Thanks, Krugs. Another week, let's get into it.
Torment Weather Report: Venezuela is the first country in the Americas to lose all of its glaciers. Off of the northern coast of South America, you could once find six glaciers, but, by 2011, five of them had melted away. Now, the sixth and final ice mass, the Humboldt glacier, was recently classified as being too small to qualify.
The reality of the Humboldt is a telling sign that "at least 80% of glaciers worldwide are on track to almost disappear by 2100 because of current global warming conditions, according to a peer-reviewed study from last year."
We started the week by reminiscing on banshee bungees and Plymouth State University. Two staples from one of our favorite AM videos, Holy Smokes, so we decided to recount some of the best clips that propelled us back to 2012.
Holy Smokes was the second film under the Keep the Change name, but their first video partnering up with Videograss. That Pro/Am video dynamic is a distant memory now, so it's worth revisiting their successive video, Roll Call, too.
Some of Sam Taxwood's earliest footage dates back to the Keep the Change days, and now, with over a decade of video parts under his belt, he finally unveils the people that have influenced his riding.
Stax's Top 5 Most Influential Parts of All-Time is now live on the site.
Luke Winklemann and Grace Warner kicked off summer boarding last week with the first session of Woodward Copper's private summer camp. The public hike park is still a few weeks out and, until then, there will be a Burton-heavy roster on hill. A few other crews (Never Summer, Videograss and Erik Leon) will break that up in the latter weeks.
High Cascade starts next week, and Shaun White's new snowboard company, Whitespace, will get the ball rolling. There's a chance you might not even know what that brand is, so we're hyperlinking an in-depth interview he did with HypeBeast that should paint the picture. WHITESPACE is a play on words, symbolizing a gap in the market that your brand aims to fill. As you are bridging the gap between fashion and snowsports, do you feel that certain apparel choices empower or better equip you athletically?
The Q3 results are out for Vail Resorts, and following an industrywide down year, the Wall Street investors are starting to take notice—and it looks like they're not happy. Almost all metrics (aside from revenue?) were down this season, and with pass sales and ski visits consistently lower, it's no surprise that their stock dropped by around 10% this past Friday.
“Our results throughout the 2023/2024 North American ski season highlight both the stability provided by our season pass program and the investments we have made in our resorts and employees. The winter season included significant weather-related challenges, with approximately 28% lower snowfall for the full winter season across our western North American resorts" — CEO of Vail Resorts
Instagram Clip of the Week: Two piece with Luke Winklemann.
