

CORRECTORIAL We here at Carbon made a

few mistakes in the fall issue
and would like to extend our
apologies to the gifted
photog's and nar shredders we
mistakenly and/ or failed to
identify. Corrections are as
follows:Cover snowboard shot
of Yale Cousino, by Ziggy, sorry
gents. Sequence of Yale
Cousino on the open rail was
shot by Kayce Baker, sorry girl.
 carbon

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14

Publisher’s note
As humans, we all have a little more in
common than we want to admit (or even
believe). From the genetic standpoint,we’re
something like 99.99% the same. From an
outward standpoint, it’s nearly the same per-
centage (if you take away the outward eccen-
tricities like skin color, hairstyle, clothing,
etc.). And from an action sports standpoint,
we differ even less.
“Hold on a second there, Sparky!” you
might exclaim. “I skate, I’m nothing like a
surfer who lands on water,” said hardcore
skate guy might object. “Or that snowboarder
who’s doing rails ‘cuz he can’t skate [thanks
to the Glissade guys for that sticker-classic!]”
But underneath all of the talk, the underlying
commonality still lies between us all in the
world of action sports- it’s the adrenaline that
fuels the fire. The outward expression of what
we do is merely cosmetic. THAT’S precisely
where we are all the same.
Case in point: Bruce Irons. In Volcom’s
new movie Irons was asked “Do you ever get
scared when you’re surfing in the water?” His
cool and collected reply, “Oh yeah, all the
time. But the scaredness... that’s what moti-
vates you to... it just makes you want to go
more and more. The scared feeling you over-
come. That adrenaline just makes you want to
go bigger, get more scared, and make it.”
Now this is Bruce Irons, poster-boy surfer for
the masses, admitting that the collective
human frailty of fear is exactly what moti-
vates and drives him. Danny Way goes on to
say (and I’ll paraphrase here), that while he’s
taken some pretty big poundings on a skate-
board, he’s never seen a ramp come tumbling
down on him afterward, as a mountain of
water or snow might do to a surfer/snow-
boarder. And skimboarding? Have you ever
been thrown off of one of those things? Even
if you haven’t, all you have to do is imagine
how much it sucks to eat sand. Believe me it
sucks. Bad.
The reason we do the crazy things that we
do is because we’re pumped on them.
Otherwise, why would we do them at all?
Sure there are those that jump on the band-
wagon and start up these endeavors for rea-
sons other than the stoke, but they never last
long. Let’s face it, wakeboarding for the first
time sucks, and hurts even more the next day.
Why anyone would want try again can only
be understood as pure masochism.
Maybe it was a girl at the beach that led you
to your first surfboard, or a bro who trekked
you up to the mountain for the first time in an
effort to convince you to publish a snowboard
 carbon

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magazine, to the wakeboard editor who lined up company treks

to remote private lakes with our newly acquired Nautique, our
first endeavors are rarely solo and rarely as focused as they
become over time. But it remains that we are all inspired and
introduced by someone else who’s already been bitten by the bug
and wants to share it. Our passion grows from there, and our
adrenanline keeps us coming back; that excitement you get from
finally pulling off that sick new maneuver.
Now, here’s where I’m going to ask you to use your cognitive
powers of correlation: our magazine, Carbon, was born of the
need to introduce new things to new participants. If you’re a
‘core’ enthusiast of any action sport, you may neither need nor
want what we’re all about. However, the truth of the matter
remains that the lines are now blurred more than ever.
While the crossover crowd started long ago (hell, many of
these activities were born that way), it’s being is stronger now
than ever. Today’s generation has been exposed to all sorts of
amalgamated sporting ideas, especially over the past ten years.
Kids today skate, surf, snowboard, blade, bike, ski, bodysurf,
etc., all at the same time. Just walk into any 12 year old’s garage,
and you’ll see tons of equipment dedicated to the activities listed
above, (almost all of which bearing the marks of frequent use
mind you). Now, here’s where the correlation gets a little deeper:
these kids are spending money... on all of these things... in record
amounts! Any good buisnessperson knows that to sit comfortably
into any one niche is pretty much business suicide. So why do it
when it comes to action sports? With all of these bottom lines
expanding so rapidly as to warrant IPOs, the word to the wise is
to expand your product line and marketing efforts because these
new niches are expanding fast and they represent real income.
And the beauty of it is, it’s NEW income! No longer are we
going to be relegated to sticking the same fingers in the same
pie; now we’ve got new pies to tinker with, and you won’t be
labeled a ‘sell-out’ because you’re marketing to them. Rather,
you might be labeled innovative and still maintain your core
edge.
This thinking can be deemed a bit radical (or shortsighted...
depends on where you sit on the fence), but the truth of the mat-
ter is that any company now being publicly traded didn’t get
there by selling only to ‘core’ participants. In fact, they owe their
success to the new emergent market that action sports is fast
becoming. And they’ve done this so passively as to suggest
incompetence on the side of the marketing or sales departments;
or both. My suggestion is: embrace it! Tap into the enthusiasm
that is the common bond and focus less on the platform of loco-
motion. There exists many opportunities for reward if we just
pull off the blinders and open our eyes to the commonality of it
all. I’m pretty sure that if we do that, we’ll all be 99.99% more
successful, meet many more new people, and have a helluva lot
more fun.

Enjoy the ride; whatever vehicle you may choose.

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18

JOSH BO-HUNK?
HAPPY MR PENNSYLVANIA TO YOU!
Carbon’s own Josh Bohar,
magazine snowboard editor and all
around Renaissance man, was recently
featured by Cosmopolitan magazine as
one of the 50 most
eligible bachelors in the country. Not
that this came as any surprise to us
(we’ve been fans of Josh’s for quite
some time now), but it is amazing to
think that our humble man at the helm
has been nationally recognized in such
a capacity.
When called for comment, Josh had
this to say, “I’m taking full advantage
of the situation. When my friends give
me a hard time about it, I know in my
heart that they would have done the same thing. I enjoy the witty
banter. Now that I've gone from zero to hero, chicks dig me, I'm
making sweet moo-la, and I get invited to all the cool after par-
ties and if that’s not... Oh wait. Hold up Fry? Paris is on the other
line...” (two minutes pass) “Fry you still there? Yeah some party
in Milan tonight. I've got to get ready the privet jet is picking me
up soon. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, if that wasn't enough I
got a free cardigan!” The old adage about a toilet seat comes to
mind here.
Josh’s make’s his Cosmo debut in the November issue.
So if you’re looking to ditch your chick and you want her to
hook up with Josh, go get her a copy.

BANGOR?
WHY, WE HARDLY KNOW HER!
In the theater of the bizarre,
there is nothing quite as
demented as the Bangor Dam
Wave, and the crew that rides it.
Local surfer John Frachella
and his surfing buddies have
been riding it since the late 80’s,
first in kayaks, and more
recently on surfboards. Riders have to wait until low tide on the
Penobscot River, when the stationary wave reaches shoulder high
and river-wide. The tides have to be just right and the river must
be flowing at at least 50,000 cubic feet per second, but when it is
going off, rides can last up to 45 minutes. John notes however,
that; “It requires some skill to get off the wave. You have to ferry
across to a recirculating eddy on the Bangor side to get back up.
Then you have to climb over the Rip Wrap [the actual dam made
of old timbers] and paddle up stream. Once you are up river far
enough, you can face up to 80,000 cubic feet of water per second
rushing under your feet. You can then carve back and forth
across the foam pile. Either side provides a glassy standing
wave.
“It is not as fast or as dynamic as an ocean wave, but it is great
fun and good training.” John also says that the lineup can get
crowded when the kayakers mix it up with the surfers. “They will
try to drop in on you so you must stay on top of things.”
Sounds good to us.
-Pete Pan
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20
BRAGGER’S CUP
ST AUGUSTINE’S SURF STATION
TAKES THE CAKE
You can put the 2005 O’Neill
Bragger’s Cup Surf Shop Challenge in
the books for the year- but it’s only just
begun for one lucky team who’ll be
heading to Hawaii on O’Neill’s dime.
This past May, event #1 started with
the best shops and riders from the mid-
Atlantic descending on the Outerbanks.
The night before the event, a strong
Nor’easter tore through town and creat-
ing 12’ whitewater conditions that were
deemed unsurfable. The next morning
was to be the start of the event, but the
surf was still 8-10’ and looked like a washing machine. With a
unanimous vote, the shops decided to head south to Frisco where
there was head high clean wedges. When the dust settled, Wave
Riding Vehicles Virginia Beach took the cup, beating 2004 champ
Whalebone and earning bragging rights as the first team to become
part of the grand prize Hawaii trip lottery.
Stop #2 was all the way back in California on the fabled sandbars
of Huntington Beach. The waves started off in the morning clean
and small and only grew bigger and better as the day wore on and
the tide dropped. At the end, Huntington Surf and Sport squeaked
past rival Jack’s Surfboards.
This was the second year in a
row for HSS and they were
now the second official name
to be part of the Hawaiian
grand prize lottery.
Last but not least, the final
stop of the Challenge went
back to the East Coast to
choose a Florida Shop champion this month. And some of the best
waves of the whole series went down at high performance
Sebastian Inlet. Overhead wedges and ramps were served up to
punt, gouge, float, and get barreled. A solid effort was put in by
all, but The Surf Station from St. Augustine edged out last year’s
champ Sunrise Surf Shop and the final name was put into the
grand prize lottery. Randomly picking HSS, WRV, or The Surf
Station to be the lucky shop team that gets to go to the North
Shore. Winner’s get accommodations luxorious Turtle Bay
Resort, airfare, rental car, and VIP access to the O’Neill World
Cup at Sunset. And if that wasn’t enough, we’re even throwing a
barbecue for the winning team at the O’Neill Pipe House so you
can get some tips from Tamayo, Cory,
Roy, Timmy, Trent, and the boys. Kelly
Gibson, CEO of O’Neill Clothing,
pulled the winning name out of the hat
and it turned out to be The Surf Station
from St. Augustine Florida! Congrats
boys!
No word yet on whether next year
will include the North East, but we’re
pushing for it.
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22
PREMIER SNOWSKATE PARK
AT RYE AIRFIELD
NEW SOURCES OF THRILL
CROPPING UP ALL OVER
The idea of Carbon is to bring to
light new catalists to further the
stoke. Obviously, just about every ‘X’
sport evolved from some other ‘X’
sport with the range running from
entire genres, to moves in a specific
genre. Take snowskating as an obvi-
ous example: the beauty here is that
it is something that will be able to be
done anywhere on just about the
most meager of conditions, bring new
markets into the mix as well as cross-
pollinating tricks from other sports;
the versatility could be an eye-opener.
Take what we believe to be the first snowskate park at a
skateboard park. Premier Snowskate’s staff and team
members along with the Rye Airfield crew put together
a competition to remember. With Mother Nature work-
ing against the winter odds, it took the teamwork and
dedication of many positive snowskate enthusiasts to
pull off such an event.
Rails and elements were abundant throughout the park
but the supply of snow only allowed the riders to play
favorites as the sun and temperatures hovering near 70
degrees began to deplete the white shavings. Once snow
hits the seacoast of New Hampshire, skaters will have
their choice of obstacles ranging from beginner to
advanced. At this point the park already includes two up
/ down boxes, two handrails, two flat boxes, a rainbow
rail, and a picnic table. Coming soon is a C box, C rail,
flat down flat rail, and a few others. The overall consen-
sus for this contest was to host it on the handrail.
Come contest time Phil Smage, Max
Hilty, Matt Plays and Justin Parsons
continually hit the handrail without
fear. Phil came out on top landing a
kick flip back lipslide on his last
attempt. Matt and Max shared second
place, as their performances were
equally impressive. Matt demonstrat-
ed smooth frontside and backside
boardslides as Max awed the crowd
with his
buttery backside boardslides and
backside hurricanes.
The event went down as a success.
Riders were not only able to skate the outdoor park but
they were also invited inside to ride the amazing skate-
board facility as well. The event brought together
snowskaters from all areas including Quebec, Alaska,
and Wisconsin. According to Premier Pro Rider, Phil
Smage "getting to meet all the other awesome
snowskaters was definitely a highlight."
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24
SLATER WINS 7TH TITLE!
HOG SEALS WIN AGAINST IRONS
Pro surfing was at its most unpredictable today. Check
it. After dominating his heat yesterday [11/7] in true
man of steel fashion, Kelly goes home has a quiet din-
ner with friends and goes to bed
early. He's in great spirits. Feeling it.
Then he shows up for his heat this
morning for his Round 4 heat with
Travis Logie, and he suffers a full
scale déjà vu of his shockingly bad
heat against Damien Hobgood last
month in France. He makes mistake
after mistake-mistiming easy maneu-
vers and allowing Logie into the best
wave of he heat. Afterward, he only
blames himself for loss. Things go
from bad to worse for Slates when
Andy paddles out next demolishes Bede Durbidge.
This heat win doesn't guarantee that Andy stays alive
(he needs the next one to do that), but Kelly's clearly
devastated. He actually tries to leave the site and drive
two hours back to Florianopolis before being talked out
if it by CJ Hobgood.
Everyone waits around for Andy's next heat against
Nathan Hedge. Hedge sits upstairs with Kelly and tells
him he's going to do the impossible. 'I am going to win
this heat," he says. "It's going to end today,"
A few minutes later the heat is on. Andy grabs a cou-
ple quick ones while Hedgey waits out the back. The
surf has picked up a bit today and the sets are almost
head-high. Hedge finds one and rips his way to a nine-
making Praia Vila look like a soft day at North
Narrabean. Andy storms back posting-and 7.67 and a
9.3 in quick succession. Hog now needs a 7.81 and so
he does something Andy would do: he waits. He pass-
es up a set wave and then finds the one he wants behind
it.
And you know what? What he does on that crumbly,
left wall gives Kelly Slater his long awaited 7th World
Title. Hog destroys that sucker. Andy
is left out the back waiting for one
last wave never comes.
As the final seconds tick away,
no one is looking out at the
Hedge/Irons heat that is still in the
water, they are all
staring at Kelly in the competitors'
bleachers. Kelly can't even bear to
watch. He pulls his hood over his
eyes. The horn blows. The new hats,
shirts and foam fingers celebrating
#7 come out. CJ hugs Kelly and takes photos of him.
Tears stream down Kelly's face.
He does a few interviews, then makes his way down
to the ASP office where he grabs a hold of the World
Title trophy. ASP CEO Brodie Carr tells him that this
only a temporary thing. This one is staying here and
he'll get the real one in Hawaii. "No way," Kelly says.
"I want this with me on the plane to Florida. I want to
drink beer from it at the Island Hut."
He heads to the beach for the ceremony. The pumped
carbon
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26
up Brazilian fans are going mad
as he gives a speech and poses
for photos. Meanwhile, the 3rd
Quaterfinal is still going on. It
doesn't matter. No one's watch-
ing it. They're all down here cel-
ebrating with Kelly. "Thank you,
Brazil," he says. "I feel like a
second brother to you."
He looks around for Andy, but
he's nowhere to be found. Andy has left the water. He's
raced down the beach away from the crowd, and is now
reportedly stewing in the Billabong van in the parking
lot. It's too bad. Kelly wishes he was here. "I want to
give Andy a hug right now," he says. "The guy's an
unbelievable surfer, one of the
great surfers of all time, and I
know he's going to win at least one
more world title if not more."
After all, after Andy's emotional
win at Pipe over Kelly in 2003, a
win that devastated Slater, Kelly
still managed pull himself togeth-
er. He came out of the water and
gave a heartfelt, magnanimous speech and congratulated
Irons.
Bottom line: Andy should have done the same today. And the
rest of contest? All we know is that Damien Hobgood won over
a resurgent Victor Ribas.
The rest is a blur-courtesy of Quiksilver/quiksilver.com
NY HAS SAND FLEAS
and at the other end of the
World Title hunt...
The Annual Sand Flea Surf Club Halloween Festival
at the Not So Secret Spot in New York proved to be
hilarious in the tradition of all Fleafests.
Whenever a Fleafest is organized you can count on no
waves, however, on Halloween eve, the ghouls of the
ocean sent some tiny waves to us so as not to be total-
ly humiliated by paddling out onto a lake. Although
they were only in the ankle to knee high range, it was
good enough to get the laughs we all wanted.
As the crowd of surfers in cos-
tume started to clog the lineup, I
knew it was my time to sneak
into the Fleastival in my Mr.
Incredible outfit. The shocked
expressions of couples cruising
the boardwalk as I rode past on a
bike with costume & board was
nothing like the jeers from the
water and sand. I timed my
entry, caught a half dozen waves and flew outta there
before they knew who it was.
The waves were getting better as I left and more Not
So Secret Spot celebrities turned up. The 6ft hero was
long gone, the crowd thinned a little but the laughs
were non stop as the absurd images of crazy looking
people in their costume cruise by on wave after wave.
It was a happy Halloween! Thanks to the Sand Flea
Surf Club for another genuine absurdist event.-
Alexander Karinsky
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FOX helps ANDREW GESSLER
hit the hometown spot...
What a great concept; invite a ton of your friends over
to your stomping ground. Put ‘em
in a unique contest format to ensure
that only the best surfers advance,
guarantee yourself at least 2nd
place, get ‘em all drunk afterward,
and convince your sponsor to pay
for it all. Sound like a dream? Well,
if you were anyone but Andrew
Gessler riding for Fox, it would be,
but on September 12th in AC,
Andrew was one lucky boy.
Chris Drummy [Fox team manag-
er] first proposed the idea for the
contest early on in summer. Chris
wanted to do something out of the
ordinary to support the team riders
on a national level, and the ‘My Spot’ concept seemed
to be the perfect answer allowing teams riders to host
contests in their hometown “Spot”. (The My Spot name
is a play on the MySpace.com phenomenon that has
swept the nation).
Andrew originally wanted hold the event in Ocean
City, but when permits became problematic (and the
explanation given of AC being much better prepared to
host the kind of party riders would want), the choice of
venue became obvious--AC all the way.
The contest format was essentially the regular style
with 4 man heats advancing through a bracket system
until a winner was had. However, the twist occurred in
the scoring and advancement, as the highest point totals
for the entire first round were what determined
advancement. Essentially, the idea was to advance the
24 best scores of round 1, event if four of the surfers
were in the same heat.
It certainly sounded out of the
ordinary at first, but what resulted
was performance surfing at it’s
finest. Quite literally, the 24 best
surfers advanced, as opposed to
the 24 best ‘contest’ surfers; some-
thing Fox was eager to avoid.
What was at stake was nearly
$6,000 in cash along with a set of
rims worth at least $2,000 them-
selves. Added to the fun was an
after-party at Maloney’s Uptown
with Fox footing the bill. Kicking
in as a sponsor was DVS. Along
the way, specialty prizes were
given for Best Air, Highest Wave Score, Highest Heat
Total, and Most Radical Move.
Surfing in the early rounds was, predictably, insane.
Surfers were going for broke and battling it out for the
cash, prizes, and glory... and for control of the bar tab.
In the end, it was Florida’s Jeremy Johnston edging out
Andrew Gessler for the loot, along with a couple of
specialty division prizes along the way. Our best to
him, Andrew, Fox, and DVS for stepping up and mak-
ing this unique contest happen. Let’s do it again.
carbon

lurker
B team shredder with one good knee, one good
30 shoulder, bad credit and whose is starting to forget how
to do more tricks than learning, (I still got my fs7
though, watch.) I went from grom to grim. Now how-
ever not only does my life revolve around sliding on the
SALES, ALES, and TRAILS snow but a vast majority of my livelihood too.
The
coinciding
...EFRAM SILAM dream and
nightmare I
exist in has
I spend hours, awake and asleep, thinking and changed
dreaming about snowboarding. Imagining all kinds of somewhat.
subtleties and nuances of sliding around on a piece of The dream
plastic. The poplar/beech wood core, the carbon and is still the
rubber layers, the metal edges de-tuned perfectly. I same and
think about the ladders and ratchets of my binders and better, the
how my boots, only when toenails are trimmed well fit. ridiculous
In the summer my snowboards become clutter that I terrain and
desire to get rid of. Then comes the first frost and that snow of
disregard for my equipment is killed, like some cold California,
plant. The first dusting of snow on one peak or another the travel,
and I start cleaning the dust off, check the binders and the parties,
boots, tune the used boards, de tune the new joints, the women,
maybe a sticker job. I’ll have a rock board ready to or lack of.
slide on the fist centimeter of snow, on a box or maybe The
a rail. Whatever works... nightmare
I have a gang load of equipment, big deal. For years I though, has
was a typical B team, board scammer, living the morphed.
dream and the nightmare. The dream then was the Now I have
stompy powder and endless spring slush of Tahoe, the enough
nightmare was the noodles at home and crackers at the money to
resort. As time went by and circumstances had it, I eat a little better or at least more often, but budgeting
became the rep for the company. Now I’m a washed up my tiny percentage of sales is painful. Driving for
hours and days, trying to stay stoked on riding, reas- know what the term B-line means.
suring myself the whole time that ‘I’m going to see I like skiers just fine; I just don’t like people who
some cool people who love snow boarding just like claim to be a skier or snowboarder because it suits
me. It’s worth the speeding tickets.’ their business facade. These cooks run an industry of
Then arriving to hear something like, “What can you fun with the same business principles of a pharmaceu-
do for me? How many points can I take and make? tical compa-
Hold on, that’s my wife… Now, what were you saying ny. Money
about should be
getting me free this so I can have more cash for that.” given
Some people think I have a bunch of money because thought
I have a bunch of snowboards. They try to work me. In when doing
no other business would I waste so much time for so business,
much bull. I wouldn’t go to a restaurant and expect VIP but it
treatment because I’m pretty good at eating. Yet peo- shouldn’t be
ple come to me all the time, looking for free or cheap the foremost
stuff, because they can air out of the pipe. Really and only
though, I love those kids, especially compared to the thing given
real cooks. It’s the money hungry, greedy, fakes that I thought.
hate. So sup-
To have some salaried jackass of a million dollar port your
corporation tell me, “Look I like you, I like your stuff, local, core
but it‘s all about the money.” shop and
I just smile though, I understand, I want to say, buy from
“Look I know it’s all about the paper, because I don’t companies
like you and I’m still here.” One day my honesty may that have
slip. nothing to
Most of the people I work with are great. In Nor Cal do with
there’s THC in the water so most everyone is mellow, a skiing. Not
little flakey, but easy going. The typical kook poses as that their
a skier, gets on the hill once a month, uses your board boards are
as leverage with his pole and has a genuine disgust for bad, just
snowboarders. He may have busted your friend for rid- that they chances they're evil are greatly increased
ing on a holiday and probably drives the SUVs you’d Next installment: On the road.
like to have. Some even claim to ride and then don‘t
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What is something about you that most people don't
know? I'm addicted to sour patch kids.
Favorite surf trip: When my best friend Ricky and I
FRESH BLOOd #1 BOBBY MORRIS went to Costa Rica for a month and traveled throughout
the country, scored some insane waves, got Witches
Hometown: Goleta, CA Rock overhead and offshore and perfect with nobody
Sponsors: LX Eyewear, Roberts Surfboards, Esteem else out but us. I will also never drink guaro again.
Surf Shop, Glas Clothing, West Wetsuits How did you get started surfing? My parents always
Favorite surfer: Kelly Slater, Mick Fanning brought me to the beach and I was always bodyboard-
Favorite board: Roberts board ing, then i started standing up so
punter model 5'11" 18 3/8, 2 1/4 then I bought a surfboard from
Favorite local spot: Haskells my neighbor for 10 dollars and it
Favorite contest conditions: nice, just went from there.
big, long, right point breaks Do you work? My parents own a
Travels: all over the West and East restaurant in Isla Vista called The
Coast US, Baja, Nicaragua, Costa Cantina and I work there every
Rica, Panama, Australia, Spain, once in a while
Portugal, France, Hawaii What are some bands you lis-
Favorite surf spot: Biarritz, ten to? Eric Clapton, a lot of
France classic rock, George Thorogood,
Future goals besides surfing: Billy Idol, Pennywise, Pinback,
Travel alot with my family... The Streets, Talking Heads,
Africa and the world Metallica and Atreyou
Inspiration: Watching Slater in What are some of your pet
videos, my Mom, Dad and friends peeves? Snakes, crowded surf,
How long have you been tailgaiters, a bad vibe in the water
surfing:?12 yrs What’s coming up for you in
What are some of your hobbies: Wildlife photography, the near future? Traveling alot and doing alot of
playing guitar, playing pool WQS events and seeing other parts of the world I
Heroes: Kelly Slater, Tom Curren haven’t seen before.
Why? Curren for style, attitude and music; Slater's real- Last question...Favorite food? I love cereal and that’s
ly down to earth & his surfing explains the rest. He can it... cereal and sour patch kids.
surf in the smallest and biggest surf in the world. -Sara Ferber
 What is something people don’t know about you?
They don’t know how much motivation that I have and
FRESH BLOOD #2 CHRIS DAVIS how seriously I take things.
Describe your most memorable surf trip: Hawaii
with my cousing surfing V-Land and my first time surf-
Hometown: Coronado, CA ing Pipe. It opened my eyes to the surfing Mecca of the
Sponsoros: Marty Allen Surfboards, Oceanside Surf & world.
Sport, Flojos Sandals How did you start surfing? When my Mom moved
Favorite Surfer: Kelly Slater me down here from Monterey. When I was 9 she took
Everyday board: 6'1 SQUASH, 18 1/4, 2 1/4 me to the beach a few times and I learned how to
Favorite Local Spot: South Mission Jetty bodyboard. I got used to the water [by doing that].
FavoriteContest:Lower’s Contest Then, one day I was at the beach
Travels: Japan, Cabo, Hawaii, and I saw this Dad teaching his
East Coast, Baja, Costa Rica son how to surf. I walked up to
Favorite Wave: Kirra him and asked him if I could try.
Future Goals: Buy a house, own On the first we that he pushed
a business, start a family and live me into I stood up and from then
by the beach on I was addicted.
Inspiration: anybody in the water Do you work? I'm a Blackjack
with a good attitude having a good dealer.
time; nice people Music: Slayer, TransMusic, Bob
How do you stand out? my pas- Marley,BarringtonLevy,
sion never fades-win or lose-I’m Pennywise, Bad Religion,
unstoppable! Descendants, Guttermouth, The
How Long have you been surf- Mars Volta.
ing? 13 years (since I was 11 years Pet Peeves: Hypocrites, slow
old) drivers, Laggers, dicks in the
Hobbies:Poker,Golfing, water, mean people
Skateboarding, Snowboarding, Billiards (I'll kick your What’s your future? Going to be doing the WQS cir-
ass!) cuit and traveling alot in the next couple of years.
Heroes: Mother Nature, my Mom, and Kelly Slater Describe your first good barrel: I was like 13 years
Why them? Well, if it wasn’t for my Mom, I wouldn’t old at my local beach break in Pacific Beach. I stood
have gotten a chance to be near the beach, and to realize straight into it and came out and all my buddies and
how perfect and vast the ocean is. everyone else saw it. Sweet.
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boards being produced. This raises the question of how, if a mis-
34 take is made, the company who puts their name behind that board
going to know if the final product is legit.
“Shaping all of our own materials gives us the chance to make
changes on the fly and hopefully throw down some progression,”
Slouch Manufacturing: says Chris Cowell, V.P. of Sales and Marketing for Slouch. With
three engineers committed to Slouch Manufacturing, progression
is part of the daily routine.
THE BIGGEST LITTLE SNOWBOARD “Our goal at slouch is to make a snowboard that not only will
FACTORY: READ, LEARN, GET STOKED! stay together longer but actually have life,” says Cowell. They
realize that most shreds don’t have the luxury of pulling a new
Located just minutes from deck out of the box as soon as
Lake Tahoe, Slouch one breaks. “We are on a
Manufatcuring began (and quest to find out why boards
remains to be) one of the few break and what kind of stress
core snowboard manufacturing it must go through, the bot-
companies in the United States. tom line is progression, not
While many big name compa- profit from the hype,”
nies claim to be “rider owned, Cowell.
rider driven,” Slouch truly Not only are they producing
means it. their own snowboards but
“Slouch definitely originally they shape and help construct
rallied around anti-establish- for six other companies as
ment and to be different by bag- well. In 04/05, Slouch pro-
ging on yourself rather than trying to dress yourself up,” says Mike. duced cores and sidewalls for a company whose board was
From designing shapes and molds, to testing final product, all the ranked amongTransworld Snowboarding’s Top Ten Good Wood.
boys at Slouch, including the team riders have a say production, Not bad for a U.S. based snowboard factory, after all, the foreign
working together to craft the most progressive snowboards around. sweat shop workers shouldn’t be able to get all the credit.
This team-oriented approach to shaping and producing decks in
allows for the best possible quality control as well as important pro- MEET SLOUCH MANUFACTURING:
duction flexibility. At anytime during production, if a mistake is “We’re all close friends with the same objective to create a great
made, everyone in the shop can see it, asses it, and work together to product and have fun doing it,” says Jim, a Slouch engineer.
fix it, making sure that each and every snowboard will perform the A recent graduate from University of Nevada, Reno, Jim
way it was intended to perform. Many other companies out there comes complete with a bachelors in Mechanical Engineering. He
claime to be “hand crafted” but you will never actually SEE their runs the CNC router, programs the CAD files, and builds the
presses among other things. I mentioned the progression within
the company due to 100% hands on production. The CNC router
helps bring it all together. The router completely changes the way
a snowboard is made. The original purpose was to shape the flex
pattern into blank cores and milling sidewall. “It became our most
flexible piece of equipment and has helped us refine our line and
become more precise,” says Chris.
Along with Jim, Ryan also just graduated from UNR with a
bachelors in Mechanical Engineering. He maintains and builds the
wood working process. From cutting core blocks to designing
new devices to help the process, Ryan specializes in building
gnarly hydraulic core presses with 60 tons of
pressure as well as edging and finishing equip-
ment.
With a masters in Biomedical Engineering and
pursuing a PhD at UNR, Ben is the Director of
Operations and majority owner. He developed
most of the process to execute the production of
the snowboards. While doing research projects
for NASA, Ben devised a method using different
equipment to make the process affordable, yet
still maintain quality. An aspect of production
which may cost some companies big dollars may
only be a fraction of the cost using Slouch tech-
niques. Let me add here that there is no slacking to save money;
Ben is just smarter than your average bear.
Mike is a Slouch partner who resides in the SF bay area. “What
is it I do at Slouch? I guess I am kinda the glue that brought the
partners together.” These days Mike’s role changes day to day,
from master edger, to using his college skills as business manager
preparing the books and accounting strategies.
Sean started Slouch a few years back and With a longtime
background in art, Sean started Slouch a few years back after
experimenting with different hardgoods such as surfboards, and
longboard skateboards. He quickly brought Mike and Ben into the
picture and launched the snowboard division. As Slouch contin-
ues to grow, Sean’s main focus is all of the artwork and design.
“Our future here is huge. Every year we grow bigger and faster,
we’ve only really tapped into 60% of our capacity and we are
ready to take over the world with our product.”
After 16 years in the industry, Chris has held many positions in
the snowboard industry. From professional rideing with Morrow.
to constructing terrain parks in the U.S. and Japan, to working as a
sales rep for several different companies. Currently, Chris helps out
in every aspect of production at Slouch.
This tight group of friends is devoted to progressing their product
for the benfit of their consumers as well as contin-
uing to keep themselves stoked on snowboarding.
“Everyone is involved because they love to snow-
board and as a result the quality stays high. We’ve
come a long way over the last year, from barely
being a company to building boards for other
companies,” says Ryan.
Visiting the factory was a rad experience. As I
talked, chilled, and listened in on conversations,
I really did notice a family vibe. They love what
they do, they want to stay in it as long as possible,
keeping kids stoked on snowboarding. No one in
the group is about to burn anyone to make an
extra buck. They remain true to the sport and true to themselves all
in the name of shred. Huge props to the boys at Slouch for keeping
it real.
“I want to thank all the guys who have put so much effort into
Slouch for pretty much the love of snowboarding, I am very proud
of everybody,” Sean Harmon, Slouch founder.
A few things to look out for: Five pound board from Slouch (your
feet and legs will love you for this), Synapse, a new line of snow-
boards is in the works, as well as a possible ski line; all will rock
the market in the near future so get your hands on some.
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left row - Medow, Navy 8, Jersey Joe, Dr. Sex
right row - Jeser, Pop Quiz, Wives, Eye
bottom row - Kemos, Faset, Kunt, JG, Themo
 left row - Soco, Era, Mad Hatter
Graffiti art and skateboarding have always gone hand right row - Chip 7, 4 Saken, Space 1134
in hand. Most skate parks are covered with graffiti and
many skate companies use graffiti artists to design their
boards. These skateboard decks are one of a kind,
hand painted, by various graffiti artists. Different meth-
ods are used including: spray paint, acrylics, paint
pens, metal, magic markers and more. The skateboard
decks you see here are on display at Division East
Skateboard shop in North Jersey. Who said, “graffiti isn’t
art,” who cares, cause they obviously have no idea
what they’re talking about. Due to the large number of
hand painted decks in the shop we were unable to
show them all so I recommend you take a trip down
and peep it for yourself. And the collection does get
larger on the regular. Special thanks to David Dowd
and Ken Elliot.

Dr. Zero
Whether graffiti started with cave paintings or
on the NYC subway cars doesn’t really mat-
ter. What’s going on today is on a whole
other level. I was watching TV a while ago
and there was a commercial for some big
evil money making corporation, and I saw a
tag by a NYC street “tagger” in the back-
ground. That was the day graffiti became
“accepted” to the rest of society.
The graffiti artist is like no other. We lerk in the
shadows, going unseen, to a clueless society.
Unless your involved with this, “paint fume
huffing underworld” you wouldn’t understand
why we do it. It’s personal, it’s addictive, and
once you’re in, your in for life. You keep
painting because you’re never totally satis-
fied with your last “piece”. You know you can
do better, so you go out and do it.
Within the past few years graffiti has showed
up everywhere, it has gone mainstream.
Graffiti has become a huge marketing tool
for a variety of different companies ranging
from soda pop to music. For example, the
infamous legend Cope 2 from NYC was paid
over $20,000 to spray paint a billboard adver-
tisement for Time Magazine. Mark Ecko just
launched the first graffiti video game,
“Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure”. So
you see, Graffiti has now been accepted
and is here to stay.
I can’t wait until my grandkids are reading These photos were taken in New York City, New Jersey,
about “the graffiti art movement” in their art Kansas City. Detroit, and a couple other spots. All
history classes, and we old timers get to sit images and design on this page are courtesy of Day in
the Lyfe Magazine. For more info go to
there with a stiff drink and tell stories about dayinthelyfe.com
the missions we went on, and who we knew.
Eventually, like any other art movement, one
day it will all be over. So what’s next? Who
cares? I’m going painting….

–anonymous graffiti artist

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 Interview
Interview by Matt Shuster
So who here has heard about Skimboarding? Yeah, we
know you and your buddies have gone down to the
beach in the summer and slid around in the wet sand,
and we know you and your dad made a really cool
Meet Jason Wilson, a 23-year-old Professional Skimboarder from Dewey Beach, DE.
MS: So what’s up with Delaware?
JW: Well I was born and raised there. Dewey Beach
is a pretty cool town that is hot and raging in the
summer and absolutely dead and cold in the winter.
PHOTO: SHUSTER
Skimboard out of plywood, slapped some resin on it, and
called it father-son bonding. But have you ever met some-
one willing to put a full suit and booties on in the dead of
winter in Delaware just to get a couple turns in?
MS: Did that give you a lot time to practice your
skimming in the winter?
JW: Man, I probably barely even touched the water
more than a few times between November and
April for the longest time. Finally, about the same time I
started high school I got a 4/3, manned up, and started
braving the cold water. Skimboarding was pretty much a
summertime thing for me until I moved out to California.

MS: How has moving to the West changed you?
JW: I would have to say that moving to California is
probably one of the best decisions I have made in my
life. Don’t get me wrong. I love Delaware. It will always
be my home and I know that’s where my roots are, but
the fact is that the waves are pretty inconsistent there,
and it just held me back being in that cold weather all
winter. I lived in a small town in a small state. Being able
to come here, go to college, and skim the best waves
with the best riders all winter has allowed me to progress
in many aspects of my life at a much faster rate than I
would of if I had stayed in Delaware.
PHOTO: LERUM
: WARD
PHOTO
MS: Seeing as how you are a senior at Long Beach
State, what are your plans after graduation? Back to
Delaware or are staying for good?
JW: I’m not really sure. It’s hard to say. I try to take
things one day at a time. I have been going back there
every summer to compete on the East Coast leg of the
skim tour and run a skim camp that my friend Corey
Mahoney and I started back in 2000. Alley-oop Skim
Camp. It’s sick. The camp just keeps growing and were
pumping out so many little skim groms.
 MS: Speaking of the East Coast Tour,
I saw on Skimonline.com that you had
a stellar contest season. Would you care
to enlighten us?
JW: It was hands down the best
summer of my life. Things really came
together with my contest skimming. After
about seven years of professional skim-
ming I finally won a contest. I actually won
2 contests, the South Side Shootout and
the Outer Banks Skim Jam, which led to
winning the entire East Coast Tour. I made
some decent money and kinda got myself
re-amped on competing.

MS: That’s pretty cool, after last season

I heard you were retiring? Playing mind
games with the competition?

JW: Just trying to keep’em on their toes.

PHOTO: BAILEY

MS: Good show. So what’s on the agenda

for the rest of this year and wintertime?
JW: I’m gonna get that Diploma. I got two
Cabo trips lined up to watch my friend Geo
get married and to get some footy with the
Zap Skimboards team. I’m also hoping to
spend the Holidays in the Bahamas with
my family and possibly go to Chile again
in the spring.

MS: It sounds like traveling is definitely in

your future. Do you think skimboarding has
a lot of traveling in it’s future?

JW: I think so. It’s defiantly a growing

sport. It seems like every year a new skim
scene pops up. Were already seeing a lot
of enthusiasm coming from Japan, Europe,
Chile, and most recently inland areas, such
as Canada and Sacramento, where people
are skimming rails and other crazy things to
jib off of in ponds, and other forms stagnant
water. Kind of a wake/skateboarding
influence.

PHOTO: SHUSTER
 PHOTO: GRAF

PHOTO: BAILEY

PHOTO: GRAF

MS: What sort of things influence you’re riding and style?

JW: I’d have to say hip hop, earth tones, and surfing.

MS: Earth Tones?

JW: Yeah, all natural. Occasionally I rock a white-t, but
I try to stay pretty massive.

MS: What ever that means? So who is your support

team?
JW: Zap Skimboards, Skimshop.com, Alley-oop Skim
Camp, Dewey Surf & Sport. Electric Visual and X-Trak
keep me seeing clear and stuck to my board. My par-
ents and friends. All my photo and video guys. Thanks
for the support everyone.

MS: Over and Out.

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 Interview
PRO
BUD, ZACK, & KYLEPHOTOHUDSON
I myself have ridden for a mere 13 seasons. And carving, slashing,
sliding, jibbing, jumping and riding woods are aspects of snowboard-
ing I like to think I know a lot about. Olympic snowboarding howev-
er, I know very little about. This probably holds true for most of us.
Snowboarding has only officially been an Olympic Sport for eight
years. Most of us can remember screaming or heads off for Ross
Powers, JJ Thomas, Danny Kass, and Kelly Clark when they swept
the halfpipe for the US in 2002. And fewer of us remember when
Ross Rebagliati of Canada was almost stripped of his medal in the
1998 Winter Olympic Games for partaking in a common extra-curric-
ular activity. The idea of snowboarding as an Olympic sport is still
fairly new for the snowboarding community. Any one who’s ever
enjoyed snowboarding has done so because it was FUN. FUN is the
very essence of snowboarding. Can this core concept of our lively
hood be funneled into the largest most publicized and commercialized
sporting contest in the history of the universe? Damn straight it can.
What, my friends is more fun than doing a huge stylee, held 1080
way out of the pipe in front of millions of fans?
In my quest to broaden my scope of drag knuckeling, I visited the
home of the Keene family. They reside on a little piece of heaven
in Moscow, VT just outside the village of Stowe. Bud wasn’t home
when I arrived to meet him for this interview. He was busy with a
more important matter, tearing down the foam pit before the cold
Vermont Fall begins. Aside from being an Olympic snowboard
coach, Bud is also the Camp Director and Head Coach of a summer
dry land training camp for snowboarders. It is called 45 North Camp
and is held in Stowe, VT. Info about summer training sessions can be
I’M RIDING EVERYWHERE I GO, MAN
GRESSION
The Bud Keene Interview
by Josh Hudson
Ask around your crew, your local shop, your
mountain. I’m almost positive it will be very dif-
ficult for you to find a snowboarder entering their
22nd season shredding the narr. The man respon-
sible for honing the skills of our sideways Olympic
hopefuls as they seek to compete in the 2006
Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy is doing
just that. Twenty-two snowboard seasons, have
collectively accumulated into the knowledge, skill,
experience, progressive nature and eye for style
and talent that has placed Bud Keene in one of the
raddest careers in all of snowboarding.
Bud is the Head Coach of the United States
Olympic Snowboard Halfpipe Team.
found at www.45northcamps.com. The camp features a drop in to a
kicker over a pit filled with foam pieces. Campers can hit it up with
their feet strapped to a skate deck by snowboard bindings and learn
new tricks with only similar consequences to diving into the ball pit
at Chuck E Cheeses.
Bud’s wife Lucy Keene opened the door, and with true Vermont fami-
ly hospitality invited me in and offered me a drink. “Milk, juice or
Gatorade?” Wow, choices I hadn’t heard in a long time, I guess the
bachelor life has truly corrupted me. I went with Gatorade and then
followed Bud and Lucy’s two son’s Zack, age 11, and Kyle, age 8,
out to the famous Keene Ramp. Bud’s kids grew up with a 3-foot
mini-ramp in their living room from day one. And when the family
made the move from Eden, VT to the Stowe area Bud and Lucy had
to promise their oldest son Zack that they would build him a new
ramp to skate. And a ramp Bud did build. The ramp is 24 foot wide
by about 5 foot tall all made of super durable Skatelite and complete
with a sic roll in and tombstone. Plus, Bud built a barn around the
ramp with sliding barn doors to enclose it and added florescent light-
ing. Any day or night of the year his son’s, friends, and Stowe locals
can skate one of the dopest ramps in New England. The Keene’s
ramp has quite an allure to it, and on
the occasion that some of Bud’s former pupils come home to the east
coast you may catch Zach Leach, Kyle Clancy, Colin Laglois, Jake
Blauvelt, and others dropping in. After watching his son’s hold a sic
skate session, and barely schooling 8 year old Kyle at hoops, Bud
pulled in.
ABE TEETER PHOTO: ABBOTT

JH: When did you first start coaching snowboarding?
BK: In 1989 at what was then Mount Mansfield Ski Club and is
now Mount Mansfield Ski and Snowboard Club (MMSC) In
those days all competition and coaching revolved around rac-
ing. I rode hard boots and race boards for several years but
it’s now been many seasons since I’ve been on a hard setup.
JH: When did competitive snowboarding switch over to be
mostly freestyle?
BK: Most of the racers had freestyle set-ups and would change
up after coaching sessions or competitions and shred pow and
pull airs. It probably wasn’t until around 96/97 that freestyle
became fully the predominant aspect of competitive snow-
boarding.
Even now there is still race coaching at MMSC in Stowe and
many snowboard academies across the country.
US. If I were younger and single all the travel would be a much
different story, but I’m not. Despite the amazing locations and
how thrilling the opportunity to travel so much is, it is difficult
and hard on my family and I.
JH: These are a lot of places not many people get the opportu-
nity to travel to, do you ever still get that natural high of being in
an amazing and culturally different environment?
BK: Yeah, for sure, I do love it. I go to every major contest,
Arctic Challenge, all the Opens, the World Cups, X-games, you
name it. Since I have to travel I make the most of it. When I
go somewhere new, I’ll drive around and see everything I can
within 2 to 3 hours of where I’m staying. It’s ridiculous not to
take advantage of it all, and the best part is I’m riding every-
where I go, man.

JH: Explain what the traveling was like from day one as a pro- ANDY FINCH PHOTO: BUD KEENE
fessional snowboard coach?
BK: Travel with MMSC as a regional coach involved traveling
around New England seven to eight times a year and one
major trip to nationals in Breckenridge, CO or a resort in
California.

JH: How about now in your advanced years of coaching?

BK: Well with coaching all the riders I currently work with and
in preparing the Olympic Team, I am “on the road” 7 months
straight during the winter, then home for 2 weeks gone for 2 or
home for 3 weeks then gone for one or whatever and then the
seven months starts again. Snowboarding has taken me to;
Japan, Korea, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Scandinavia, New
Zealand, Austria, Chile, Argentina, Canada, and all over the

PHOTO: ABBOTT
JH: What is SnoPark in New Zealand
Like?
BK: It’s winter up high and summer
down below. Snow Cap Peaks every-
where, and it’s on a huge Lake. You
drive way up a 30 minute dirt road from
town up 3 or 4 thousand feet to a huge
patch of snow with a perfect super pipe,
40, 50, 70 foot jump lines, box line, rail
line, huge quarter pipe at the bottom.
Insane. I went last summer (2004) and
this summer and it was so different. Last
year was before the explosion, and we
practically had our own summer riding
spot. This year New Zealand just
exploded and every major national team
and every rider working on any kind of
transition part was their training, shooting
and filming. It is the raddest training
facility you can imagine anywhere in the
world.
JH: All right, on to the upcoming 2006
Winter Olympics. Who?
BK: Antti Autti is a definite contender.
He won the X-Games and is a talented
rider. The reason I bring him up is that
no US rider has qualified yet. Our quali-
fiers are held in December and January,
and consist of five Grand Prix contests.
Of course I think most people expect
Danny Kass and Shawn White will make
the Olympic Team, and their chances are
certainly great, but that is an expectation
and the game is open, everybody is in.
JH: So how does the Olympic selection
work for halfpipe?
BK: Selection for the Olympic Team is
based on several different criteria includ-
ing placing in different sanctioned events
A
K
S
M
L
throughout the season. Every snow-
boarder must earn a minimum of 150 FIS
points to be considered. (FIS Points are
an international standard in competitive
snowboarding, and are earned only in
events that are open to riders from every
country) The Olympic team is ultimately
determined by the outcome of the Grand
Prix series. There will be 5 grand Prix
contests this season. The first 2 are at
Breckenridge, CO. (Dec 13-17th) The
3rd is at Mt. Bachelor, OR. (Jan 5-8th)
And the last 2 are at Mountain Creek,
NJ. (Jan 20-21st) The first 3 contests are
FIS sanctioned events and are open to
all riders, American and international.
About 100 male and 50 female riders will
compete. This way the U.S. riders are
 SHAUN WHITE WITH BUDPHOTO: ABBOTT

A few of the professional snowboarders Bud coaches are:

Keir Dillon, Abe Teter, Elijah Teter, Steve Fisher,

Scotty Lago, Luke Wynen, Tommy Cezschin,
Michael Goldschmidt, Louie Vito, Hannah Teter,
Lindsey Jacobellis, and Tricia Byrnes.

able to gain the FIS points required. The last 2 contests held in
Jersey, are invitational only for the top 20 American men and top
10 American women. Also, any riders who have accomplished a
top 25 finish in a world cup contest will be invited. The whole
team including Halfpipe, Alpine and Boardercross will be
announced at the completion of the last competition at Mountain
Creek, NJ.
JH: So there is a very little time between when the Team is
announced and the Olympic Games begin. When and how do
you step in and provide additional coaching?
BK: We (Bud, the assistant US Olympic halfpipe coach Mike
Jankowski, a group of doctors that volunteer their time and skill
to support the athletes and all the newly named Olympians) trav-
el to Breckenridge, Aspen, Mammoth or maybe Northstar to train
in one of the best pipes in the world. There is a good chance
several of the riders I’ve been coaching for years will make the
team, in which case I already have solid and trusting rider/coach
relationships with them and we can work together towards the
goal of competing at the Olympic level. Mostly fine-tuning tricks
and working on combinations for runs. If other riders that have
been more on their own like Shawn White and Travis Rice make
anyone. I’ve had so many good times riding with so many peo-
ple and have enjoyed riding with all the snowboarders I’ve ever
coached. I’d have to say my wife Lucy, Lowell Hart and Jenner
Richard. (Currently The Program Team Manager)
...we are all friends, we are all at
the top of the pipe every week, all
over the world, and when it snows
we all go out and ride...
Bud’s employer, the USSA (United States Ski and Snowboard
Association) currently supports 15 US snowboarders with many
more receiving coaching and other assistance. The goal of the
USSA is to enrich the snowboarding talent pool in the United
States.
Take a couple evenings off from night riding this February and
watch the Olympic Snowboarding coverage to see our American
riders represent and go for gold, guts and glory.

WE’RE SNOWBOARDERS
the team, I simply begin coaching them and honing in on their
skills. We’ll work quickly to build relationship and trust, we are all
friends, we are all at the top of the pipe every week, all over the
world, and when it snows we all go out and ride. We’re snow-
boarders.

JH: I’m sure you’ve ridden with hundreds of talented riders and
many people that are just damn fun to ride with. Who would you
pick as 3 “stand outs” that you always have a blast snowboarding
with?
BK: Well this is a real tough question. I don’t want to exclude
carbon
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 Interview

by
Joshua Bohar
e originally wanted to run this piece in the spring issue of the magazine, however due to certain complications it sat on my desk…A lot and
a little has changed since then, first and foremost these three have continued to progress and while we where all lounging in the warm
weather they where throwing down at Hood. Second Both Chris and Yale have been stepping it up winning and placing in almost every major
summertime event including the Vans Invitational Portland, and the ICER Air held in San Francisco. Of course this hasn’t gone unnoticed as the
two have recently become “named guys” on the Burton national team. So what hasn’t changed? The fact that these three remain to be some of
the most talented riders out of the east coast holding firm to their roots still humble and bound to make a mark on professional snowboarding. For
these reasons we are running the original interview and intro uncut and unedited for your reading pleasure, so sit back, relax and enjoy the VT3.

I don’t really know why I’m calling this piece
The VT3; okay, I do, but do I want it to stick
or be used again, probably not. I thought of
a couple of “witty” titles: The Bush Boys, The
Dynamic Trio, and even The Three Amigos;
however, these all seemed too lame for such
a talented group of friends, so I decided to
keep it simple--The VT3. Basically, all grow-
ing up riding together at the “Bush”
(Sugarbush), these three have made a sig-
nificant mark on East Coast snowboarding in
the last year and are bound to do the same
in the pro circuit. Leading the charge is
Chris Rotax, first to be noticed, followed
closely by Yale Cousino (who had been hin-
dered by a broken leg), and, lastly, by the
young Sky Gale.
I had the pleasure of rounding up these
three in Burlington on my last trip to VT and
shortly after the US Open, where both Yale
and Chris represented hard. I don’t know
them all very well and unfortunately can only
make minor comments on their abilities. I
first met this crew in Philadelphia, where I
was living at the time, while I was running
the Liberty Rail Jam. Through mutual
friends, I received a phone call from Yale
asking if he and a couple of riders could stay
at my house while competing in the contest.
I had no problem with this, being that they
were friends of a friend and that I needed
some more AMs for Thursday night’s quali-
fiers. During the week leading up to the
event, I was given word by Burton that they
wanted Chris and Yale to be moved up into
Friday’s Pro Finals and that they would be
putting them up in a hotel rather than having
them stay on the floor of my house--good for
them.
I wasn’t able to move Sky up to the finals,
since he pretty much came out of nowhere
winning the Center City Rail Jam
(Burlington). I don’t think it was a problem as
the 16 year-old wild-card stepped it up to win
the finals and took home 3G’s. Ever since
then, he’s been standing on the podium at
such events as the PB and J Rail Jam and
Youngblood Rail Jam (Whistler), taking 1st at
these events, as well as at multiple other
local contest. And if he’s not on the podium,
you can be assured he’s close by.
What do we say about Yale Cousino? Well,
my first impression of him was that he had a
hot girlfriend, and, with that being noticed, I
knew the kid had skills. We all know girls
like guys with skills. Regardless of his off-
snow prowess, winning the best trick award
at the Center City Jam and making a strong
impression at the Liberty Rail Jam, Yale went
on to place high in his best season to date.
Included in this years accomplishments are
12th in the Gravity Games Slopestyle, Best
Trick in the Gravity Games Rail Jam, 11th in
the 2005 US Open Slopestyle, and 2nd in
the US Opens Rail Jam, to name a few.
Last but not least, Chris Rotax has been on
the circuit longest and he’s now beginning to
see more coverage. He might also be the
loudest of the crew, promptly answering any
and all question I threw at him. Regardless
of this, his riding speaks louder than his
words, bringing home podium finishes at the
Center City Jam as well as the Liberty Jam
and furthermore placing him 3rd & best trick
in the 2004 US Open Rail Jam, 3rd at the
Vans Cup Tahoe, and, finally, best trick in
this year’s US Open Rail Jam.
This interview wasn’t really meant to find out
where these kids are coming from, but rather
where they want to go. I figured being that
these are some of the best up-and-come-ers
from the East Coast who still enjoy riding as
a fun with friends, rather than a job, they
might have an interesting perspective on this
sport and “lifestyle” we call snowboarding.
And I believe they do, slightly sheltered so
far on the east, I think you are going to see
their hunger drive them west and hopefully to
become some of the best well-rounded
snowboarders of their time. So, sit back and
enjoy--learn something new as we present
you the VT3.

We know the three of you are all good friends, but have you ever
considered creating some type of dynamic snowboarding super
team? I mean you have the names, Sky, Rotax and Yale…
[All mutually laugh.]
CR: Yeah, never thought about it.
YC: Yeah, never thought about it, but it's a possibility…
SG: Yeah.
So we know the East Coast is hard and the three of you
represent however do any of you have plans on moving west?
CR: East Coast is dope; you learn better here, get tougher riding
here. Stuff out here sucks, but don't get me wrong--some stuff is
good. A couple mountains are good: little stuff, couple of rails. You
get used to less-maintained jumps, and then you go out west and hit
perfect stuff. When you’re used to ice out here, it makes it easier.
I’ll go to Mount Hood in the summer, then hopefully move to Denver
in the fall just ‘cause they have bigger stuff. Here they don't have as
big of jumps; the stuff’s small, but Sugarbush is good to learn on. I
need to hit something bigger.
SG: I like the whole East Coast image thing, East Coast pride, ‘cause
you do hit the really swag sketch icy landing "hucking" your self and
definitely do want to go out west, because I’ve been stuck at
Sugarbush for so long. Sugarbush is a good mountain; the people
there are cool and Will and crew do a good job with the terrain but I
want to hit the bigger stuff. I have a craving going on for some big-
ger terrain. Going out west should be real sick. I went to Whistler,
but I haven’t really experienced it (big mountain riding) yet.
After getting acclimated to bigger mountains, did you start to
see at was possible?
SG: Yeah, definitely--as well as watching the videos and seeing what
could be done, instead of hitting jumps here that are this high
[demonstrates with hands at waist high].
YC: Yeah, I’m going to Mt. Hood this summer and then planning to
move to Mammoth. I want to go to California with my girlfriend and
Mammoth seems to be the spot. I guess they have pretty dope
parks and I just want to get out of Vermont for a while.
Do you think it’s needed to become the best of the best?
YC: I think it kind of is, just because you can’t hit big jumps here, like
100-foot gaps that are in all the videos. I mean you can get the skill
Photo: Matthew Murray
here, but…
CR: I just want to ride the powder.
SG: Yeah, me too.
CR: Even if I live out west, I’ll always come back east for the contest.
They can have more powder and bigger mountains, but the streets
are just as good, if not better, here. You know the street rails; there
are so many good ones here in Burlington, New York and Boston.
You three seem to be some of the strongest East Coast up-and-
come-ers. Do you attribute this to just working hard and con-
stantly riding, or have any of the previous East Coaster rippers
(gone pro) influenced you? The likes of Leach, Clancy, Powers,
Teter, Westcott… 6:00
CR: I got this movie one time with Leach and Langlois (Bluecouch?)
when they weren't really that big then, but they were what we’re
going to be (coming up). As well I used to see Travis Kennedy rid-
ing at Stowe and “the Bush” growing up.
YC: Yeah, they influenced me just ‘cause I rode with them a bit and
now I see them doing bigger things. At the open 5 or 6 years ago, I
saw Colin Langlois win the big air and I didn’t know who he was (at
the time), but he was a Vermont kid and then I started to see him in
videos and stuff. So (they have) definitely (been) a big influence.
SG: They definitely influence me now, but I’m a bit younger than Chris
and Yale so I didn’t grow up riding with them. Up until recently, I was
just riding; I wasn’t even involved in the whole life style. Just in the
past two years, I’ve gotten into the whole life style, watching videos
every day.
How did you initially get sponsored? Did you come to them or
did they come to you? Furthermore Sky, where the hell did you
come from? Next thing we knew, you were on the podium
standing next to these two?
CR: Bolton!
SG: These two helped me out a lot, just riding with Yale and Chris.
I’ve always looked up to them. I started winning a lot of local comps
and stuff and Yale was stoking out Copley and Chris was talking
about the Burton squad, then I won the Volcom Peanut Butter and
Rail Jam and the Philly contest. Then this year I did great in the
Center City Jam (Burlington) and it got some people stoked, giving
 Photo: Hailey Kreis

Photo: Matthew Murray

Photo: Hailey Kreis

me recognition, and now people are like, “Oh, Center City dude”.
CR: I used to ride Bolton Valley all the time with my brother Josh and
once in a while they would have contest (little night jams) and this
guy Ryan Field and the rep Chris Copley would come around and
be “stoked” on us. I started winning these contests and was getting
flow from them (Burton) and just worked my way up, starting at the
bottom.
So you never put together a sponsor-me tape?
CR: I always thought about that, how to get hooked, and sponsored,
but they pretty much come to you.
YC: I was riding the couch with a broken leg drinking beer for six
months watching Chris get sponsored. Then the Center City Rail
Jam next year, Chris was telling Ryan and Copley about me, they
saw me there and started to hook me up from that contest.
CR: Now the kid’s winning the open!
I got there a little late due some complications; however, I was
able to catch the finals of the US Open Rail Jam and saw you
two (Yale, Rotax) killing it. The next day we saw Sky dangling in
a tree thirty feet above the half pipe finals. Over all how did all
of you do?
[All laugh.]
CR: I wanted to do the pipe because I pre-qualified, but my ankle has
been hurting, so I decided to do the rail jam and slopestyle. In the
rail jam, I did okay. I wasn't landing most of my tricks, but I went for
best trick and luckily stuck it, winning best trick. However, I didn’t
make the finals for slopestyle.
YC: It was awesome for me, best week in my snowboard career --
making finals for slopestyle and then did rail jam and got second
on Friday night and got 11th overall in slopestyle.
CR: Then got a nasty hangover Saturday Morning…
CR: Sky, he was killing it in the trees!
SG: I was holding the trees down! No, there was a small misunder-
standing. Copley thought I was in and when I saw him he was like,
“Why aren't you in there riding?” kind of deal. But he said next year
definitely. It gives me more time anyway.
I was surprised; I thought I would have seen you up there with
these guys in the rail jam at least.
SG: Nah, I wish. It would be cool, but next year.
Each of you has a different style: Rotax, you’re ghetto fabulous,
Yale, always surrounded by beautiful women, and Sky, we don't
know you that well, but what do you think are some of the best
and worst trends in snowboarding?
YC: Try to make out with as many chicks as possible? I like the
“ghetto fabulous” style; I like my clothes baggy.
SG: I’ll never wear tight pants!
You mean the 80’s ski race look or the man toe (tight jeans) isn’t
in?
[laughs]
CR: Is that what it’s called? I didn’t even know there was a name.
I just like comfortable clothing.
SG: Style is your style, so I don't really like one or the other. If you
have style, you can’t look at it as good or bad.
CR: Like Honky style!
[all agree]
Yale, it has been rumored that your girl has graced the pages of
a certain magazine. I’m clueless--what magazine if any was
this?
YC: Uhhh, she was in Hustler.
Congratulations!
YC:Yeah, thank you.
[Followed by a round of applause]
I know Halsey owes all of you money. Just how much money
does he owe?
[All laugh]
CR: He doesn’t owe me any money yet…
YC: After last night, he owes me his life…
It seems that we see all of you on the podium for rail jams.
Have any of you ventured into other genres of snowboarding?
CR: Oh yeah, I want to do everything, like the open, pipe, slope and
rail. I’ve never even ridden in real powder-- you know-- “catch some
slough”.
YC: I want to be anyway, but it's a little hard to get good at everything
out here.
Photo: Matthew Murray
You are all talented riders and you get to ride rails all the time,
but you don't get to ride big jumps and great pipes every day,
is that why we mainly see you winning rail contest?
SG:Yeah, that’s (the way it is) for me, anyway, because in our back
yards that's all we build is rails and that's all we can do. We can build
jumps at Yale’s, that's like the laboratory, but we can’t practice as
much as we can on rails. There’s no sick cheese wedges or half-
pipes.
CR: There was a sick 15-foot table at Sugarbush today!
Where has snowboarding taken you and where do you want it to
take you?
CR: I want to go to Europe; I haven’t been.
SG: Yeah, definitely I would like to as well.
CR: You just have to build your way up….
YC: Yeah, Vegas at the porn show, Colorado, Utah….
CR: Hopefully, it will get me a job.
Where do you see the future as far as yourselves in th
industry?
SG: The dream is to ride, go pro, get money, and be in the movies.
What happens after that?
SG: That will be me with blown-out knees. I plan to go on to college
after high school so I have a back-up plan.
CR: I just want to be like JP Solberg and Kevin Jones. I want to be
like that to little kids in 5-6 years, something for them to look up to.
This is a cliché question, but what is the best part of
snowboarding?
CR: When you do competitions, when you do well, meeting people
and travelling. The best feeling is landing a perfect trick after push-
ing yourself and accomplishing something.
SG: Definitely all of what Chris said. Travelling for sure, ‘cause even if
I don’t go big with snowboarding I want to travel and it was one of
the main things I like about snowboarding. As well the people that
are involved with the snowboarding industry; they’re all so chill and
open–minded. You don’t meet to many dickheads. Well, maybe a
few, but they’re rare.
Are you sure they were snowboarders?
SG: Exactly, they weren’t. It’s just a lifestyle. I love it.
YC: Just riding with all my friends and having fun. Oh, and the hot
chicks.
CR: I got to get some hot chicks. I see plenty at these contests!
Does snowboarding get you ladies?
CR: Not yet, but maybe, it’s only been two years.
YC: I think it does. I’ve only got one girl from snowboarding but I’ve
been with her ever since.
I was up late one night watching ESPN 27 and saw the world
championships of left-handed arm wrestling. Snowboarding
came on right after and, being scheduled in the same time slots,
would you compare yourselves to pro left-handed wrestlers? Is
it an oddity to popular culture?
CR: I’ll put me in with bull riders. I think it’s bigger than left-handed
arm wrestling, but right handed, I don’t know.
SG: It’s more popular. I can see kids that don't even ride trying to live
the lifestyle. The surfing lifestyle has been marketed lately and I
think snowboarding will go there. When snowboarding first came
out, my impression was that it wasn’t that popular. We were kind of
geeks or punks, but now people that are good are “the shit.”
CR: I think snowboarding today is pretty big with (all the) outside mar-
keting and TV, but it won’t ever be like major league baseball or
NASCAR. Inside the sport, the riding will always get bigger.
Any last words, props or respect?
CR: Thanks to Burton, Anon, Gravis, Nixon, AG, Eastern Boarder,
Red, Jake Burton, all my photographers, friends, family, God, Neil
Corn, Snowboarder Mag, Carbon Magazine, Honky Clothing, and
anyone who has been a help to the industry, as well as any snow-
boarders have influenced me!
YC: My family, girlfriend Liz, Dave Driscoll, Chris Copley and crew,
Ryan Fields, all of my friends, Chris and Josh Rotax, Rebecca @
Gravis, and all of my sponsors.
SG: Chris Gale for showing me the board, Jen my sister, Yale and
Rotax, Mom and Dad, Kielle, my girlfriend, Ben Sullo, Mike Leeuw,
Dylan Dessaurht.
carbon
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 Profile

Text & Photos: Nick Ciotti

Mike Burton (aka Birdie)

Age: 24
Years Boarding: 7 years
Home: Big Bear, CA
Home Mountain: Bear Mountain Resort
Height: 6’ 3”
Weight: 185
Sponsors: Von Zipper, 686, Real Deal Ride
Shop, Secrecy, Red Bull, Mathmatics
Snowboards, Flux, Bear Mountain, Action
Media, and DC (am team).
Stance: Goofy: 24.5 wide (+6° front/- 6º back)
Forward Lean: None
Board: Mathmatics 155cm
Boots: DC
Bindings: Flux
Personal Settings: No edges
Tuning Techniques: No edges
Quote: “Never say Never”
Three Favorite Riders: Mark Frank Montoya,
Danny Kass, and Jussi Oksanen.
NEVER
It seems inevitable with a last name like Burton that you’d
have to be a snowboarder. Although not related in any way to
the infamous Burton Snowboard manufacture, Mike Burton is
determined to make his own identity and mark in today’s
highly competitive snowboard community. Burton, or as some
call him “Birdie,” has gone from a adolescent teen not even
intereste in snowboarding six years ago to one of the
smoothest jibbers on today’s scene. Rumor has it that Burton
originally walked into a Big 5 Sporting Goods bought an
unknown label board, shady bindings and shameful boots
for 200 bones and took a trip to Tahoe where he fell in love
with the sport. Since that original investment, he’s been
knocking on the door of sponsors and is well on his way into
the realm of being a high profile professional snowboarder.

SAY NEVER
The first time I saw this sprocket cat, I was taking hot laps
on the express quad at Mountain High Resort in California,
Burton was rapping and trying to riddle me with all kinds of
lines. But by the end of the lift ride up, and our first ride
through the terrain-park together we acted like long lost
brothers who hadn’t seen each other in years. He had a
genuine nature, willingness to listen and eagerness to learn
every trick, trade and aspect of the sport, and it was obvious
that Burton was going to be more than just some snowboard
statistic on the local mountain resort or a youngster with
a famous snowboard name. After becoming great friends,
I convinced him that he needed to move to a larger resort
town like Mammoth or Big Bear Lake, CA (home of the jib-
ber) if he really wanted to pursue a career in snowboarding.
Acknowledging his options, he quickly moved to the local
mountains, got a park staff job at Bear Mountain Resort
(which didn’t last long) and was shortly taken under the wing
of another local Pro Pat Allen (long time local Pro snow-
boarder/owner of Real Deal Ride Shop). Under PA’s instruc-
tions, Burton would begin to fine-tune his skills, his riding
style and his name.
It’s been three short years since making
Bear Mountain his home resort, since
then he’s instantly gained recognition
for his unprecedented style and enthusi-
asm. After performing highly in such
popular events as the Triple Crown Jib
Jam and the Nixon Jib Fest in 2002 and
2003, Burton stepped up his competitive
efforts for 2004. He began the year
competing in the Las Vegas High
Rollers Rail Jam before taking first
place in a series of events including
Bear Mountain’s Wide Open Night Jib
Jam Thing, The Budweiser Battle for the
Bottle and the Rossignol Shop
Experiment/Slopestyle. Burton has also
spent time filming segments with 411
Video Magazine, Down & Dirty,
Animatics and Bear Mountain’s personal
video projects The Park_The Movie and
No Big Deal.
Mike was recognized for his sound
style and photogene, by Mike McEntire
of Mack Dawg Productions during a pri-
vate film shoot known as the Junkyard
Jibs II at Bear Mountain. Dawg’er invit-
ed Burton to a few of his upcoming
shoots including one at Northstar at
Tahoe, Mt. Hood Meadows, Red Bull
Heavy Metal Rail Jam in Salt Lake City
and Mammoth Mountain (West Coast
Invitational) where Transworld
Snowboarding recognized Burton for
attempting the hardest trick of the night.
Burton’s hard work has landed him a
solid part in Mack Dawg’s film
“Chulksmack” with bonus footage,
editorial in Transworld, Happy
Magazine, Snowboarder, and
Transworld Japan, and he hopes a
good impression has been made with
a possibility of being picked up for the
entire film circuit in the new season.
For the 2005-2006 seasons, Mike
Burton’s strategy is to carry on with his
endless skill development, compete
only in more high profile competitions
like the Block Invitational (a 20 rider
invite put on by Mark Frank Montoya),
Winter-X Games, US Open, Honda
Sessions, Vans Cup, Super Park 10,
travel to Alaska, and film on anything
big that comes his way. Other than this,
Mike “Birdie” Burton plans to persist
building his name through exposure in
additional photo/film shoots and editori-
al, which I know I’ll be a part of starting
with this one.

The Adio Atlantic City Pro/Am Surf Series Finale
September 3rd, 2005
Delaware Avenue, Atlantic City, NJ
Conditions: 3’ to 5’ off/sideshore surf, sunny skies
Event #4 Winner: Matt Keenan
Circuit Champion: Sam Hammer
The Adio Atlantic City Pro/Am Surf Series was a
concept borne out of respect for the local East Coast surf-
ing community. Long we’ve heard the cries of re-birthing
the ASP East and after many months of contemplating,
we jumped in head first and took the steps necessary to
get the ball rolling. After four contests held in good to
phenomenal conditions, we can say with confidence that
MATT KEENAN
LUCAS RODGERS
ALL PHOTOS SEAN BRADY
the series and the concept was a resounding success.
First, let me explain the premise: we wanted a
contest that could be held in a day in order to showcase
the potentially great, albeit fickle conditions of our
Atlantic City home; generally speaking those that are
born from several days of miserable on-shore victory at
sea, followed by a rapidly dwindling though perfectly
groomed offshore experience; the typical wave-cycle
here. Given that, the trick was to open a swell window of
roughly ten days and keep everyone on notice. Now, any-
one’s who’s ever run a surf contest or competed in one
knows that this is no small feat. Second, try explaining
the above to the non-endemic sponsors that are usually
the meal ticket for these sorts of endeavors. Then, have it
take place in an area of the country that generally no one
gives a shit about and you’ve got a tremendous set of
obstacles to overcome. The sales pitch given, and taken
by the true visionaries, is recognizing the potential of the
scene here and getting behind a concept that they know
SAM HAMMER SAM HAMMER, MATT KEENAN, LUCAS RODGERS, BRYAN HEWITSON
BRYAN HEWITSON
would be good for the future of the region in particular
and the sport in general. First was Zoo York and Hurley,
then Adio stepped up to cover the remaining two events
and capping off what was a monumental year for surfing
on the East Coast and North East in particular. Our loca-
tion sponsor, the House of Blues Atlantic City, certainly
provided a great venue in the Sanctuary Beach Bar where
we did our after contest binging. Our other series-long
sponsors were Surfline, The Law Offices of Tom Forkin,
The Atlantic City Surf Club, Whack Media Design and
Double U Clothing, Land Rover of Cherry Hill, Ocean and
Earth, and Surf Sling.
Contest #1 was held in April after we blew through
our waiting period in March with no surf. Luckily we had
swell opportunity early in the cycle and the contest was
pulled off on the second day of the window. Sam Hammer
finally slaughtered the monkey on his back and pulled out
the victory and went home with $2,000 and the winner’s
points towards the series final standings. It was a great
ALEX PARKER
event with sick surf and everyone was stoked that this
was happening right in their backyard. Rounding out the
final was local hero Dean Randazzo, LBI’s Ben McBrien,
and Virginia Beach magician Lucas Rodgers. Of particu-
lar note was how hard everyone ripped and I think that
was a direct result of the stoke being laid down in solid
surf.
Contest #2 went down in July and was rewarded
with decent surf, but not the best of the series. By all
means it was rideable as well, but it… was… well… July.
Lucky to have any surf at all of noteworthiness, the boys
made the best of it. Water temps were up and everyone’s
pretty stoked on the idea of summer kicking in so it’s
accepted gladly as a kind offering from the surf Gods.
Once again Sam Hammer proved to be unstoppable from
the opening horn, ripping his way to the final and anoth-
er $2,000! Establishing his early dominance of the series,
Sam took a giant step towards securing his position as
event circuit Champion. With a best three-out-of-four for-
 JOHN BARRY
mat, all Sam had to do was place decently in one of the
two remaining contests to almost assure himself the win-
ner’s $1,000 bonus. However, soon-to-be spoiler Randy
Townsend came in a close second, which would prove to
make things very interesting for the upcoming contests.
Third and fourth place went to Kevin Richards and Matt
Keenan respectively.
Contest #3 was an absolute home run in terms of
conditions. Adio couldn’t have scripted a better time to
come on board as the surf was absolutely about as good
ad it gets: Double overhead, offshore, consistent and
PERFECT was the order of the day for nearly ten straight
hours. Randy Townsend took first place and his $2,000
check rounding out a final of Kevin Morris, Kevin
Richards, and Ryan Kimmel.
Finally, our finale. The stage was set for a climac-
tic thriller with several people in contention for the over-
all crown. With Sam Hammer opting out of contest #3 for
an Indo trip and Randy’s winning of that event, it really
CLAY PALIONI
JASON REAGAN
was going to come down to the wire to see who could out-
distance whom for the crown. The surf was a respectable
chest to head high and took place on day 1 of the Action
Expo, where hundreds of the industry’s representatives
and retailers were all present for the semi-annual trade
hopping shenanigans. Great surf and weather prevailed
throughout the day. A solid cast was on hand with repre-
sentatives from through the country. Bryan Hewitson
from Florida, Adam Virs from California were just two of
the sampled competitors on hand. The vibe at this contest
was simply up a notch and everyone was hungry for the
cash, which would go a long way toward a huge night in
the city that’s “Always Turned On!”
In the end it was local boy Matt Keenan who stood
atop the victor’s podium inside the Taj Mahal at the lobby
bar, alongside Bryan Hewitson, Sam Hammer, and Lucas
Rodgers. Keenan’s win had to be a must as Matt surely
had to be counted on as one of the early season favorites
to win one of these events. Bryan Hewitson gave Matt
 RANDY TOWNSEND
LUCAS RODGERS
(and everyone else for that matter) a
super strong run for his money by
simply DESTROYING every wave
under his board. Hewey surfed super
strong and it’s only a fitting testament
to Matt’s underrated ability that he
wound up on top. I’ve never seen Matt
surf better than he did in that final,
proving to everyone (and maybe most
importantly to himself), that he is
indeed in a preeminent class of tal-
ent. Sam Hammer ripped hard, but
seemed to peak in his semi and found
the fickle conditions of the final for
once working against him. While I
think Sam will still be the man to beat
for a while here on the local scene,
this day just wasn’t his. Finally, there
was Lucas Rodgers, the solid VB
ROB KELLY
surfer who wowwed beachgoers and
competitors alike for the entire series
with huge gaffs, airs, tail slides and
just overall strong old- and new-
school surfing alike.
So, the stage is set for year 2.
It’s going to be a monumental leap
forward for surfing in this region. The
Atlantic City ProAm Surf Series will
likely see an increase in both the
number of contests being held and
also the prize money being distrib-
uted. For information about either
competing in the series, or sponsor-
ing it, please contact Mike Fry at
mfry@dv8mediagroup.com or call
(609) 927-7500. Have a great Holiday
and thanks for the support this year-
we couldn’t have done it without ya!
September 6-8,
2005

Taj Mahal Hotel and

Casino
Atlantic City, NJ

The ACtion EXpo, produced by DV8 Media

Group and hosted by Carbon Magazine is much like
many other trade shows out there, albeit smaller.
We’re similar in that we have the typical booth setup depend
with many of the same exhibitors and retailers in on it.
attendance. That standard ‘dread’ of the show is most
likely present as well. But that’s where it hopefully The Action EXpo
ends as we do our damnedest to pull that anxiety out was first held five miles
of the equation;keeping prices down, the vibe up, and south of AC at the Ocean
the party going all night long. City Music Pier with 50 some
odd booths juts a few years ago.
About five or six years ago, ASR pulled out of the Today, we’ve grown beyond the Music
Atlantic City market. We never fully understood why Pier, to the larger confines and party-friendly
although I’m sure it had to do with the fact that the atmosphere of Atlantic City. What we’ve found is
show just wasn’t “big” in comparison to others. We on world-class trade show facilities and partying that
the other hand have always tried to focus on the will eventually accommodate a huge action sports
integrity of the project first, identifying and catering industry trade show scene.
to the needs of our endemic supporters, THEN moving
on to the non-endemic fatkat corpo wallets. In the This year’s show was a major step in that direction.
meantime, we proceed to produce great little grass- Over 100 booths came together in the beautiful
roots gatherings that provide a minimal platform of Grand Ballroom at the Taj Mahal Hotel and Casino,
support for the region and the reps and shops that
rais-
ing the
bar as far as
being the best
regional trade show in
the country. Located right
on the beach in the midst of
phenomenal swell. Local regional,
and national attendees alike were treat-
ed to the best that the area has to offer.
Perfectly groomed waves, sunny warm skies,
and exciting night life, all within walking distance
made this a show something that you’d be hard
pressed to find ANYWERE else! room
to stretch
After the usual day-long talkathon, the crew out and get
unwound at the posh private VIP Foundation Room cozy. If it hadn’t
of the newly completed AC House of Blues. For sever- been a full moon out-
al hours, we partied rock-star style in the exclusive, side, we still wouldn’t
uber-hip setting, complete with tapestried walls, have been surprised at the
Kama Sutra wood carvings, secluded little hideaways amp level inside. The following
(where more than a few were surely tempted to test morning required Advil… in a big way.
the limits of the city’s new slogan ‘Always Turned
On’). It was a happy hour on steroids that’s sure to All told, the Action EXpo was a huge success.
be repeated at next March’s show. If you didn’t make it this time, you’re going to want
to be here for the next one, which will go down in
From the Foundation Room, we were whisked early March of 2006. For information, please call
upstairs to Club Worship, the new nightclub at the (609) 927-7500, e-mail Mike Fry at mfry@dv8media-
House of Blues. Three levels of music, lighting, and group.com, or log onto www.dv8mediagroup.com
bars greeted several hundred thirsty patrons for a where sign-up information will be posted.
rocking good time that lasted well into the wee hours See you there!
of the morning. The couchy setting provided ample