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by Press Release,

Burlington, VT (December 5, 2007)— Burton Snowboards today announced that it will implement several new measures to prevent gray marketing throughout its distribution networks in North America, Europe and Japan. As a result of snowboarding’s tremendous growth and popularity, gray marketing is beginning to plague the snowboarding industry and has now reached into the online world as well.

Burton’s new policies were already put to the test this season when unauthorized products were uncovered in the U.S.-based Costco chain and at discount online retailer Overstock.com. In addition, unauthorized European dealers were found with product that originated in the U.S. Burton acted immediately to discover the sources of these sales and terminated two U.S. accounts. Two additional accounts are currently under investigation and will likely be terminated. In one case, Burton purchased hundreds of snowboards back from Costco at its own expense.

“Gray marketing damages the image of snowboarding,” says Clark Gundlach, General Manager of Burton Snowboards. “It weakens the brand, cuts our ability to reinvest in R&D and quickly kills specialty retail relationships that we’ve worked so hard to build.”

In order to protect its authorized distribution network, Burton has set up aggressive efforts to trace and identify the sources of gray market products. Recently, the company enlisted the help of professional investigative companies to track down gray marketers, and encourages its authorized dealer network to report any suspected gray marketers. Products found in unauthorized global distribution channels are traced back to the authorized dealerships outside of that market and terminated. 

Burton Snowboards and Friday Productions Announce New Six-Part TV Series. Terje’s Season Pass Will Air on FUEL TV this January.

Burton Snowboards and Friday Productions are pleased to announce the launch of their new TV co-production, Terje’s Season Pass, starring Terje Haakonsen along with Nicolas Müller, Shaun White, Mads Jonsson and Kevin Pearce. The six-part TV series will air this January on major TV networks worldwide, including the world’s leading action sports channel FUEL TV and Norway’s largest broadcaster NRK.Terje’s Season Pass features snowboarding icon Terje Haakonsen as well as a talented group of Burton snowboarders as they ride some of the best mountains in the world, compete at events and live the life of modern-day professional snowboarders. What really happens on a heli-trip to British Columbia? What’s going through Shaun White’s mind as he drops-in in front of 30,000 screaming fans at the Air & Style? What is it like to travel with dog sleds and camp and snowboard in Greenland’s harsh interior? Just how does Nicolas Müller make any type of terrain come alive? Terje’s Season Passtakes an in-depth look at all of these scenes and many more, giving viewers a chance to watch the dramas, inside stories and key moments of the 2006/2007 winter snowboarding season.

Terje Haakonsen has this to say about the new show, “The show’s story is very straight-forward: find good snow and shred it with friends. Jake’s quiver of riders is so good, I would enjoy riding with any of them, but I really enjoyed riding and traveling with Nicolas, Mads, Shaun and Kevin. It was a strange season for snow, but we were lucky almost everywhere we went, and even when it was shitty, we had a laugh!”

“Traveling with Terje is always an experience and a lot of fun,” said Jake Burton, Founder and Chairman, Burton Snowboards. “His riding is inspirational and his sense of humor is contagious. I know how excited all of those pros were to ride with ‘the man’. I can’t imagine how cool this TV series is going be … I have my popcorn ready.”

Shon Tomlin, FUEL TV VP of Programming and Development, says “Terje Haakonsen continues to be snowboarding’s most celebrated living legend, and this unique series puts you front and center in his world. It’s a rare look into the kind of access and adventures that play out in a winter with a world-class pro. Terje’s Season Pass documents all angles in a way that hasn’t been fully captured in the typical snowboard film or television series.”
Terje’s Season Pass will premiere on FUEL TV on Tuesday, 1/1/08 at 8:00pm ET/PT. Each of the episodes will then air on subsequent Tuesday nights at 8:00pm ET/PT. Re-airs will take place the following Sundays at 8:30pm ET/PT starting 1/6/08. The show will continue to air on FUEL TV throughout the winter.
Check out Burton Snowboards and Fuel TV for air dates and times for Terje’s Season Pass. 

I now bring you a guest post from our Cultural Czar: High caliber arms and environmentally friendly wood: Together at last, what the fuck took so long?  Arbor and Rogue Status, pillars of the Venice Beach Chamber of Commerce*, have teamed up to bring you a limited-edition snowboard that looks pretty damn cool.  Honestly, where the hell else are you going to find a board that makes you want to bust a glock and recycle your sandals at the same time?  Figure that one out while you embrace the message of guns as art and not instruments of urban destruction.  Shipping soon.  Press Release, take it from here: *Probably not, actually   


                         Arbor Snowboards and Rogue Status Collaborate on

Limited edition, Mid-Season Release



 

Rogue Status, the controversial, pridefully non-conventional, “luxury goods brand” - and Arbor, the surf/skate/snow industry’s forerunner in the use of environmentally friendly, beneficial materials, announced today that they will release 333 specially designed and numbered snowboards - a collaborative, limited offering that will be sold exclusively through select Arbor and Rogue Status dealers in the US and Canada.

 

The Arbor/Rogue Status collaboration was conceived by the designers at each company as a way to work together and create something unique by blending the strengths of each brand - Rogue’s notorious, push the limits messaging, and Arbor’s performance and style enhancing, EcoTechnologies.  In the end, this snowboard reflects the joint vision of a crew of friends that live and work in Venice, CA - home to both brands.

 

The design features several of Rogue Status’ graphic design elements.  Arbor added in its well-known natural wood-top, composite-technology - made, in this case, from environmentally friendly, black Ravenswood.  The board’s true-twin shape features a progressive sidecut and Arbor’s shadow flex-matrix. Brass rails, 2x4 14-pack inserts, a die-cut sintered base, and sustainably sourced full-wood core complete the package.  The Arbor/Rogue Status collaboration will be available in three sizes: 153, 155, 158.

 

“I’ve been a fan of Rogue’s approach to in your face, stop and think art since their tees started showing up around Venice,” said Arbor’s President, Bob Carlson.  “For Arbor, guns as art, not instruments of urban destruction, is a message we embrace.  So working with RS on a collaborative design has been a great way tell a larger story with our boards.”

 

Rogue Status was founded in 2005 by designers Yo Esbensen and Rex Holloway as a way to fill voids in an apparel industry dominated by homogenized design.  The focus at Rogue Status is to reveal controversy with thought provoking, message based art.  To build the brand Rex and Yo brought together a tight knit group of friends, creating a collaborative design trust that puts members of the Rogue family and their individual voices ahead of making money.  The founders believed that this was the only way to protect the integrity on the vision.  To that end, Rob Dyrdek joined Rogue’s band of brothers, adding his voice to Rex and Yo’s original vision.

“Arbor is our local snowboard brand, they’re our friends, and they were the best choice when it came time to design a snowboard,” says, Yo Esbensen, Rogue’s President. “I’m into their use of real wood and bamboo, and their long-term dedication to using environmentally friendly materials.”  

 

Arbor was founded in 1995 on the assertion that solutions to many of today’s most difficult snow, skate, and apparel design challenges exist in the natural world.  For 12 years, Arbor has built on this belief - replacing, environmentally harmful materials with ecologically based, natural alternatives.  The goal is to create a higher level of function and relevance, in the most responsible way possible.  The result has been improved style and performance, with significantly reduced environmental impact.  We all need clean air to skate, clean water to surf, and snow to ride…  

 

Dealers will be able to pre-book a fixed number of boards from Arbor or Rogue Status sales reps starting November 15th.  The boards will ship to stores starting December 17, 2007.

 


Media Contact:
Jessica Ng

310-577-1120 x11
jessica@arborsports.com
www.arborsports.com