Old school pros - where are they now?

[slopetool]

Where are the bros that we used to follow in the past?
Please send a quick note - I'm often pondering this
Anyone out there know whatever happened too...

Brushie, Dan Donnelly, Perata, Farmer, Burt, Sanders, Graham, Jean Nerva, Jay Liska, Alex Warburton, Andy Coglan, Masa Ogawa, Kris Jamieson, Rob Morrow, Rocket Reeves...

and how' bout the gals too..
Jean Higgins, LaFonte, Tara Eberhard, Betsy Shaw...

And I salute all of you that didn't sell out in the day and rode steady through all the peer pressure.
I recommend that you all see the Whiskey series and the Creatures of Habit series.

[D-Sub]

Damian Sanders is out here in Orange County promoting a night club called "Rubber" (and others)

kinda gross, the whole thing. Ive talked to him before and he seems like a really fckin cool guy.

[D-Sub]

oh, also...I started readin up on Farmer recently...apparently tryin to get the music thing goin still. he had some good rhymes! I was even considering tryin to contact him and put some beats together for him, but I didnt do it.

Im sure Morgan LaFonte is out bustin backflips off 50ft cliffs with nothin but a bra and her snowpants:)

[philfell]

Betsy still lives in VT. She pops up from time to time at east coast events with a few kids she coaches, Tara lives on a ranch in Nevada with her husband, Jerry Masterpool, and her kid or maybe kids. Kirs J. I've seen anouncing various events here and there.

[AK in PA]

Not sure of those mentioned, but I was astonished last year when I learned of Craig Kelly's fate in an avalanche a year or two prior. He was an icon when I was starting out.

[dragon fly jones]

Ran into Brushie one year at the ASR trade show, had a few beers and he walked away with his dogs. Not sure after that.

Liska is up in AK, running his shop and camps, living well, you can run into him and the Liska crew at some events and I'm sure they'll show up at Copper for the USASA Championships.

[Ernie00]

I'm speechless about craig kelly's death. I just learned from reading here and doing some research on the internet. I know I'm VERY late but I've been disconected from snowboarding for a while. I meet Craig a long time ago at Footlose in montreal in the early 1990's, he was a great guy. What a lost.

I also meet Damian in the early 1990's in montreal also, all I can remember is his air and his beautifulll Wife ! :)

This is truly sad.

Eric

[slopetool]

Yea, this is just what I wanted know. Keep them coming in. I'll bet there are some rumors we can put an end to also.

Like, did Don Szabo (007 szabo) really win the Publishers Clearinghouse 10 million? And I know Scott Downey (1st signiture snowboard boot pioneer) lives in Eugene, OR and is a carpenter. I love to study snowboard history and wonder did these guys and gals drop off or are still active and still ride lots.

Thank you Phil, AK, Dragonfly, Ernie and you too D-sub for the input. Keep it rolling in - I just love this stuff. Ed

[dragon fly jones]

Report that Tom Burt is still knocking around the Tahoe Truckee area, no status to what he's doing besides riding and guiding.

C Pappas and Dave Dowd are in and around Boulder working and living and Dowds son is one cool mofo. They ride and hang around Elorda amongst other places, there was even a sighting of Dowd lurking around Portland and Hood this summer.

[dragon fly jones]

Last I saw or heard about Morgan was she was riding for Arbor, doing demo's and the like. She has kinda dropped off the face of the planet, she's are year younger than me at 37, maybe one day if I keep riding and coaching I'll run into her again.

[LeeW]

Tara -- drool! I hope she's still active with her hubby with Cross M training.

Rob Morrow -- Last I heard, he's reviving Morrow company? Im not sure how that'd work considering Morrow was bought out by Ride and then bought out by K2 ?

Steve Graham -- I think he's still active with filming snowboard flicks ?

Im real curious on what's going on with Don Szabo, Jean Nerva and Peter Bauer. I once saw a photo of Peter Bauer riding on (-gasp-) softies. Figured they'd work better than hardboots when it comes to riding powder...

[Jack Michaud]

I met him about 6 years ago at Sugarloaf. He was coaching at Carrabasset Valley Academy (Fawcett's alma mater), but he's moved on since then. The funny part was he was dating a former fellow snowboarding instructor of mine. She and I were talking once and she mentioned she had this boyfriend, so I asked her who it was. She says Mark Heingartner, and I'm like Mark Heingartner?!?!? She says, yeah, why? She had no clue who he was!! (remember this was a fellow snowboarding instructor) So of course I coolly engineered an introduction, and we took some runs. I told him "Mark, at the risk of sounding corny, I have to tell you I'm a fan!" He was stunned to be recognized. We had a good laugh about it.

[slopetool]

yea, Jack! I remember that guy from Burton. He is quite the pioneer. Lets see someone try to beat that! good one - I just love these stories. Thanks

[Gecko]

Originally posted by slopetool
yea, Jack! I remember that guy from Burton. He is quite the pioneer. Lets see someone try to beat that! good one - I just love these stories. Thanks

Not Snowboarding but while I was living in Honolulu I met Jay Adams at a Skatepark opening...he didn't have a board and I had two...that started a great learning experience for me...of course the saturday morning invitations to skate empty pools with the grandfather of vertical skating was awesome too. Actually skating with Jay has made the greatest impact on my snowboarding...I am lots smoother because of watching/following his lines, that man can carve

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

Dude, that was the best frickin question ever! Wish I had thought of it. As matter a fact , it is embarrasing that I didn't thing of it. On a run, but you know we have a few old school and not so old school pros in the area!! Scott "Upside" Downey of Sorrel fame. Mike "The Joker" Jacoby (of course we are not the only local to claim Mike as a local. I will mention a few more when time allows doing it properly (READ: making sure I don't misspell their names. Take care. BRILLIANT.

[D-Sub]

Originally posted by Gecko
Not Snowboarding but while I was living in Honolulu I met Jay Adams at a Skatepark opening...he didn't have a board and I had two...that started a great learning experience for me...of course the saturday morning invitations to skate empty pools with the grandfather of vertical skating was awesome too. Actually skating with Jay has made the greatest impact on my snowboarding...I am lots smoother because of watching/following his lines, that man can carve

as hard and mean as Jay Adams looks, he's pretty fckin cool in person Ive been told

I was at Flower Street in santa ana once when he was there. I was like 15 tho and terrified of him:)

on that note...I was at Mt Baldy one day after a 30" dump, and Im eyeing the out of bounds stuff off chair 4, and I see this dude about 100yds downhill. I holler at him, ask if he knows where he's goin...he says yeah so me and my buddy follow. (Id already asked ski patrol if things seemed stable)

so anyway...we take a couple runs (the best riding Ive ever done in SoCal. twas amazing) and when we get to the bottom we introduce ourselves

he says "right on, Im Jim"...and then I see his jacket has this huge DOGTOWN logo across the tail/butt...

I was riding with the infamous RED DOG! Im not usually like this, but I couldnt help but turn on the "fan" mode...I rode many of his skateboards in the late 80s early 90s cuz they were one of the few bigger than normal with like 33" lengths...

so yeah...that was a good day!

[Neil Gendzwill]

Highlight of my brief 4-issue experience in the zine world was interviewing Mountain and Cab. I swear Cab can find speed anywhere - he's amazing.

[willywhit]

Rumor has it that Gilmour has been coaching Wentzl Ruml. UR13, PSR,TK any inside info? Gotta run some cones before the snow flies.

[svr]

Both are still invovled in the snowboarding industry Jean is working for a European company (can't remember which one at the moment) and Peter is on Head's snowboard developement program and was involved heavily with the developement of the Head intelligence chips. Also, Farmer was supposed to have started a new snowboard company that was developing freeride boards for this season, but i have not heard anything new about it lately.

[slopetool]

I'm going to beat someone to this - Last year, I met Mario Paulo Debbeni the Italian racer - whom I think was at the top of the podium many times throughout the 80's and early 90's.

He and Billy Miller (writer for many publications including TWS and Snowboard Journal) were at the Headquarters of Oldsnowboards.com. It was great to visit with them about all kinds of stuff. Did you know Paulo used to ride for Funky and then went on to Sims and Hot! Paulo used to work for MLY here in Portland until a few years ago. He was a house husband at that time. I think his wife must have been bringing home the bacon.

And I've met Trevor Graves and Bud Faccett at the photo shoot for Vintage Snowboard Confidential article that came out in SJ last Spring. Trevor and Bud work at Nemo Designs here in Portland. That was really a highlight for me to get to meet these guys.

[nils]

Jean is now a journalist and is an editor for a small press group... He is not involved in any snowboard company as far as I know... His last mag was called Rider, but due to lack of sales, it went bankrupt last season... He publishes a thick winter mag once a year since last season about freeriding with skis and snowboard...
He told me he quit any form of hardbooting ( he has size 12.5 feet )and got rid of his hard gear long ago already :).... He still shows up at some mardi gras parties with his genuine oxbow / burton GS suit so its easy to recognize him there!!!...

He follows the carving scene ( I keep him informed here and there on what goes on here and overseas in NA..)....but not much else! he now rides a Miura Swallowtail most of his times :)

Nils

[vlad westervaeld]

jerry and tara still lead an undemonstrative, pastoral existence cattle-ranching in nevada.
jerry's one of the most intelligent people i've ever met, and he changed my riding 100%.
haven't spoken to them in awhile, but i know i'm going to run into tara's dad, vic, soon. he's a great, great guy, and a dear friend.

[timinor]

I see Kevin Delaney doing commentary on TV but does anyone know which ski area he calls home?

[wavechaser]

Diggin' this thread up from the bottom of the pile...

Racin' with John Kelly at SVSS exents off and on the past few years...boy does he have some great stories. Scott Palmer is the series director there of course, and his old protege John Bennett came out of the woodwork last year to grab some medals at Nationals. Betsy Shaw's kids race there too - and her daughter Brook is doing well out west (podium at Steamboat RTTC last week)...look out for that one...brother Spencer too! Raced skateboards with Pappas last summer - fast as f-in h***. Kildy showed up at a race at Ragged last year to give the kids some tips - Anton was at Bromley last week (coaching in that area) and said Kildy is in NH, I think, with a coaching gig this winter. Skated with WR IV this summer...very cool...great DT stories!

[Victory]

Farmer is riding for Smokin Snowboards out of Tahoe and Alex Warburton is designing bindings for Forum Snowboards down in Irvine, CA. The last I checked anyway.

[photodad2001]

Don't run into many professional snowboarders in Ohio. I have however brushed elbows with several legends in skateboarding. When I was in highschool I worked for a local skate shop and got to be floor level at Ohio's biggest ever skateboard competition. Got to meet the entire Bones Brigade (Tony, Steve, Tommy, Lance, even Stacy Peralta), Neil Blender (super tall dude), Christian Hosoi, Kevin Staab (he has a myspace). I had a t-shirt with all their autographs, but like everything of value in a young mans life, his mother tossed it out.:eek:

[willywhit]

http://www.illuminatisnowboards.com/team/bryan-iguchi.htm

the GOOCH !

cool sig, btw....one of my many alias's's's

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farmer still raps....poorly:p
jib jib jib jib jib JAB JAB

bonusfooty...ouch !
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[ncermak]

I didn't look at the date of the OP, until came down to a post one fo our own legends...Dragonfly Jones.

Sadly, we all know where he is...RIP DFJ

[willywhit]

Diggin' this thread up from the bottom of the pile...

Racin' with John Kelly at SVSS exents off and on the past few years...boy does he have some great stories. Scott Palmer is the series director there of course, and his old protege John Bennett came out of the woodwork last year to grab some medals at Nationals. Betsy Shaw's kids race there too - and her daughter Brook is doing well out west (podium at Steamboat RTTC last week)...look out for that one...brother Spencer too! Raced skateboards with Pappas last summer - fast as f-in h***. Kildy showed up at a race at Ragged last year to give the kids some tips - Anton was at Bromley last week (coaching in that area) and said Kildy is in NH, I think, with a coaching gig this winter. Skated with WR IV this summer...very cool...great DT stories!

rick, there's a pic of pappas on your website of pappas and the look on his face is priceless. I'll see if I can find it again and copy/paste/post it.

I remember Papas Bros from one of the first US OPEN's halfpipe 20 sumptin' years ago....and George was basically bald back then , too. I remember,we were givin' Hetzel grief about his 7-11 jacket while blazing on the porch outside the Bear's Den....dude, you work at 7-11 ? sweeeeet ! :rolleyes:

[wavechaser]

rick, there's a pic of pappas on your website of pappas and the look on his face is priceless. I'll see if I can find it again and copy/paste/post it.

I remember Papas Bros from one of the first US OPEN's halfpipe 20 sumptin' years ago....and George was basically bald back then , too. I remember,we were givin' Hetzel grief about his 7-11 jacket while blazing on the porch outside the Bear's Den....dude, you work at 7-11 ? sweeeeet ! :rolleyes:

:lol::lol::lol: - Sponsored by Slurpies!!

G-Pap at the 07 Slalom Worlds...

http://www.cloudtenweb.com/events/worlds2007/images/worlds2007_pappas_ts.jpg

[mawsea]

well more pioneer than pro but deserves at least some mention on these web sites since he invented the first snow board that was made to actually carve! what's he doing these days? ..going bananas .. ...I just wish he would come out with a new board like the one he's riding in the pic

[LeeW]

yah. mike olson and pete saari. i used to work for 'em. they're actually kids but in a giant kid body. (this i swear on)

[Michelle]

Saw Gilmour yesterday. He's living in Aspen and is probably going to coach for the mountain. He was kind enough to give my friend (who got his board stolen with mine) one of his boards. :biggthump Good karma to him!

[mawsea]

Dan Donnelly: old school pro carving it up at last years Mt Baker Banked Slalom

[willywhit]

stevie hayes sez:
Great to see all the old pro and bros. Funny name for such a talented group. Well if you are like me put on your knee braces, take three advil, load up your ipod with Led Zeplin,Bob, Jerry, Jimi,Metalica, Guns,... tote ALL your kids stuff, and head up to the mt and show the locs how you used to do it back in the day. ahh the glory day's of snowboarding. Sure would be great to ride and party with the group.

[Snowriter]

Tom Burt picked up an ownership interest in Winterstick in '08.

[GeoffV]

http://www.soulmate-shop.de/t3/typo3temp/pics/93154e1fe2.jpg<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/H0IWh3Gp4rw&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/H0IWh3Gp4rw&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

Jacks's BFF:1luvu::eplus2: Peter has been a busy guy, did some work with Head, he has also done some design work on back country gear for ORTOVOX and has his own ski/snowboard company called Amplid (http://www.amplid.com/main.php)



As one of snowboarding’s pioneers what are your thoughts on the progression of the sport? What’s been the biggest change you’ve seen in snowboarding.

Might sound trivial – but the biggest influence in snowboarding was still the invention of the highback. Try to pull a backside turn without a highback and you know what I mean J ! Actually steeledges made the snowboarding quite comfy as well. Another very important phenomena which helped snowboarding to be where it’s at right now: Snowboarding as a cultural construct of sport, fashion, art, music and style always has been an uncorrectable rebel, doing its own thing, growing in its own direction. It could never been captured by federations or any other “corrective” organs to be shaped or tamed down. If it continues like this, it will always have an appeal to the youth.


As a former World Champion, where do you feel the competitive sport of snowboarding is heading Olympics/FIS/TTR & how does that sit with snowboarding’s lifestyle

Some might think snowboard and contests won’t go together. “Contest “ means “discipline”, and that again might mean restriction. But people comparing each other, looking for the stronger one, is as old as mankind. It’s easy to understand and therefore has entertainment value. The Olympics for sure contribute to when it gets to mass media attention. This is important for the sport to grow. The FIS has its structure by tradition, should be good for giving the kids the chance to grow into it. The TTR has the best events and always kept up the spirit and the authenticity. All this on the one side, and then the “****-the-trick-police” riders on the other side, who just do what they want, look for the sketchiest handrail or sickest wallride – this on the other side, as a counter weight – are important ingredients to snowboarding’s existence and longevity.


When and why did you decide to start Amplid?

We started Amplid 4 years ago. Initially I only wanted to help out my buddy Anian to make his own pair of skis. He didn’t like what the market had to offer. So we started to make skis in one of the factories I used to do my protos in during my almost 20 years at Burton. Then I got completely addicted again, mixing around with resin, glass, carbon and trying to experiment with different materials. I also did some boards, which performed like none of that of-the-shelf stuff i rode in the past. So we knew, we had to make our own product.


How comes you decided on both a snowboard & freeski brand? Has that been an advantage in so far as sharing technology between the two, have there been disadvantages?

Anian is the skier, I am the snowboarder. All we wanted is the best product to have the best riding days together. Just like snowboards, taking over steeledges from skis - or skis, adopting the sidecut from snowboards. Both parties can benefit from each other. I have learned a lot prototyping skis and got these experiences into our boards. Materials, geometrics, etc. every bad prototype enriches your wisdom. Just like a bad wave your surfing !


Do you feel that the time has come that freeski & snowboard industry worked closer together

Ask a 15 year old park kid, regardless of the tool it rides, whether it ever heard from an apartheid between skiers and snowboards! Perhaps from history lesson, or his raceski-nazi-dad giving **** to a snowboarder who grinds a handrail next to the liftline. As long as you have one common mission – searching for the next kicker or the best powderface – it doesn’t matter anymore whether you are riding 2 or 4 edges.


Is it important to you that Amplid stays independent?

Yes, because we need that flexibility. I can’t afford to go through slow processes like asking 3 CEOs for a new prototype or plane ticket to have a rider fly in for a photoshoot. Amplid is superquick in decisions and fast in actions. This is our recipe. A rider has a new idea on a boardconcept? Gimme 4 days and the proto is on the snow. Purple instead of yellow? Let’s change it 5 days before the tradeshow.


How do you compete against the big board companies?

Sounds a bit chinese, but have you ever seen a rabbit escaping from 5 wolves?


How often do you get to ride do you board or ski, what board do you ride?

I get to ride about 180 days a year. We ride every morning, pow or curdory. New products, or fresh lines. In powder i ride the Equity 166 in the woods, and the 164 in AK, when it’s more wide open. On corduroy i ride the Paradigma UNW8 159. Best and lightest board I have ever been on.


Technology is moving so fast and new materials are being introduced how do you incorporate that into your new models.

We constantly try prototypes with new materials. We currently work on some recyclable cellulose-honey-comb inlays to reduce swing weight. The result when spinning is incredible. You want to do a 7 and might end up doing a 10. seriously. We use our US and european team intensly in our RnD processes. These guys are so motivated, because they understand they will perform better when their product does. This again motivates us to lift our product range onto the next level again.

Is everything produced in Europe?

Except our snowboard bindings everything is produced in the EU. The hats are knitted in Germany, and even the cotton comes from the UK.


What's the Amplid philosophy?

Our claim is “next level riding”. And I think it gets it down to the point.


What’s a perfect day for Peter Bauer?

40cm powder in the woods with a few friends or some of our teamriders who always push their limits – and mine, too - and snowing like hell so that the others don’t even bother leaving their homes.



Peter Bauer Gets A Piece Of Head
0 Friday, November 21st, 2003 | 14 views | Following a successful first year of team work, HEAD Snowboards now intensifies its cooperation with Peter Bauer according to plan.

“The progress, above all in product development, has more than fulfilled our expectations,” according to Klaus Thurner, HEAD Snowboards Division Manager. “With Peter’s longtime development experience, we were able to perfectly integrate the INTELLIGENCE„¢ Technology into the snowboards and the result speaks for itself — even before the start of the season, our INTELLIGENCE Board was awarded the gold medal “Overall” by the French magazine Rider.

Peter Bauer, repeat World and European Champion, joined HEAD Snowboards in October 2002 and, in addition to his function as active freerider, is also involved as an advisor in marketing as well as R&D in all product areas.

For his commitment, he will receive an equity stake in the HTM Group, which has been listed on the Vienna and New York stock exchanges since 1999. “With this step, we are strengthening our long-term relationship, thereby reciprocating our mutual investment in the partnership,” commented Florian Weingà¤rtner, Marketing Director, HEAD Snowboards.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 21st, 2003 at 1:50 pm and is filed under Other. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

[xy9ine]

well more pioneer than pro but deserves at least some mention on these web sites since he invented the first snow board that was made to actually carve! what's he doing these days? ..going bananas .. ...I just wish he would come out with a new board like the one he's riding in the pic

my first board was a gnu antigravity (with ski boots strapped into highbacks). as i just transitioned from sking, it's carving ability was a revelation compared to the other floppy boards available at the time. my home hill at the time was mt.baker; olsen & the gnu clan were a regular sight. i lusted after the race room w/ the pink squiggle.

yeah, it'd be cool to see mervin produce an alpine deck. they're doing some pretty wild stuff (i was checking out a lib tech cygnus x-1 the other day - seriously trick).

[LeeW]

my first board was a gnu antigravity (with ski boots strapped into highbacks). as i just transitioned from sking, it's carving ability was a revelation compared to the other floppy boards available at the time. my home hill at the time was mt.baker; olsen & the gnu clan were a regular sight. i lusted after the race room w/ the pink squiggle.

yeah, it'd be cool to see mervin produce an alpine deck. they're doing some pretty wild stuff (i was checking out a lib tech cygnus x-1 the other day - seriously trick).


I still got Mervin MFG Lib Tech's Innercourse. I've tried to pull strings to get them to make me an alpine board, and so far, it's slow going. I do strongly believe the Magne Traction would be very interesting experiment with alpine board. Their only concern is that it's too small of a market, and I agree with them.

[willywhit]

Tom Burt wrote a one page article about kiting Lake Tahoe. Fawcett kites alot, or used to, in the Gorge. I can scan and post the Tom Burt article if you guys wanna check it out.