7th Annual Season Kickoff Party!

Venture Snowboards and Ska Brewing are once again teaming up to welcome winter with our Seventh Annual Season Kickoff Party scheduled for Saturday, December 3rd - opening day at Silverton Mountain!

For the 7th year running, the two homegrown Colorado companies are producing a small run of custom graphics boards and a special winter brew, both of which will be unveiled at the bash. This year's Season Kickoff features live music from The Crags and Farmington Hill, Ska drink specials, and tons of giveaways from Purgatory, Purl Wax, Silverton Mountain, Silverton Powder Cats, Smith Optics, Skullcandy, Spark R&D, TREW Gear, and Wolf Creek Ski Area and more.

The highlight of the evening will be the raffle for a coveted limited edition Ska/Venture custom snowboard. This year's deck features the Euphoria Pale Ale graphic and the distinctive Venture snowflake, and is destined to become a collector’s item for beer and snow lovers alike.

The Season Kickoff Party gets rockin' at 8 pm at Silverton's Grand Imperial Hotel (1219 Greene Street). Cover charge is $6 and this is a 21+ event. Proceeds will benefit the Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies in Silverton. For more information call 970.387.5527.

YOU COULD WIN THIS BOARD!!

ODIN SPLITBOARD NAMED EDITORS' CHOICE!

We are stoked to announce that Venture's new Odin Splitboard has received the prestigious Editors' Choice Award from Backcountry Magazine!

As the premier backcountry skiing and snowboarding publication in North America, Backcountry Magazine’s endorsement is highly coveted within the snow sports industry. This year's annual product test was held at Crested Butte Mountain Resort, where a selection of boards from top manufacturers were put through their paces both on piste and off by a crew of 35 independent testers.  When the powder cloud settled, Venture’s Odin Splitboard emerged as a top choice.

According to Backcountry, outstanding tester response, exceptionally high scores, and category-leading overall performance contributed to their selection of the Odin as a 2012 Gear Guide Editors’ Choice.  Additionally, testers gave it the “Best in Pow” award, and said, "When the stakes are high, you want the Odin underfoot."

The Odin is the result of a close collaboration between legendary rider Johan Olofsson and Venture’s founder and design engineer, Klemens Branner.  Dubbed Odin after the Norse god of war and wisdom, this big mountain beast is a nod to its creators’ Viking roots and is the ideal choice for hard charging freeriders who like to pull out all the stops.   

  

Tailored to Olofsson’s riding style and preferred terrain, the Odin combines all mountain precision with powder specific features for uncompromising performance across the full range of big mountain conditions.  Moderate sidecut delivers wide arching turns and quadratic sidecuts offer plenty of grip, while a rockered shape and serious stance offset promise plenty of float when Mother Nature gives up the goods.  As with all boards in the Venture line, the Odin is available both solid and split.

 

The Odin is the third board in the Venture quiver to receive an Editors’ Choice Award, following close on the heels of victories by the Zephyr Splitboard in 2011 and the Storm Splitboard in 2010.  “Three Editors Choice awards don’t lie,” says Branner.  “To receive such an incredible honor three years running is a huge statement about the quality and performance or our boards.  Clearly the backcountry community feels we’re doing it right.”  Olofsson agrees, and is excited be pushing the boundaries with innovative new designs. “I’m always looking into projects that will progress the sport, in this case freeride boards which are getting to be a rare breed in the industry.  Working on this level with Venture makes it possible to create and shape boards quickly, and I hope to get some more good shapes out there for you all in the future.”

The Odin Splitboard will receive special coverage in this year's Backcountry Gear Guide which will hit the newsstands in September.  A preliminary write up can be found online at http://bit.ly/EC2012. 

Find detailed product specs and more information on the Odin Splitboard here.

 

SOLITAIRE Trailer from Sweetgrass

Check out the trailer for Sweetgrass Productions' new film SOLITAIRE.  It's got some awesome footage of Venture splits in action, especially under the feet of Kyle Miller.  As usual, Sweetgrass has done a fantastic job, and we're proud to be a sponsor.  Tour dates TBA, so stay tuned!

11.12 Lineup Available for Pre-Order!

Though summer is in full swing, here at Venture we haven't stopped thinking snow for a second.  We are busy building boards and gearing up for winter.

The annual revamp of our website for the 11.12 season is now complete so give it a gander and get all the beta on our latest and greatest board lineup, including the new Johan Olofsson signature model, the Odin.

Pre-order now through the Venture Webstore and reserve the board of your dreams before they sell out! 

TWS Biz Profiles Venture

We were recently interviewed by Transworld Snowboarding Business about Venture's ongoing commitment to the environment.  Below is a snippet from the story:

"Lisa Branner and husband Klem stepped into the  snowboard manufacturing ring 12 years ago, founding Venture Snowboards in remote Silverton, Colorado with the vision of creating a more environmentally friendly snowboard. Over the years, their vision and efforts have evolved. 
 
Lisa won’t run a product just because it’s environmentally friendly; the product has to be durable, and Venture focuses on improving the quality and performance of its snowboards while minimizing environmental impact. The company only uses wood approved by the Forest Stewardship Council for their cores, uses a comprehensive recycling program and has converted its  entire operation to run on wind power. 

While the Branners and Venture continuously look at ways they can make their company more environmentally friendly, they also realize that these changes must be practical, and durability cannot be compromised—otherwise, they’ll just end up in the dump. Our contributor Michael Sudmeier recently caught up with Lisa Branner about Venture’s efforts to be more environmentally friendly."  Check out the full story here!

King of the Hill

A big congrats to Will Brommelsiek, the new reigning King of the Hill! 

Will recently won the King of the Hill big mountain snowboard competition at Thompson Pass, AK, riding his trusty Venture of course. 

Way to go Will!

This accomplishment is not to be underestimated.  Will competed against many well known pro riders like Rob Kingwill and Mike Basich, who placed 6th and 7th respectively, in the comp.  It's also worth noting that two of the top five riders were on Ventures.  The #4 competitor - Brandon Reid - also rides a Venture as his board of choice.

Check out these links for more info on King of the Hill and Tailgate Alaska:


ESPN.com

Tailgate Alaska

Snowboardermag

Spring Fling!

Join us on Saturday April 2nd for our Spring Fling party!  We'll be celebrating the return of the unguided season at Silverton Mountain with live music from Waiting On Trial and a raffle for lots of great prizes - including one of next's season's decks!  The party gets rocking at 8 pm at Silverton's Pride of the West.  This is a 21+ only event.  See you there!

Gearing Up For The SIA Show

We're getting ready to hit the road for the annual Snowsports Industry America "Snow Show" in Denver, where we will unveil the 2011/2012 lineup.  Transworld recently interviewed Venture's Lisa Branner about what's in store.  Read the interview here,
and check out a sneak peak at the new line below!