Fred Pabst was a ski bum

My dog likes cold beer, beer snow cones, pretty much beer anything. No, I’m not the weird guy that gets my dog wasted. She just likes a couple sips when hanging with boys, and who could resist a PBR longneck that sat in the snowbank all night, and erupted into a fountain of slow-moving beer slurpy?

Pabst Blue Ribbon, better known in suds-savoring circles as PBR, is the flagship beer in many mountain roosts (and doghouses), to an almost cliché level. Why? Mostly because it’s cheap; cans pack into the backcountry well (especially if prewrapped in a coozie); and PBR is readily available in most every liquor store or local’s fridge. But it wasn’t until I made some south-facing slush turns at Bromley Ski Area in Manchester, Vermont that I learned the pioneering side of Pabst.

Milwaukee brewer Frederick Pabst founded the beer—Pabst Blue Ribbon. His grandson, also Fred Pabst, was the snow pioneer, an old-school ski bum that started making turns in the early 1900’s, and, after leaving the family brew business, founded a string of ski areas from the Midwest to the Northeast. Including southern Vermont’s Bromley in the mid-30’s, which was picked by Pabst for its south-facing terrain and proximity to a relatively populated area.

I stopped by a couple springs ago while working on a story about Vermont’s Route 100 Corridor—sort of the eastern skier’s superhighway. We hit Bromley around 1 p.m. for a few runs, and the corn was ripe as apples in October. We forgot sunscreen, but remembered the beer. Bromley is, after all, a beer-drinkers mountain, prime for carving down silky, fall-line groomers on a 40-degree day, T-Tops off the hot rod, sunglasses on, and wind blowing through your hair.

Picture that the next time you pop open a PBR. Just keep an eye on your beer, or Kaya might sneak up behind you and score.

South America Bound

Santiago, Chile (Shred White and Blue)—Big storms are breaking down South America way, especially in Portillo, Valle Nevado and La Parva, Chile, where over the past week they’ve been counting the snow by the footload.

So the Shred White and Blue crew is taking a plane to Lima for a midnight changeover, and then to Santiago to see what we can ski. Termas de Chillan is on the menu, (not for the casino, but maybe for the spa), as is Portillo, and Valle Nevado, right next door to where the Subaru World Freeskiing Tour kicks off at La Parva on Sept. 3. (check out www.skipressworld.com for regular updates on that, as well as reports and photos on the trip overall). And please excuse us if we don’t answer your e-mail right away.

In the meantime, here are a couple Foam Bits for you:

How Clean is Your Beach?

Surfside, USA (SWB)—Our beaches are not enjoying the summer at all according to a report from the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Across the country, they posted more than 20,000 closing or advisory days last year – and not because of dangerous waves!

Water quality the culprit, including everything from raw sewage to chemicals to nasty body eating bacteria. The NRDC rated how badly the most popular beaches bit it with a cool interactive feature that you can check out here.

Save the Waves and Mavericks Pitch Cool Tee

Half Moon Bay, Calif. (SWB)—Mavericks Surf Ventures, Inc. (Mavericks) and Save The Waves Coalition announced a special edition t-shirt – made from recycled PET plastic bottles.  The shirt is the result of a multi-year partnership between the two organizations with five dollars from the sale of each shirt going directly to Save The Waves, the non-profit dedicated to the preservation and defense of the world’s surf spots and their surrounding environments. Get one at www.savethewaves.org

Classic Utah Powder Video

Worldwide Web (SWB)—And then there’s this – some absolutely ridiculous old-time ski footage from Alta, Utah. Stein Eriksen is the legend in the flashy space pants. These guys kill it on old school longboards.

//photo by flickr/jcablarca

Mavericks: Where the Legend Meets the Brand

The single name spots that are the legends of U.S. surfing – Waimea, Pipeline, Jaws, Swamis, Rincon – have been building their myths for almost half a century now. And as far as the giants go, a disproportionate gallery of the most massive waves are to be found on Oahu’s North Shore.

So when Mavericks, the massive Northern California break just north of Half Moon Bay, was collectively “discovered” by the surf industry in 1990, it was as if NASA had announced that the earth had a second moon. (Think what that would do to tidal patterns. The mind boggles). The fact that local Jeff Clark had been surfing there by himself since 1975 was like discovering an astronaut already living on that moon.

The freak freight train-sized rollers of “the wave beyond” quickly made their own reputation among surfing’s elite riders. And when iconic Hawaiian wave master Mark Foo was killed the first time he came to surf Mavericks in 1994, the mainstream media painted a picture of a kind of deadly surfing Everest just off the western mainland – an image that still holds.

The truth is somewhere in between, encompassing the singular passion of Clark’s stoic soul pursuit, the deadly realities of competing at the highest level of natural sport, and the absolutely off-the-chart cool factor of something that big breaking off the California coast.

The ensuing contest – heralded as the “Super Bowl” of big wave surfing by Sports Illustrated – was inevitable, and has already been the scene of some of the sport’s most epic showdowns (check out the prep work for this year’s event). The next Mavericks-fueled inspiration was to put a brand behind it. Celebrating something that is part tribal, part mystic pursuit and part edge of your personal limits, we asked Mavericks Surf Ventures CEO Keir Beadling to give us his own explanation of Mavericks colossal sense of “It.”

Shred White and Blue: Talk about how a wave that 99.9 percent of the surf world didn’t know about 20 years ago has so quickly embedded itself in the culture, folklore and identity of surfing.

Keir Beadling: I suspect that it’s a combination of a variety of factors:  First, Mavericks is a remarkable natural phenomenon.  It has existed for tens of thousands of years, and will hopefully exist for tens of thousands more.  In many ways, we’re just passing through.  Second, in a world where so few things are meaningful and “real,” Mavericks is about as authentic and inspirational as it gets.  The gladiators who surf there are calculating extraordinary risks in the blink of an eye, and when they go, it’s full commitment to take on something that almost seems physically impossible.  And I might take your question a bit further, as every day it seems we hear anecdotes that Mavericks as a phenomenon has gone far beyond the sport of surfing itself.  People see Mavericks and think, “If they can drop into that and face it with such courage, what limits can I blow through?”  Folks tell us that experiencing Mavericks has helped them cope with the loss of family members, inspired them to take on second jobs, and even to tattoo our M-Wave logo onto their bodies or name their newborns “Mavericks.”  That’s incredibly humbling stuff, and we’re honored by it. And last, we as a company remain steadfast in our own commitment to what Mavericks stands for—courage, authenticity, respect and integrity—and things like webcasts, broad television distribution, and heavy news media attention over the last few years have really helped Mavericks penetrate the public’s consciousness and spread the Mavericks “gospel.”

SWB: Is there any other pursuit in sports – or sporting competition – that you think compares to surfing Mavericks or The Mavericks Surf Contest?

KB: That’s a great question for Mavericks surfers, but I’ll add my 2 cents.  There are a couple other, pioneering big-wave surfing events that have helped pave the way for us.  I’d like to think, though, that Mavericks is maybe in a class by itself.  It’s hard to think of a sport that offers up the challenges of Mavericks:  freezing water, house-sized rocks, treacherous currents, the occasional visit by, um, large marine life, and waves that have crested with 50+ faces.  The Contest, with its spontaneity, utter dependence upon the good graces of Mother Nature, remarkable feats of athleticism, and big promotional platform—that seems like icing on the cake.  In talking with the guys who surf Mavs, some of them say that Mavericks is awe-inspiring in a way that an iconic place such as Mount Everest is.  But I suppose we won’t know how tight that analogy is until we find someone who has done both.  Maybe someone already has?

SWB: What were the biggest challenges in translating this iconic force of nature into an actual brand?

KB: I actually think that we’ve been given a gift by Mavericks the place.  I say this because the single most valuable aspect of any brand in my view is authenticity.  If it’s not real, well, then you’re facing an uphill battle in building a brand.  But Mavericks inherently offers up such a rich history, every season gives us an opportunity to add a new chapter to the legend, and the amazing human beings that surf there add an accessible, human element—it’s just magic.  Our biggest challenge—and we’re 100% committed to it—is remaining laser-focused on the core values of Mavericks and resisting choices that are just not on-brand for this special thing we have.  For example, we recently launched a real line of Mavericks™ brand apparel, and we’re dedicated to making this available in the core surf shop channel first, and forever.

SWB: How does this translate, or relate, to your environmental mission?

KB: Being environmentally conscientious has been a core part of our little company’s DNA since day one.  We are dependent upon Mother Nature for our very existence.  Ours was the world’s first climate-neutral surf contest a few years back.  More recently, we elected not to extend the waiting period for the last contest season due primarily to the fact that we are just one of thousands of “citizens” that have a stake in the Mavericks ecosystem.  And one of the things of which I’m most proud on this front is the fact that at our 2008 Contest, 50,000 fans produced only 20 bags of trash.  Our dedicated team worked hard to educate visitors about composting, recycling, and landfill.  For the upcoming Contest season, we’ll power our land operations with solar energy—I think that will be a first as well.  I recently cracked open a pretty influential book in this space titled “Cradle to Cradle.”  It offers a stark reminder that every action we take as individuals can have a negative impact on the world in which we live.  That can be pretty intimidating.  But we at Mavericks are committed to thinking seriously about this, taking incremental steps to do our part, and encouraging folks all over the world who care about Mavericks to do the same.

SWB: What has kept the 2009 competition from occurring?

KB: Mother Nature either delivers up contest-worthy swell during the contest window, or she doesn’t.  Our job is to be ready if she graces us with something incredible.  Our contest window last season didn’t match up with Mother Nature, and we fully respect that.  We also have made some modifications going forward so that we’re ready for her earlier than ever before.

SWB: Heading into the fall, what are you most stoked about for the coming season?

KB: I’m stoked that surf shop owners are welcoming our new apparel line with open arms, and that we can finally tell Mavericks fans that they can go to their local shops to pick up our gear.  That has been a long time coming, and it’s a very rewarding experience to see the hard work of our team here paying off.  But I think that perhaps the most exciting development is that—as I’m answering this question—we’re only about 100 days away from the opening of the 09/10 contest season.  We’ll have a ton of exciting pieces to announce as the season approaches, but I’ve got to keep my lips zipped on those for the time being.  In the meantime, www.maverickssurf.com is the best place to stay up-to-date on all things Mavericks.

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// Mavericks Photo by Seth Migdail // Surf and skate photographer Seth Migdail was kind enough to bless us with the absolutely outstanding feature image for this story. For more of his incredible action sports photography, check out his website. And keep reading ShredWhiteandBlue.com for an in-depth look at what kind of eye candy Seth is hoping to find when he packs up his cameras to head for the beach.

The King’s Crown: K2’s Shane McConkey Ski

Seattle (Shred White and Blue) — Big kudos to K2 for introducing the Shane McConkey Ski, with about 500 unique, numbered pairs all to be sold so that the profits can directly benefit McConkey’s widow and daughter.

In classic K2 style, the Shane will have a topsheet celebrating Shane’s oversized personality, all built on a Pontoon chassis. McConkey introduced the Pontoon design in 2004, built on his revolutionary rocker construction, which effectively changed big mountain skiing forever.

Like K2’s Coomba (celebrating the life of off-piste astronaut Doug Coombs), and even the Jerry Garcia ski (nicknamed the ‘Jerry Launcher’) it’ll be interesting to see how many of these you see on the mountains, and how many you see behind somebody’s desk, mint, mounted like the wall art they are.

McConkey died BASE jumping in the Italian Dolomites on March 26, 2009, at the age of 39, but his achievements as an athlete in ski films, as an advocate and architect of the International Freeskiing Association, and as a Chuck Yeager kind of engineer and test pilot made it seem as if he had lived several lives in his short time on the planet.

Check out Matchstick Production’s Claim for some classic McConkey. And see more about the ski at www.k2skis.com

Schofield Pass

Mt. Hood

Surf Foam: The Meyerhoffer, Shark Victims & Nuke the Soup

The Meyerhoffer

Montara, Calif. (Shred White and Blue) — You either love it, or you hate it. But people sure are talking Thomas Meyerhoffer’s new hourglass-shaped surfboard (so much so that Global Surf Industries, the OEM manufacturing the board, report a backlog that stretches to February – and the first run of 1,000 is already sold out!) The New York Times did a very cool quick take on all the hullabaloo – check it out: NY Times

As well this sweet Euro-style Youtube clip (Yeah, for sure!):

Shark Fin Protest From Who?

Seriously, if you’re not absolutely outraged at the whole shark fin soup affront, then I think maybe you just don’t know enough about what’s up. Maybe if I told you that yesterday nine survivors of shark attacks – folks who actually lost limbs to the men in the gray suits – went to Capitol Hill to plead for tougher sanctions on how these magnificently evolved beings are basically murdered every minute (there’s really no other word for it!). Check it out on the L.A. Times homepage: LA Times

Now Dig This

Just heard this mellow new tune from Nuke the Soup off their Ocean Album – the Filled with Dread track off the same set has been getting heavy play here for several months. Check it out in the music section of www.nukethesoup.com. Here are the first four lines of lyrics:

“The ocean is my church
The waves are my religion
I’ll find my way to earth
And not by my precision”

OK, that’s it from Blue. Have an awesome weekend.

That is so 1974 – The Return of Plaid Rock!

Stuck in the ’70s, Colo. (Shred White and Blue) — Mike Horn and I have this dream where we get a 1969 Camaro, convert it to run on vegetable oil, slap some big ass snow tires on it, paint the Shred White and Blue on the hood and go chasing powder this season – non-stop!

It’s kind of our re-imagining of what we figure was one of the absolute highlight eras of ski bumming, with no traffic on I-70, double chairs, long boards, in-bounds faceshots and wet t-shirt contests. Of course we’d have an 8-track, and we’d be playing lots of plaid rock. And not that Nirvana Seattle sound of super fuzzed amps and anguished vocals right from the gut, but more Neil Young and The Band, early Eagles and maybe a sweet scratchy version of the Flying Burrito Brothers singing “Close Up the Honky Tonks.”

And Creedence Clearwater Revival, of course.

My dad loved that stuff. So we loved it. Up and down the mountains my brother and I would be listening to his off-key butchering of “Take it to the Limit,” “Cowgirl in the Sand,” and “Who’ll Stop the Rain,” while we played air guitars and ski boot drums in the back.

He took us to see the Last Waltz when it came out. And we were kind of bored, but we dug it. We just didn’t realize yet what it meant for Robbie Robertson and Neil Young, Van Morrison and Joni Mitchell and Muddy Waters to share a stage like that.

But I hear “Helpless” come on the radio now and I get all fired up. I hear “Peaceful, Easy Feeling,” and I head down memory lane thinking about every chairlift with a girl with a ponytail on it. And “Born to Run” makes me think of moguls, pounding the monster bumps of Prima, Frenchman’s and Palli all wired on Snickers and 7-Up.

And lately I’ve heard a couple bands that make it sound like the whole plaid rock grassy roots of it might be coming back. You know, with a spare honest sound that isn’t over-produced and a couple hungry-eyed Robbie Robertson and Levon Helm-looking guys that can either play you some pretty music or come down off the stage and whoop your ass.

Here are a couple videos of what are some very hopeful signs for plaid rock – starting with one from the Avett Brothers that was actually recorded on the Jackson Hole gondola. Check out writer/film man Jay Sweet’s description of the experience putting it all together for Paste Magazine as well.

From the Northwest, land of hairy trees and deep powder, the hard-rocking boys of Blitzen Trapper singing Wild Mountain Home:

And representing the fast, cold slopes of New York and New England, the Felice Brothers getting urban with Frankie’s Gun

Camaro photo: flickr/brokenrhino

Sunday Shout Out: Save the Waves, High Tides & Echo, Echo, Echo Beach

Save the Waves

Jaco, Costa Rica (Shred White and Blue) — Got a couple news blips from Costa Rica at the Billabong ISA World Surfing Games. The one that stuck was about Save The Waves asking for countries around the world to submit their top nominee for the World Surfing Reserves (WSR) program (designed to proactively protect the greatest and most threatened surf breaks around the world, of course).

In Jacó, the federations submitted their surf spot nominations to be considered as World Surfing Reserves, with the first reserves declared in 2009 and 2010. Save The Waves also presented its recently unveiled World Surfing Reserves/Google Earth 3D virtual tour of the nominated surf spots, in which internet users can download an application and tour detailed aerial maps and satellite photos of the nominated surf spots and their surrounding environments. Check it out at: www.savethewaves.org

East Coast Surf: 2 Feet Higher and Rising

Internet — Wired Magazine has a sweet little piece on scientists freaking out because they can’t figure out why peak tides at some East Coast surf spots have “outstripped predictions by two feet.” I bet global warming doesn’t have a single thing to do with it.

Or maybe it’s just the natural vagaries of life and waves and stuff: According to a quote from NOAA in the Wired story: “The ocean is dynamic. It’s not uncommon to have anomalies like this but the breadth and the intensity and duration were unique.” See who said that, along with the rest of the Wired report at: Wired.com

Echo, Echo, Echo Beach

Newport Beach, Calif — It seems like Echo Beach has been in the news for almost a year now, and that the surf-u-mentary has been enjoying ‘premieres’ since May at least. But Thursday night it really is hitting the home break, with a screening of the film showing locally on August 6th, at the Lido Theatre, 3459 Via Lido, Newport Beach 92663, at 7:00pm and again at 8:30pm.

Love this blurb about why it’s worth checking out: “Echo Beach tells the story of the Newport Beach surf scene in the eighties. Originally a reference to the steep, fast breaks between 52nd and 54th Streets, the name “Echo Beach” came to signify an entire era of Southern California surf culture. A group of innovative, extra-rebellious local surfers rose to global prominence not only for their new level of athleticism in the sport of surfing, but also for their (then) whacked-out contributions to style, fashion, business, culture and the arts. Neon colors, new styles, and a general loudness pervaded the Echo Beach scene, along with the usual cornucopia of drugs, girls and parties that always abounds in any surf scene worth its salt.”

Read more about Echo Beach.

Waves image: flickr/gerrygiroux

Holy Water: Surf & Soul on the Jersey Shore

Jersey, 4th of July (Shred White and Blue) — Fourth of July vacation could not come soon enough. The monotony of my low-paying summer job finally caught up with me, as did the two weeks of rain Boston lucked out with. I had to get out of the overcast city and into some radiant sunlight.

With a week and some change on my hands, I decided to take a trip down to the Jersey shore. I figured my grandparents could put me up for a couple of nights and maybe I might even get some home-cooked meals. I needed to get away and besides, my surfboard hadn’t seen light in weeks.

As I loaded a duffel bag into my worn Jeep outside of my building, a maintenance guy inquired about the longboard bungeed to the roof. He asked if I was headed to the Cape. When I replied no, I’m driving down to the Garden State, he scratched his head and retorted, “Who in their right mind would CHOOSE to go there?”

I would. Masshole.

On the ride south, I stopped in my suburban, Connecticut hometown to get some gas. While I watched the number of dollars coming out of my pocket triple the number of gallons going into my tank, an old leathery man pulled up alongside me on a scooter that didn’t appear much younger.

Looking up at my board, he spat a wad of Copenhagen juice on the pavement and nodded as if in approval.

After collecting his thoughts, he proceeded to mumble, “I used to ride somethin’ like that down in Wildwood” and off he went. As I climbed back into my car, I couldn’t help but think that I was just in the presence of a legend. He just seemed to possess that wise aura.

The rest of the drive I put on a playlist ranging from The Beach Boys and Dick Dale to Southside Johnny and The Boss in hopes of satisfying my seaside craving. After a straight shot over the Tappan Zee Bridge, I entered the parkway for the final stretch. I finished one of those short daydreams that you inevitably experience cruising on a highway to notice that I was only on Exit 129, and my exit was 10. However, my mood had been convalescing ever since I left Beantown and not even the condescending taunt of every exit sign could dampen my spirits.

When I eventually passed a sign that read, “Now Entering Atlantic County,” a fresh breath of salty air rushed through the car, and I couldn’t help but smile. I was almost there. In that epiphanic instant, I was able to forget any and every responsibility I ever had, and damn did it feel good.

As if on cue, my playlist switched to “The Boys are Back in Town” when I pulled off to the boulevard and crossed the fishermen-littered bridge onto the little beach island. I found a parking spot right in front of the house, spent a little time catching up with my grandparents, then made the 30-second trek to the beach. I climbed the small hill over the dunes and picked out a small opening of sand amongst the thousands of pastel umbrellas.

It was not difficult to doze off as I marinated in the sun and let my exhaustion get the best of me. When I awoke, the beach was still fairly populated though it was apparent the afternoon was waning. Not much later, the lifeguards blew their final whistles and motioned for the swimmers to retreat back to land. This was the universal signal to surfers that the water was now theirs, so I pulled on my rash guard and leashed up.

The task of paddling out usually seems tedious, but that day it took no effort whatsoever. Every stroke brought me closer to ecstasy, and before long I was straddling my board waiting for the first wave. The serenity during this interval was priceless, but a crest beckoning a ride suddenly interrupted it. I dropped in and allowed the energy of the earth to push me for an invigorating ride all the way to the sandbar.

I jumped off prematurely to protect my fin from running aground, and as the ocean engulfed me, my existence seemed to enter slow motion. There I was, every inch of my body surrounded by water, completely deaf and free from gravity. For that single moment, I was somehow one with the world and yet one with myself. I felt as if I had reached the equilibrium of solidarity and solitude, and for the first time in my life I found the unity in metaphysical duality.

While this underwater contemplation seemed to last a lifetime, it was indeed only a moment long and before I knew it I surfaced for air. I continued to ride the short and choppy Atlantic swells the rest of the week. Everyday at 5 o’clock, my faithful board and I sprinted from land to our instinctual habitat.

That Saturday night, I enjoyed the company of some longtime buddies while sitting in the 80th Street field watching fireworks. We caught up on the past year and recounted the glory days, which I continue to pray are not over. Soon, we were swallowed up by the oohs and ahhs of the crowd while Pomp and Circumstance played somewhere in the background.

I looked down at my shirt, a first edition Shred White and Blue tee, and thought to myself, this is what it’s all about. I was proud to represent a company founded on the principles of brotherhood and patriotism. Even the yin yang design of the logo embodied the same duality I had conquered earlier in the week.

Surfing has allowed me to gain a greater appreciation for myself and my life in a context that only nature can reveal. I hope that through my efforts with Shred White and Blue, I can share this passionate discovery with the world.