Ultra Rare: The Famous SWB Hoodie

Somewhere, USA (Shred White and Blue)—We started out with hoodies because we figured it was the one thing that surfers, skiers and paddlers would regularly wear; everybody with them on right after the beach, or the skiing, or especially in the morning before it’s started, when you’re freezing your ass off somewhere.

But they were really expensive to make. And the fact that they were made in Vietnam wasn’t really part of our business model.

But they sold out in the first week, too. And we got photos back from some of you skiing along the Rockies, from Monarch to Whistler, Crystal Mountain, Washington, and even from Switzerland, where some lucky Schnitz was doing the schuss and strudel. And we got urban sightings from Boston College, the mean streets of Vermont and the friendly bars of Montreal.

So right now we’re kind of looking for new ideas. Like, where to make the next generation of hoodies, basically.

If you’ve got a suggestion, let us know.

If you’re a U.S. apparel manufacturer with sustainable business practices, then give us a call.

And if you scored one of those first generation hoodies, then send us a photo! We’d love to know where it is now.

POW – Protect Our Winters Sunday Shout Out

Global Snowfall (Shred White and Blue)—Just wanted to give the first official Shred White and Blue Sunday Shout Out to big mountain snowboarder Jeremy Jones’ own Protect Our Winters (POW) environmental action campaign.

There have been a lot of good marriages between action sports and the environment of late, from the OE (original environmentalist) template of the Surfrider Foundation to the mossy snow feel of the footage from Sweetgrass Productions latest films. Like them, what I like best about POW is that they are all staying so close to their grassroots.

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Shred Salute: Disabled Vets Get Fresh Waves

Malibu Beach, Calif. (Shred White and Blue)—I can’t think of anything more appropriate to post on this site for the 4th of July than a link to an organization that helps real American heroes go surfing.

Founded in 2006, Operation Amped gets veterans wounded in the service of our country a hand up hitting the waves again (on those very same beaches that they sacrificed to keep free for the rest of us, I might add).

Really cool. Check out some of the events, and give these guys some love. Visit Operation Amped.

Happy Birthday America!

Photo: Operation Amped

Shred 4 Cred: Your South American Snowboard Class

Bariloche, Argentina (Shred White and Blue) — Unbelievable – you can actually shred for classroom credit this summer!

The crew at South American Snow Sessions (SASS) has partnered with Sierra Nevada College to offer a full on-snow curriculum of cool courses from Introduction to Ski Business, Principles of Outdoor Leadership, Map and Compass, Snowboarding and Downhill Skiing in the southern hemisphere beginning in July.

All the courses offer fully transferable college credits. For real. And according to the Sierra Nevada College website, all this higher learning has still kept a firm focus on the perfecting the art of the turn: “Our academic program on the SASS campus is designed to work around the typical ski day. We expect that our students will also be taking full advantage of the Patagonian slopes, so all courses are offered in the late afternoon.”

SASS built their beautiful campus near the Cerro Cathedral Snow Resort. And students who enroll in SNC courses will automatically co-enroll in the full-service SASS camp experience, which will provide them with room and board, transportation, winter sport coaching and cultural activities in the fantastic Argentinean Andes mountains and the Bariloche area.

Here’s a quick look at the remaining dates and sessions

• Session 1: July 17-August 2, 2009
• Session 2: August 1-August 15, 2009
• Session 3: August 15-August 29, 2009

So sweet that it begs the question of what’s next? A graduate degree in video games?

 Check out SASS and Sierra Nevada College.

Jessica Alba’s Sweet Spot for Sharks

ALL THE WORLD’S OCEANS (Shred White and Blue) — I’m not sure what I feel more defenseless against, a great white shark, or Jessica Alba’s smile.

Put them both together, in Oklahoma of all places, and I become even more confused. But it seems that the fan-cute-tastic Miss Alba has become a big supporter of the shark fin hunt protesting White Mike campaign. She was apparently doing some business in middle America, decided to moonlight by plastering copies of the enviro-fanged White Mike poster (talk about hands on!) over some other charity media, and got accused of vandalism.

She apologized. Paid a fine. And got tons more publicity about how despite our already epically grotesque human wastefulness, with the continuing stupidity of things like shark fin hunts, we only continue to accelerate our collective loss of mind.

I dig this lady more all the time.

In honor of Miss Alba, and this totally stupid practice, here are some sobering scoops from the fine folks at the White Mike campaign. Don’t look away now, weenie, because this is happening right now, in your lifetime: (and check out White Mike himself).

“The reason is that illegal shark fin hunting affects the people of Oklahoma. It affects us all.”

As the apex predator of the oceans, sharks have evolved over millions of years to manage the immensely complex and fragile ecosystems of the ocean kingdom.

The largest study ever done on marine ecosystems has proven that when sharks disappear a deadly domino effect is triggered in the food chain, ultimately resulting in the collapse of the coral reefs, the spawning ground for the fish we (and other species) depend upon. With the growing demand for shark fins, shark populations have been decimated. By some estimates, over 90% of the shark population has been lost in the last 30 years. This year an estimated 100 million sharks will be killed, a mortality rate which will almost certainly end in the extinction of the species.

Check out more at the Humane Society.

Read about shark fin hunting via the BBC.

Read a first hand account from the filmmaker of Sharkwater.

Rider Down: The Electric Surf of Bob Bogle

LOS ANGELES (Shred White and Blue) — No sport other than surfing has its very own music – not skating, snowboarding or even skiing unless you count reggae, and can somehow make an inseparable match for mystic Jamaican rhythms and snow-covered mountains in your mind.

But surfing? Man, that certain clean twang of guitar and snare snap of drums can conjure up the blue waves and bright sunshine every time.

Guitarist Bob Bogle helped create that sound. Bogle, who died on June 14, at the age of 75, was a founding member of the Ventures, whose tightly paced instrumental masterpieces such as “Walk, Don’t Run,” “Hawaii Five-O,” and even their cover of the Surfaris legendary “Wipeout,” set the template for surf music in the 1960s.

John Fogerty (of Creedence Clearwater Revival) called them “the most popular instrumental rock and roll band of all time,” just last year when the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

As for Fogerty’s own two degrees of surf separation? That’s CCR’s Susie Q that the two Playboy bunnies are dancing to in Apocalypse Now, shortly after “Lance” and Robert Duvall grab a quick session amidst the smell of napalm.

Here are two quick YouTube clips of Bogle’s immense contribution to the stoke. Every time the needle hits the wax, he makes you feel paddling.

Thanks, man.

Walk Don’t Run

Wipeout

The SWB Sticker: Let Your Shred Flag Fly

Action Sports Americana (Shred White and Blue)-We wanted to give the original SWB sticker that old school icon feel, but with the united symbolism of the intertwined existence of rain, surf and snow. Whatever medium you ride, gravity, swell or tide, we hope you think it looks cool, too.

Put it on your bike, your board, or your laptop. Put it on the bumper of your car, and hopefully it can serve as a badge along your travels, an acknowledgement of the environment, art and inspiration that we all share.

Thanks very much for your support. Sticker prices: $1.25 per sticker, or 8 stickers for $5! (both prices include shipping in the U.S.).

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