ACTION SPORT PHOTOGRAPHER

ACTION SPORT PHOTOGRAPHER & CREATOR OF THE WORLD HELI CHALLENGE, TONY HARRINGTON, OFFERS A WORKSHOP TO NZ’S CREATIVE COMMUNITY

New Zealand, 11th July 2011 – Legend Tony Harrington teams up with YOOBEE to share tips on shooting the most extreme elements of the surf and snow lifestyle.

Tony ‘Harrow’ Harrington has shot some of the most adventurous and extreme elements of surf, snow and its lifestyle around theworld for more than 25 years. More than a photographer, Harro creates and produces major adventure projects that have featured in media around the globe. As testament to his skill, dedication and passion he has garnered more than 150 covers and numerous global awards.

While in New Zealand for the World Heli Challenge, which he founded, Tony has joined forces with Apple and YOOBEE to bring the creativecommunity a workshop on digital photography. In the workshop he will focus on how to capture the moment and the impact mobile and social technologies have made on the photography scene.

“New Zealand is home to my major project, the World Heli Challenge, and to the Pro Photo and Pro Filmer shootout that plays a part in the capture of this epic festival. I am excited to be able to share some of my experiences with other people who are as passionate about this as I am,” said Harrington.

Richard Webb, CEO of YOOBEE, said: “The impact that mobile and social technologies have made on the world of photography has been game-changing. At YOOBEE we understand that technology is a means to a creative end and it is great to be able to partner with someone as esteemed in his field as Tony. The members of our YOOBEE Community are passionate about what they do and appreciate the opportunity to learn from someone of his caliber.”

Adventure & extreme sports photography workshop:

Date: Tuesday 19 July

Time: 6.00pm – 8.00pm

Venue: YOOBEE Newmarket, 123 Broadway Newmarket, Auckland

Guests must register at www.yoobee.com

Manufacturing Stoke documentary

Manufacturing Stoke is a brand new documentary that examines one of surfing’s greatest paradox: no other sport is so intrinsically linked to nature, and yet a majority of the materials used are environmentally toxic.

misfit pictures presents…

For more information, www.manufacturingstoke.com

contact: misfitpic at hotmail dot com
PMK

Snowboarding Slopestyle Added To 2014 Olympics

While most of the fireworks going off last night were for the Fourth of July holiday, there were a few select ones getting lit following the announcement yesterday by the International Olympic Committe (IOC) that men’s and women’s slopestyle snowboarding and skiing will be included in the 2014 Socchi Winter Olympic Games. Also added were snowboard parallel special slalom (men and women).

Despite the ratings of snowboarding halfpipe in the 2010 Vancouver Games and a statement by media-wunderkind Shaun White that he would compete if the event were added,the IOC originally tabled the decision to include slopestyle in 2014 this April, saying it needed to further study the feasibility of adding the events.

But that all was set aside yesterday in Durban, South Africa with the following proclamation by IOC President Jacques Rogge: “We are very pleased with the addition of ski and snowboard slopestyle and snowboard special slalom in the Olympic Winter Games programme. Such events provide great entertainment for the spectators and add further youthful appeal to our already action-packed lineup of Olympic winter sports. We look forward to welcoming all the athletes to Sochi in 2014.”

Members of the USSA see this as a huge opportunity to grow the sport in the more accessible category of slopestyle: “The IOC’s decision to add slopestyle to the Olympics recognizes the millions of youth who are already participating in the sport in terrain parks around the world,” said USSA President and CEO Bill Marolt. “It will have a very positive impact on the sport including our U.S. Snowboarding and U.S. Freeskiing programs.”

“Slopestyle skiing and snowboarding are already bringing scale to our industry worldwide,” adds USSA’s Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer Andrew Judelson. “The IOC’s recognition of slopestyle is great for our sport and partners like The North Face in freeskiing and Burton in snowboarding who have also seen the youthful interest in the sports. We look forward to leveraging these new Olympic disciplines to engage consumers, drive growth and fund our athletes Olympic dreams.”

While snowboarding’s inclusion in the Olympics has had a controversial history within the core community since halfpipe was first added to the 1998 Nagano Games for the way it presents riding to the world at large, efforts by theTTR to work with the FIS on scoring should mitigate some of this and contest organizers are already expressing their excitement: “It’s great news for the sport and for the athletes, who will have the chance to enjoy more limelight,” explained Patrick Bernier, one of the founders and organizers of the Ride Shakedown. “Year after year, slopestyle attracts a growing fan following. We see it in the amateur round of our competition and in the snow parks.”

However, the nuts and bolts of the task force being organized between the two organizations leave a lot of questions open about how much say TTR will have in the actual regulation at day’s end. In an article by Matt Barr on TWSNOWhe calls into serious question whether the task force will be anything more than lip service and that events outside the FIS’s scope will be included in the Olympic qualification process: An even less generous interpretation is that, if the decision to include, say, a TTR event is to be made by a FIS committee (and not the collaborative Task Force) at the essential expense of a FIS event, this is extremely unlikely to happen. After all, I’m pretty sure no turkey ever willingly voted for Thanksgiving.

Regardless, slopestyle riders see this as a positive move in general at first blush: “I think it will do a lot for the sport. It’s a great opportunity for me and other riders,” said pro Sébastien Toutant, one of the world’s best slopestyle riders. Chas Guldemond, who was recently added to the TTR board of directors and has been instrumental in founding We Are Snowboarding, an organization dedicated to supporting pros and the image of the sport says: “It is so great to finally hear that slopestyle will be included in the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games. It is an honor that the IOC feels our sport is worthy and I cannot wait to be able to try my best to bring home a medal for my country. The Olympic Games are the ultimate dream for any athlete. I know that the viewers will not be disappointed with the show that we will put on for them in 2014. This is history in the making for our sport and I am stoked to have the opportunity to be a part of it.”

The IOC also announced that it is considering adding wakeboarding for the 2020 Games.

Changing The Game: Austria’s Elan Snowboard Factory

One thing is starkly obvious when driving into Austria from neighboring countries such as Germany and Switzerland, not to mention Italy and Slovenia; as soon as you cross the border, even when it’s not marked, it’s obvious that a shift has taken place. The designs of buildings and roadways are cleaner, everything has a sense of purpose built in, and even the old structures look new. This is a land deeply rooted in design, efficiency, and alpine sports.

Throughout the history of snowboarding, perhaps the single biggest claim to fame of the country is the quality of the boards produced there and the fact that the majority of the best-made boards have come from Austrian factories. One of the biggest reasons for this reputation was shaped and molded in a small town called Furnitz, at the Elan Snowboard Factory.

Drawing on a long history of ski technology, the Elan Snowboard Factory began pressing boards in 1987 and has evolved into the world’s largest OEM, snowboard-only factory, building nearly a quarter of a million decks last season. Partners of the Elan Snowboard Factory currently include Capita, Arbor, Rome, Bataleon, Nitro, Elan, Lobster, Artec, Dinosaurs Will Die, Academy, Allian, and Amplid, amongst other smaller brands.

We recently had the chance to tour the factory with industry veteran, Canadian rock star and head of Elan’s market development John Colvin, along with Arbor Snowboard Product Manager Matt Patti, to see first hand how the Austrian design ethic and passion for shred have been melded seamlessly into a sandwich construction of quality, efficiency, and environmental ethos, creating a finished product that is a work of art.

Run as a separate entity from its ski production parent company in Slovenia, the Elan Snowboard Factory is striking-not just because you could eat Schnitzel off its floors- but also because of its people. The front end of the house is comprised of an international cast that all ride. With two mountains visible on either side of the picturesque Austrian valley they call home, the Elan crew clearly get it. They’re on the snow testing product all winter and take pride in their “Made in the Alps” motto.

Under New Management

Behind the product lies a long story of continual improvement, lean manufacturing, and process overhauls that has taken the company from an economic precipice just a few short years ago to regaining its place as a thriving mainstay of the local economy and the global snowboard community.

Elan’s factory houses a family vibe under its roof-in fact, many of its 160 employees have been with the company for nearly 2 decades, and the company’s father figure is a baby-faced Michael Kollmann, who began his Elan tenure in the maintenance department at 16, became product manager at 23, and is now CEO at 36.

“Michael saw right away that if he is going to make a run as a serious production he was going to have to change the way the work was being done as far as quality and efficiency,” explains Colvin. “But he was working against guys who had been doing the work longer than he had been alive. He slowly moved things a little at a time. Instead of a guy needing to go across the room to get something, all of a sudden the edges were over here. A couple days later the sidewalls were over here and that guy went from making 48 to 65 boards a day without taking notice”

The factory can now produce as many as 1,900 boards per day using a variety of production methods, including four completely different construction types, on presses, molds, and art production machines dreamed up and built in house. This focus on efficiency, engineering excellence, environmental responsibility, and a build-it-yourself ethos has helped Elan reduce the energy needed to make its boards by 55 percent, and cut down time spent producing a board by more than 50 percent.

Changing The Game

Another huge game changer in Elan’s revitalization, which has helped to spur brands such as Arbor and Bataleon to shift their entire productions to their factory has been the development of its Wood Derivative Technology (WDT). This construction uses a low density composite material that incorporates 20 percent spruce tree sawdust particle that is leftover from the timber production industry to increase the strength and reduce the weight associated with traditional composite constructions. WDT now accounts for nearly forty percent of the boards now produced at Elan.

“What it has allowed us to do is provide a construction technique to the industry at the $329-349 price point that is super flexible and really durable – the absolute perfect technology for jib specific decks,” explains Colvin. “That’s the price point where jib boards need to be. It allows our partners to be competitive in that area but still have a killer construction they can rely on. Mold for mold they’re equivalent to a sandwich construction in terms of durability and weight. It’s given us and our partners a serious contender in the jib style riding category.”

As with all of Elan’s constructions, WDT also offers solid environmental benefits including incorporating sustainably forested woods into the traditional chemical soup of composite constructions. Elan uses Forest Stewardship Council certified woods and doesn’t use epoxy in any of its constructions. It has even developed its own gluing material called Envirobond which is Epoxy Free, comprised of 60% renewable agricultural materials, uses no water and leaves very little waste during it’s production cycle, and produces no waste or greenhouse emissions during the production of snowboards. They also use some bio top sheets, 60% recycled steel edges, and computer controls that standardize the bonding agent amounts to minimize waste and achieve consistency in each board in regards to weight and flex specs.

Elan’s technical developments are far from behind the scenes on the graphics front. A mere five years ago the company bought its first large-format printer, now they boast seven. Perhaps the coolest technology they’ve developed is their  Pure Liquid Technology ( PLT ) that finishes the boards with a high gloss finish, reduces weight by 80% over traditional coating or spraying systems, and eliminates cracking that often accompanies a traditional clear coated board. But even cooler are the applications that are possible because of the PLT  Machine. These can include incorporating materials such as leathers, woods, virtually any fabrics, metals, etc by way of seemless topsheet diecutting.

As our thoughts turn to skating and surfing here in the States, the folks at Elan are hitting their busiest season of the year, cranking out decks to grace retailers’ floors next season, and after seeing what’s going into and onto these boards, we’re betting it’s going to be the best season yet.

Liquid Image – Impact Series HD Camera MX Goggle

Liquid Image has integrated an HD camera into their goggle designs to allow riders to get full POV footage while they ride without having to wear extra equipment. Read below for a description of the Impact Series HD MX Goggle, as well as a general product overview highlighting some key aspects of the products.

MPACT SERIES HD – VIDEO CAMERA MX GOGGLE

The Liquid Image Impact Series HD is a motocross/off-road goggle with an integrated HD camera for True POV™ footage. The goggle contains a 136 degree (full field of view) wide angle lens to capture all the action while riding Motocross, ATV or Downhill Biking. The hands free unit has a 5.0 MP (2560 x 1920) camera mode and a video mode that records HD720P video (1280×720) at a rate up to 30 frames per second with audio. The Impact Series HD can hold a Micro SD/SDHC Card up to 32 GB. Product includes a 4GB Micro SDHC card.  With the use of a micro SD/SDHC card, the camera is capable of recording thousands of photos or hours of HD video. Files may be downloaded to a computer through the High Speed USB/RCA cable provided, or through a Micro SD/SDHC card.

Video Goggle – Product Overview

Liquid Image Video Goggles have an integrated camera set just above the eyes to record True POV™ video hands free on the go. They are amazingly easy to use. A simple two button system switches the camera between Video Mode and Photo Mode. The Shutter button records a file. There are no mounts, tools or set up time required. Just load the batteries and memory card, adjust the head strap to fit and go. Capturing high speed adventures in HD has never been easier. Liquid Image Video Goggles are available for Snow Sports, Off-road Sports and Scuba Diving.

The line began in 2008 with the Explorer Series Camera Mask; a model designed for snorkeling and free diving to 15 feet. The concept was to create a hands free camera for use while in the water. Strapping a camera to the wrist or to a wet suit was not a great solution, but it was the only option available at the time. Embedding a camera into a mask, resulted in a camera that was in place ready to record when a fish came into view. This made it easier to get the shot as it happened in the water. Positioning the camera just above the eyes made the field of view similar to a person’s field of view. This meant a Camera Mask user could stop looking at the back of the camera and start to enjoy the adventure again. The functions were limited in the camera to Video or Photo Mode so that less time was spent making adjustments and fewer mistakes could be made on the go.

The initial product was such a success worldwide, that the concept was expanded to other sports including Scuba Diving, Snow Sports, and Off-road sports. The quality of the camera components has also been improved to record HD video with audio. Accessories for lighting and color correction were added to meet the demands of a more professional market. The customer base of Liquid Image now ranges from amateur athlete and photographer to professional level. Due to consumer demand future camera models are in development for paintball, skydiving and more.

Model 365 Impact Series Black Shadow

KEY FEATURES

Key product features and how Liquid Image Video Goggles and Camera masks are different from other Action Cameras and Helmet cameras.

1. We have an internal LED light positioned just above the eye inside the goggle to indicate the product is in video mode and recording. (see video below). Most people report that it is hard to know when a Helmet Camera is on or recording.

2. Our Video Goggles capture line of sight footage. The wide angle lens utilized in our latest models is positioned just above the eyes and in the center. The lens angle is wider than your eyes, so it captures everything you see plus a little more. There is no need to specially position the product or guess where you are aiming. Our product is True POV™, because it records what you are seeing from your point of view, as opposed to other action cameras which are mounted on the top or on the side of a helmet, on the chest, a pole or a handle bar.

3. Our goggle can’t get knocked off by trees or shake loose and fall off while riding (both of which many people have reported with the helmet cameras).

4. Ready to go when you buy it. The HD Video Goggles comes with a 4GB micro SD Card, and the battery is 3/4 charged. Our Scuba Masks come with 4xAAA batteries and a 4GB micro SD Card. You just have to insert the card and the batteries, and then adjust the strap to your head or to your helmet and go!

PRIMARY CUSTOMER BASE

Consumers use the goggles to capture memories and to share videos and photos with friends from vacation activities and off-road adventures.

Athletes post videos and photos of competitions and tricks online. The goggles are great for promoting an athlete to their fan base.

Coaches and instructors use them for training purposes; Record footage of a track before a race, and then review before a competition. Show a student how to perform a skill or point out what they did incorrectly.

Online US Retailer Of The Year, Dogfunk

The online retail world is flooded with competition from every corner of the globe. In this game, you’re up against Amazon, eBay, Zappos, and a myriad of other huge players with bottomless pockets. Yet in this cutthroat world, Dogfunk.com has managed to create a community of shreds online by offering great customer service, excellent selection,  competitive prices, and a business model that recently earned the store its second straight  as voted on by brands and reps.

Launched in 2005 by parent company Backcountry Corporation, Dogfunk.com exclusively focuses on snowboarding gear, accessories, and clothing from top and up-and-coming brands and strives to differentiate itself based on customer service. We caught up with Dogfunk Director of Merchandising Karen Craig to learn how they’re staying ahead of the curve.

How has the action sports online retail marketplace evolved over the last several years?

In just the past two seasons we’ve seen the snowboard industry refocus on full-price opportunity and new product hype momentum. In 2008, there was an abundance of product in the market and retailers were slinging product out at discount and low margin. Retailers were competing solely on price instead of creative messaging or customer loyalty programs. The customer could expect to find current season product at discount as early as November. We saw this turn around at the tail end of 2009 and we’ve seen a very healthy in-season business so far in 2010. Major brands are taking control of their brand image again and re-emphasizing the importance of local community. It’s all a ripple effect. We can literally see customers’ excitement for new product through their positive response to our new product messaging. We’re seeing increased sales and profits as well.

How are things looking this winter? I understand that Dogfunk has been one of the strongest sites at Backcountry?

Dogfunk.com is doing very well.

How do you differentiate yourself based on customer service online?

On Dogfunk.com, there is a huge emphasis on the customer and their personal input on the products we sell. Through our on-site community, customers can educate each other and share product stories through reviews, images, video, and questions and answers. This experience differentiates us from other online retailers and provides a big value to our customers.

Our community is just one part of our plan to provide a customer-focused experience. We make an effort to listen to customer feedback and to seek out future trends to assure we deliver the products the customers want. We offer the widest selection of product, access to gear knowledge from our Community, outstanding customer service, and fast, efficient delivery.

What categories and brands have been the most successful for you this season?

We’ve seen a rebound in our top-brand business this season, as well as a significant increase in consumer interest in boards/boots/bindings as early as August. In the world of apparel, there’s a lot of interest in street-style technical flannel, like Analog’s new ATF collection.

We’ve seen a huge increase in demand for many small to mid-sized brands such as Nomis, Airblaster, Technine, Analog, Insight, and Nike 6.0. These brands or collections offer something different and unique to the customer’s individuality and they have been continuously sought after this season.

Why do you think your brand partners nominated you for this award?

This is like being a middle-aged woman and asking someone to guess your age.

What’s the most rewarding thing about working with your brands and customers?

We are fortunate to share and participate in our common, life-long passions with our brands and customers. It’s not a job; it’s a lifestyle.

What were the biggest highlights and lowlights of 2010?

Highlight: Retailers are maintaining price this season so we are all on a level playing field. Brands simply stopped selling to retailers who persistently devalued their brand in the marketplace via price competition in 2009

Highlight: Strong hard good sales in 2010 prove that the sport of snowboarding continues to grow and gain customer interest and has not hit the plateau that people worried about in 2009.

Highlight: We are no longer in an inventory hangover from 2008/2009.

Lowlight: Factory and production issues in China caused a few brand and product delivery delays this past fall. This continues to be a concern as we approach the Spring 2011 season and we are doing everything in our control to monitor and manage our receipt expectations for the season to come.

What are your predictions for 2011?

I think we’ll see success with current-season product promotions and an increased appetite for unique brands. For Dogfunk.com in particular, I expect to see continued growth in key categories as well as new category offerings for 2011.

Tahoe’s Record Snowfalls—The Pros And Cons Of An Epic Winter

Words by Agatha Wasilewska

Resorts and their marketers dream of big dumps and lots of them to befall their mountains; the press is fabulous and it brings the crowds out in droves and makes for fantastic photo opps. This year the ski areas around Lake Tahoe must have been praying extra hard because they got more than anyone could have imagined or bargained for.  As the season winds down and the mountains start closing, Transworld Business thought it would be interesting to pay Tahoe a visit and find out how this record breaking snow season has affected the resorts and local retailers from both the good and bad sides of the fence.

Lake Tahoe is perfectly situated to attract the San Francisco Bay area crowd and keep a steady stream of visitors from far and away coming to this unique ski destination. With so many resorts, all of which set record breaking snowfall amounts this year despite a drought-ridden January, at such close proximity to each other, the competition for customer loyalty is steep, and each resort has uniquely branded itself with that in mind.

Here is an overview of a selection of resorts we visited and their reflections on how the season went down.

Northstar-at-Tahoe

Total snowfall:

666 inches. (The season average is 350 inches)

Vail Resorts newest acquisition, Northstar-at-Tahoe received its most snow in the past quarter century. Northstar -at-Tahoe faired well throughout the storms, Communications Manager, Jessica VanPernis states, “Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort and the entire Lake Tahoe region experienced an incredibly snowy season – the snowiest in the past 25 years. We ended the season with almost 670 inches, and despite the fact that Tahoe measured storm cycles in feet versus inches all season long, Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort stayed open every day from the start of the season to the end. Our guests benefited from our wind-protected slopes – there wasn’t one day this season when we were closed to the top of the mountain due to wind or snow.”

Not only did the snow not stop opening days, the mountain also managed to juggle guests snowbound travel plans and host a full schedule of events such as stargazing snowshoe tours , Noel Nights in the Village at Northstar, Fire & Ice New Year’s Eve Celebration, The North Face Ski Slopestyle & Superpipe Series , Burton Stash Gathering, TransWorld TransAM and the Oakley Progression Session – Women’s Ski/Snowboard Camp.

Massive snow was not the only thing that was new at the resort. On the mountain, Northstar  expanded the offerings of the Burton Snow Academy, including small group and private snowboard instruction and the Kids’ Ski& Board School are teaching kids as young as 4 years old to shred.

In addition to all the current changes, Vail Resorts has announced that it will invest $30 million in capital projects this summer that will include a new lift on the backside of the mountain, two new ski trails, and a new on-mountain resort restaurant at the top of the Zephyer Express lift. The new restaurant will offer 500 indoor seats and 200 outdoor deck seats for resort guests.

Sierra At Tahoe

Total Snowfall: 763 inches

Sierra is famous for its epic parks that keep snowboarders coming back over and over again. Focused on creating a true lapping playground for snowboarders, the park crew adds new and unique features each week, paying great attention to flow, aesthetic detail, and progression. With so much snow, the backcountry and tree runs were open most of the season and the powder hounds got to enjoy over 48 powder days (days with more than 6″ of fresh snow).  Sierra was able to keep seven terrain parks open most of the year, and the late season photo and video sessions had tons of snow to work with. Overall, it was a big, white, cold, and deep winter.

John Rice, Sierra-at-Tahoe Resort general manager says that all of this snow was a bit of a mixed blessing: “While this season set a record for snowfall with 62 plus feet, it often fell on weekends and holidays making it tough for the big crowds to get here. The price of fuel and the number of hours in snow removal impacted earnings, but on the whole it was a very successful season. With so much snow it was possible for Sierra to have a Thanksgiving opening, over 10 feet of snow on the ground by Christmas, and a Superpipe up and running by early January. So the snow was a big positive at times too.”

With a relaxed yet dedicated vibe that has made this mountain stand apart from the rest, Sierra continued to tweak and change their signature parks this season to accommodate the snow and events. Communications Manger  Stephen Hemphill states; “All the events were a great successes even considering the heavy snow, which caused the Parks crew to completely rebuild the park two times as digging out was not a possibility.”

Highlighted events and photo shoots included The Billabong Flaunt It Finals, Gatorade Free Flow Tour, Red Bull Butter Cup, Volcom PB and Rail Jam, and shoots with Forum Snowboard and Flow Snowboards in the springtime.

Heaveny Mountain Resort

Total Snowfall: 529 inches

Heavenly Mountain Resort, a subsidiary of Vail Resorts, Inc., is located in downtown South Lake Tahoe, melding snow and gambling together. This year brought many changes to Heavenly, along with some challenging conditions.

With all of the snow and the winds, Heavenly had its hands full this season keeping the mountain open and running smoothly counting almost a month of days closed, which even with an epic season affects the bottom line. “In the Sierras, we measure our snowfall in feet, not inches,” says Heavenly’s Elizabeth Latenser. “Heavenly received record-breaking snowfall this year and more than 30 powder days where more than 6 inches fell overnight.  Those big snows often come in extreme weather events that can bring strong winds that impact lift operations.  The good news when lifts aren’t able to run is that a powder day can stretch out into a couple powder days.”

There was also plenty of new amenities for visitors to focus on. In February 2011, Heavenly debuted a spectacular 14,980-square-foot restaurant located at the top of Heavenly’s Gondola that offers 500 indoor seats and 250 outdoor patio seats and is the crown jewel of Heavenly’s major revitalization over the past eight years, which includes new and upgraded lifts, increased snowmaking and grooming, and additional on-mountain amenities.