This morning I started flipping thru the news-paper.   I came across an ad for Big Five sporting goods.   Do you have a Big Five near you?  If not, I can fill you in.   Big Five is a clearing house for crap.    Old shoes, shotguns, thigh-masters, boxing gloves, Micheal Vic Signature jock straps, Heelees roller shoes, and "New" snowboards from defunct brands.

My eyes peeled across their deals, where I saw Lamar and Sims alongside new Morrow snowboards.   The deals were smoking!  It made me sick to my stomach.   So many great rulers and brands have gone down with a big thud.   Modern day teenagers have no memory or understanding of what happened.   What did Jake Burton do right and Tom Sims do wrong?   I am not sure I even know?   But the pages of the Dec 2007 issue of Snowboard Magazine gave me motivation to search for an answer.

Grab the Dec 2007 issue of Snowboard Magazine.   On or about page 120, is a Travis Rice story titled, "The Lost Art".   In that story, Travis tears the Esurance Icer Air Contest a new A-hole.   As tough as his opinion was, it touches on a very important theme.  There are a heap of rich jerk-offs out there trying to cash in on the Marketing dollars floating around in the shred world.   One of Travis's key statements was, "What the hell is Icer anyway".   It turns out Icer is some sort of bullshit spray on wax crap.   It really is crap!   The contest has the potential to be great, but if you knew how much money was spent on it, you would wonder what the hell people were thinking.   Granted, Travis is laughing all the way to the bank, but nonetheless, he is very vocal about the bullshit factor.   Could of the money not been better spent building the integrity of our sports?   So that the kids you are going to have with the girl, or guy, you have not even met yet, can snow ride with you?

What are we, as snowboarders (or skiers) doing to insure the longevity and integrity of the snow sports we know and love.   The Icer Air reminds me of what big money with no brains can do to something cool.

Take Sims Snowboards for instance.   When I was in highschool, Tom Sims was the shit.   Terry Kidwell and Palmer had more style than most rippers today.   Terry's infamous style is still leaps ahead of most riders today......25yrs later!!!!

Take Barfoot Snowboards.   Evan Feen's cliff drops and the Achenbach's Canadian backcountry adventures made the Burton team look like a bunch of east coast dorks.   Oh wait?  They were a bunch of east coast dorks!   The Sims, Barfoot, and Gnu teams were a million times more stylish and skilled than the Burton Team!   Even Jake himself will tell you that.   Jakes boards were so stupid in early days!   Gnu and Sims were light-years ahead of the crap Jake was building.

Rob Morrow!   Morrow Snowboards!   Rob is one of the raddest NW rippers ever.   What the hell happened to Morrow?   Remember Avalanche?   Tom Burt and Damien Sanders.   They were a very important part to the development of the culture you are immersed in today!

Sims, Morrow, Barfoot, and Avalanche?   What happened?   They were big brands with the biggest riders.   Now some Asian dude in China owns the name and sells crap at Big 5.   Wow?   That really sucks!   What did Jake Burton and Gnu-Lib owner Mike Olsen do that the other guys did not?   I really don't know the exact answer, but I know what it had something to do with.

MONEY AND MONEY AND LOTS OF MONEY

Somewhere along the line, a guy with a lot of money came along and screwed Tom Sims and Rob Morrow.   Maybe Tom got greedy, and maybe Rob made a bad choice?   I don't know for sure.   But I can bet you a million bucks that if Tom Sims could go back and do it over again, he would rather be Tom Sims, president of Sims snowboards in 2008.   Tom is a rad guy, but he has not control over how his name may or not be beat up by a Chinese dude selling boards at Big 5.

What I am getting at is........spend your money wisely.   Spend your money on real snowboards and real snowboard brands.   Don't fee the crap system.   Don't be responsible for the loss of another great brand like Sims or Barfoot.   Research your purchases and don't buy your gear at discount warehouses.   But from real ski shops and real snowboarders.......no matter how good of a deal you may find!

DO THE RESEARCH!   Support companies and contests that support real snowboarders and skiers.  Sometimes companies overlap into both worlds, and regardless of style and or name........just vote with your dollar.   Try and spend your money with brands that are building for a better snow world tomorrow.

How can you make sure you are not feeding the Chinese crap monster?   Shop at core ski and snowboard shops only.   Avoid box store purchases.   The core shop will only have the good stuff!   Good luck!

Photos Courtesy of Lib Tech and Tim Zimmerman, as well Dennis Nazari's Vinatage Snowboard Collection.   Terry Kidwell Picture from Bud Faucett.