686 Technical Apparel is proud to announce the addition of professional snowboarder and footy stacker Cam Pierce to its international pro team.

Cam will be bringing the 686 Smarty collection of outerwear, the original trademarked 3-in-1 detachable layering system, to life in urban sprawls and off backcountry jumps across the globe this spring as well as collaborating on future outerwear designs.

Cam will also be keeping his hands warm and dry exclusively in 686 gloves and mitts.Keep your eyes peeled for a signature 686 glove design in the future.

“Cam destroys whatever is in his path from urban spots, as seen on the cover of Transworld Snowboarding this season as well as in Forum’s final release “Fuxk It!,” to backcountry jumps and whatever else is in the mix,” explains Patrick McCarthy, 686 Team Manager. “We’re also excited to have Cam repping our new collaborative first layer project with his co-sponsor and our friends, Airhole Facemasks,dropping next fall.”

Cam, who is currently supported by Endeavor Snowboards, Airhole Facemasks and Electric, joins the current 686 crew including Forest Bailey, Phil Jacques, Sammy Luebke, Marco Feitchtner and Sebi Geiger.

“I’m really excited to be a part of a family with such a long history and great reputation,” exclaims Cam.

Follow Cam @cam_pierce and 686 @686clothing for more info, and of course 686 website.

You know when you were a kid and you accidentally started saying ‘ambulance’ over and over until it just sounded real weird? Just had the same thing with Keegan’s name – I blame the gin. That aside, the guy largely responsible for Gnarly and Givin has just become the latest addition to the swelling ranks of the hippest handwear brand this side of Dalston, and they made an edit showing off his considerable street smarts. Check it out.

Keegan Valaika is a rareity amongst snowboarding. He doesn’t fit the mold of a “snowboarder” and stands behind his snowboarding and style like others only wish they could. Welcome to HOWL Keegan.

HOWL

JED ANDERSON | JOE SEXTON | JAKE O.E. | KEEGAN VALAIKA | LAURENT-NICOLAS PAQUIN | JONAS MICHILOT | GUS ENGLE | JAKE KUZYK | DARRELL MATHES | DANIMALS | NICK DIRKS | DANNY LARSEN

howlsupply.com

Lisa Filzmoser. Photo: Dominik Hadwiger

Nikita are stoked to officially announce that Lisa Filzmoser and Vera Janssen, both existing killer streetwear and outerwear team riders, are now charging the mountains with Nikita Snowboards afoot.

The girls are pumped to be deepening the relationship with Nikita and riding the new FW13-14 selection. Innsbruck-based fearless freestyler Lisa is headed to Alaska armed and ready to shoot with the creative True Color Films crew whilst also getting ‘Boobilicious’ with the Lipstick Productions ladies filming for the release of their third all-girls movie later this year. “I am so happy to ride Nikita Snowboards,” Lisa says, “as Nikita and I have such a long relationship. It’s great that they are now doing snowboards too. My choice is the Sideway Sista; it is the optimal board I can use for backcountry riding and also park. It is light and really good quality. Love it! Looking forward to going out and shooting with this snowboard.”

Pro-Mum Vera is back in Canada, wallowing in the epic conditions of Whistler’s backcountry. She’s testing out her super sled alongside the new snowboards and continuing to film the insightful ‘Vera’s Shredventures’ episodes released with Mahfia.tv and sequences for Lipstick’s ‘Boobilicious’. “I’m super stoked on the Nikita Snowboards. After snowboarding passionately for 22 years, I definitely wouldn’t ride anything but a great quality board and Nikita Snowboards have me convinced! The first week I got the board, I took it to some extreme conditions; from straight-lining Whistler/Blackcomb’s legendary Dave Murray Downhill in icy conditions, topping 100km/h in many of its turns, to ripping nearly 1000m vertical lines and chutes in the far-away backcountry of Bralorne, BC, to hitting powder pillows and jumps – the Nikita Expression 154 is my new weapon of choice!”

And from the Nikita camp, Iceland legend and Marketing Director Geiri states “We are uber happy to have awesome and talented human beings Lisa and Vera riding our snowboards. They have been a part of the Nikita family for some time now and having them riding and testing our snowboards is a very natural progression to our relationship.”

www.nikitaclothing.com

www.forgirlswhoride.com

Swiss whizz Alvaro Vogel has hooked up with Shred and Slytech just now, so will be rocking their goggles and protection for the rest of his filming this winter. For a closer look at their kit, cruise over to www.whyweshred.com 

Rough Snowboards is proud to welcome Polish rider Jakub Szkaradek to the team! 

Riding with him this summer, we were blown away by his humble character, amazingly technical rail tricks and hunger for riding. Jakub is proving himself to be a hard worker, this season he’s already been on a trip to Slovenia for Method mag, a trip to Slovakia and is currently in Helsinki, Finland filming bangers for his upcoming video part in Rough’s full length movie “When the Going Gets Rough”!

He joins Fredu Sirvio, Vesa Nissanen, Tommy Lanza and Oivind Fykse on the international team. We couldn’t be more stoked cause snowboarding needs more riders like Jakub!

Colour Wear is proud to announce that Mario Käppeli has joined the CLWR family. He joins a crew of passionate and creative snowboarders such as Kareem El Rafie, Leo Crawford and Risto Ruokola.

Mario hails from Switzerland and has been living for over a year in the snowboard Mecca of Innsbruck. Aged just 24 and riding for over 12 years and the last few under the wing of the Forum International Team, Mario has travelled a lot, ridden some of the sickest parks and terrain on the planet, and is now ready to take on the next chapter of his career.
Over the last few years, Mario would more often be seen stomping booters in bulletproof snow parks, however his eyes have now been opened to taking these skills into the backcountry, a move which has also seen him join the ranks of backcountry freestyle expert Gig Rüf’s team at Slash Snowboards.

We are stoked to have such a talented backcountry freestyle snowboarder in the CLWR Family and look forward to seeing the footage and shots Mario brings from some of the most stunning locations around the world.
Mario also has a wild side, so be sure to check out some of the crazy things he and Ethan Morgan get up to at www.ethanvsmario.com

Mario is also supported by: Slash Snowboards, Smith Optics, Level gloves, Monster Energy, Clast, Moreboards and HaulAss Wax.

www.clwr.com

Rhythm is pumped to announce the addition of Norwegian snowboarder Stian Solberg to its global team.

Solberg becomes the latest addition to Rhythm’s steadily swelling team, following hot on the heels of Antti Jussila and Fredrik Austbø’s recruitment. Stian is 50% Norwegian, 50% American, and, like his older brother JP, 100% snowboarder. Over the years, he’s proved his worth in multiple video parts from Stepchild, Pony Tale, Pirates, and most recently, YES, crushing the Canadian backcountry with legendary Solberg Steez.

Check out Stian’s latest video part in YES. It’s A Movie, available on iTunes.

Check out the new winter collection at www.rhythmlivinsnow.com

Antti’s something of an urban boss. The dudes at Rhythm Clothing have a fine nose for under-appreciated shred talent and, hot on the heels of signing Fredrik Austbo, have snapped him up too. Check Antti’s full part in KBR Productions’ Snake Bite.

When it comes to urban rail carnage, Helsinki is where it’s at, and KBR is the local crew holding it all down. In the middle of all of it is Jussi, a young Finnish buck who likes listening to metal almost as much as he likes sliding down it.

After the demise of Forum, beasty ripper Pat Moore has found himself some new snow kicks thanks to the dudes at Vans.

Vans proudly announces the addition of uniquely talented, all-terrain snowboarder Pat Moore to the global Vans Snow Team. Pat joined the Vans team and friends for a chest-deep powder trip to Silverton to celebrate Vans’ 20 years in snow earlier this week.

Pat said: “Being here in Silverton for Vans’ 20th anniversary in snow is such a humbling experience. Vans’ passion and commitment to sick product and the snowboard lifestyle has spanned nearly my entire life. In the last 20 years, Vans has sponsored some of the most influential snowboarders in the world, from Jamie Lynn, Palmer, Sean Johnson to the new legends like Mark Landvik. I’m honored to be a part of a team that holds such a legacy. From your first pair of skate shoes to your all mountain snowboard boot, Vans is the original. Stay classic.”

“We’re honored to add a rider of the stature of Pat Moore to the Vans roster,” said Vans Action Sports Director Peter Dericks. “Not only is Pat sick rider, but his humble, down-to-earth approach fits perfectly with the rest of the team’s personality while raising the bar for our entire snow program.”

A fixture on the snow scene for more than a decade and described as “an all-terrain destroyer” in the 2013 Snowboarder Rider of the Year issue, Pat placed in the Top 10 for the fourth time. Pat is renowned for his big video parts in films such as That’s It, That’s All and the Art of Flight that are diverse with all types of snowboarding from urban rail riding to backcountry lines. This year, he is the only rider to compete in both X Games video contests, Real Snow and Real Snow Backcountry. Pat placed 3rd in the Real Snow contest last year.

Although Pat’s riding is big it’s also unbiased as he prides himself in saying, “I don’t care what I’m riding, as long as I’m having a good time with my friends.”

In addition to Vans, Pat is sponsored by Volcom, Red Bull, Electric Visual, Squaw Valley, Eastern Boarder, Crab Grab and Haul Ass Wax.

One of our favourite snowboarders joins forces with one of our favourite snowboard brands. Awesome! And the welcome edit’s not too shabby either…

Over the summer we’d heard rumours of the Japanese bossman parting ways with longtime sponsor Burton, and had seen footage of him ripping about on a CAPiTA steed. Could 1 + 1 = 2, we wondered?

Yes, as it turns out. News dropped over the holidays that Kazu officially joined the ranks of CAPiTA’s rippers, but we were too filled with poultry and spirits to post the announcement. Now we’ve digested and sobered up we’re letting you know in case you were in the same coma, and there’s now even a sick edit welcoming him to the team as well as showing the sizeable skill sack of the rest of the CAPiTA riders.

Here’s the babble. Kazu is the BOSS.

CAPiTA Snowboarding is pleased to announce the addition of Kazuhiro Kokubo to its team of professional athletes.

As one of the most respected riders worldwide, Kokubo has a long list of accolades.

The X-Games medalist has six FIS World Cup victories and has graced the cover of every international snowboarding magazine but one. A two-time Olympian, his accomplishments also include back-to-back wins at the US OPEN of Snowboarding. The March 2011 title was especially momentous as he became the first Japanese rider to win the US OPEN of Snowboarding multiple times. The victory came just one day after the Tsunami rocked his home country, adding to the enormity of the moment.

CAPiTA President Blue Montgomery commented, “We’re honored to have Kazu join us. Normally we don’t sign athletes outside our farm system, but Kazu is a perfect match. Who he is, how he presents himself, what he stands for… he’s a very unique person and such a stylish, powerful snowboarder. He defends awesome. The future around here looks bright.”

At CAPiTA, Kokubo joins two time X-Games Gold Medalist Dan Brisse, Transworld Snowboarding’s Women’s Rider of the Year Jess Kimura, Superstar Scott Stevens, Rookie of the Year nominee Brandon Cocard, and a company known for its credible roots and artistic approach.

CAPiTA Pro Team: Dan Brisse, Scott Stevens, Jess Kimura, Kazu Kokubo, Dustin Craven, Cale Zima, Brandon Cocard, Phil Jacques.