Shred 1sts – 14’er Surf, Olympic Freestyle and Hawaiian Green

High Country, Colo. (Shred White and Blue)-Jarrett Luttrell recently made history – he became the first snowboarder to climb and ride all 54 of Colorado’s 14ers from their summits.

Luttrell finished the feat with his descent of Keplinger’s on Longs Peak. A split boarder, the fine folks at Shred White and Blue fave Venture Snowboards were stoked to share the news as Luttrell was riding a Venture-built board.

Congrats to Jarrett, who sent over the photo, and to whom we are sending one of the Shred White and Blue Classic Design shirts from our inaugural business year. FOMO, check out this cool interview with Justin on TransWorld Snowboarding right here:

http://snowboarding.transworld.net/1000126359/featuresobf/the-first-14er-jarrett-luttrell/

Slopestyle Could Go for the Gold!

Antalya, Turkey (Shred White and Blue)- A U.S. and French proposal to submit ski halfpipe to the International Olympic Committee for consideration as early as 2014 was approved without dissent as the International Ski Federation concluded its biennial FIS Congress Friday in Antalya, Turkey. The Congress also unanimously passed proposals from the USA and other nations to accept both snowboarding slopestyle and team snowboardcross into the FIS World Snowboard Championships.

A decision on new events for 2014 could be made by the IOC as early as 2011.

“As a member association, we’re proud of the reputation that FIS has developed as a progressive and dynamic international sports federation, particularly in terms of the events and sports it provides to the Olympic Games,” said U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association Vice President, Luke Bodensteiner. “By aggressively developing new and dynamic action sports into its program, FIS is leading from a position that is relevant to youth and the worldwide public.”

Hawaii Protects Historic Surf Reserves

Maui (Shred White and Blue)-Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle issued an executive order to establish surfing reserves at two of Hawai`i’s most important and well-known surfing areas.  The executive order “acknowledges the cultural, sports and historic significance of important surf sites in Hawai`i,” and “raises public awareness about the importance of protecting, nourishing and developing Hawai`i’s world famous surf sites.”

The Governor’s order establishes the Duke Kahanamoku Surfing Reserve, which includes surf breaks bounded by the Ala Wai and the Waikīkī War Memorial Natatorium, as well as the North Shore Surfing Reserve, which includes surf breaks from Ali`i Beach in Hale`iwa to Sunset Beach.  Both surf reserves are located in the waters off O`ahu.

Senator Hemmings is a surfing legend in his own right, having become the world’s first surfing champion from Hawai`i after winning the World Surfing Championship in Puerto Rico in 1968. Pictured here are (left to right) Paul Strauch, Jr., Joey Cabell, Duke Kahanamoku, Fred Hemmings and Butch Van Artsdalen.

FOMO: http://hawaii.gov/gov/news/files/2010/june/governor-establishes-hawai-i-surfing-reserves

American Made: Postal Snow, POW & The Splitboard Revolution

Postal Snow

Airmail, America (Shred White and Blue)—Shred White and Blue is heading to the Olympics this week, ready to hand out stickers, deliver a few t-shirts and mail some missives about how our homegrown shredders are handling the scene north of the board. To that end, the new Shred Mail stamp should come in very handy.

The U.S. Postal Service is commemorating the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games with the issuance of a snowboard stamp created by Illustrator Steve McCracken. In Wiki-scoop fashion, it’s not the first time stamps featuring Olympic themes have been invoked to help ‘send it.’ During the first modern Olympiad in 1896, Greece issued 12 commemorative stamps. And since 1932, when the Olympics were held in Los Angeles, U.S. stamps have honored the Games.

Jeremy Jones and POW Ride Capitol Hill

Capitol Hill (SWB)—Jeremy Jones (8-time Big Mountain Snowboarder of the Year!) along with a coalition of winter sport filmmakers and industry representatives shared a new perspective on climate change with lawmakers on Capitol Hill: the economic, social and intangible values of winter.

Jones represented Protect Our Winters (POW), the environmental non-profit he founded in 2007, and was joined by Chris Steinkamp, Executive Director of POW, big brother Steve Jones, Founder of Teton Gravity Research (TGR), Elysa Hammond of Clif Bar and Elizabeth Burakowski from the University of New Hampshire.

The two-day agenda included a screening of Generations, a film about climate change, to a theater of Congressmen and environmental leaders, and a meeting with key lawmakers from US mountain states to discuss how climate change effects winter sports culture and the $6 billon winter sports industry. Said Congressman Jared Polis, (D-CO). “The ski industry is the lifeblood of my district and climate change is already taking a toll.” FOMO on POW, check here http://protectourwinters.org. (you can find the Generations move there as well). Or watch a clip here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPCObLVislY

The Splitboard Revolution

The Backcountry, Colo. (SWB)—Longtime SWB buddy Mike Horn – when not riding deep backcountry pow in the mountains around Crested Butte – keeps a keen eye on the latest developments on the snowboard scene. What does he says is the next big sensation?

“Splitboards are going to go mainstream,” says Horn. “The companies like Never Summer and Venture that have been honing this market for years are going to see brands like Lib-Tech and the new Jones Snowboards introduce their own big mountain boards for backcountry stash skinning.”

In the SnowPress Show Daily, the official magazine of the SIA Snow Show (just held in Denver for the 1st time), Horn writes, “Not only are there at least eight snowboard manufacturers producing splits—Jones Boards, Lib-Tech, Atomic, Burton, Never Summer, Prior, Venture, and Voilé—but two big mountain heroes named Jeremy Jones and Travis Rice will have their own signature decks.”

These guys at Spark are making very cool splitboard bindings – check out their how-to video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuiTKdFVttc