Once again, snowboarding is slowly creeping its way into major world publications...

The newest tantalizing story that has captured a USA today reporter's attention was how the infamously hilarious "Frends Crew" came to be and how they divide their time between work and play. Fascinating. Okay, honestly, we love the Frends Crew, everyone does; but...USA Today? Really? Who throws a shoe?

Enjoy.

GrindTV Newswire, Via USA Today: (July 28, 2010) Keir Dillon, a member of a seven-snowboarder crew known as "Frends," summarizes the last several months of his comrades' lives in a simple, understated sentence: "It was a crazy year."

Since December, one Frends member suffered a traumatic brain injury, another was inches from being paralyzed and a third dislocated his shoulder. But when most would avoid mirrors and ladders, Frends members moved forward on their next big-risk project -- launching a product line.

Frends -- Dillon, 33; Mason Aguirre, 22; Danny Davis, 22; Scotty Lago, 22; Kevin Pearce, 22; and Mitrani brothers Jack, 21, and Luke, 20 -- unveiled a series of five headphones at Agenda, an action sports trade show last week in New York. The headphones, ranging from ear buds to larger, DJ styles, are the crew's answer to growing fan demands.

Dillon and Davis, who injured his back in an ATV accident in January, first formalized their friendship into a business in 2006. Frends -- spelled intentionally without the "I" to evoke unity -- promoted their group-over-the individual philosophy with stickers, T-shirts and videos. The group, unintentionally, conducted "several years of grass-roots marketing," according to Dennis "DJ" Jenson, a former Burton Snowboards senior vice president and current Frends chairman.

"Feeding the youth our stories and what we're about as a crew in snowboarding transcended into them wanting more from us," Aguirre says.

Recognizing their competition careers could quickly expire because of injuries or age, the members also sought security through their start-up. "It's an extreme sport," says Lago, an Olympic halfpipe bronze medalist. "That's definitely in the back of all of our minds. We're looking at our future."

Deciding on the product proved to be difficult. The snowboarders' existing endorsements restricted them from producing anything from snowboards to street wear. However, Frends CEO Eric Kotch, an action sports industry veteran, stumbled on an under-recognized product category while watching Pearce in the 2009 X Games.

After securing his boots, Pearce "made sure his ear buds were tight in his ears and that his iPod was on," Kotch says in an e-mail, adding that Frends' decision to enter the consumer electronics sector provides the company with mass-market, mainstream opportunities beyond action sports.

Pearce, who was critically injured after falling during a practice halfpipe run in Park City, Utah, in December, has been steadily recovering at his family home in Vermont. Pearce has said he plans to return to snowboarding, and Frends members say he remains in communication regarding the launch.

The group candidly acknowledges that on the topic of percentages, the discussions were weird. But Davis says, "Everyone really stood by the fact that the 'I' was taken out of Frends for a reason."

The crew also discussed whether to build a product from the ground up or add a new design to an existing product. Pearce pushed for an original product. "The Frends crew is all about being authentic on every level," Pearce says in an e-mail. "This includes the way we snowboard and what we think about designing our headphones."

This quest for authenticity also drove the crew to form their own company.

"The product is a byproduct of what we stand for," says Dillon, the president of the company. He keeps a sign in Frends' California office reminding him and Frends members: "We will never succeed doing what other people do."

www.frendsvision.com


Danny, Jack, Luke, Scotty, Keir, Kevin and Mason have just put a new way to kill time up on the wide world of web.

Also, we're hearing rumors of an 8th member being added to the infamous Frends crew. We won't say anything until it's official, but we will say that if this transaction happens he would be the shortest member of the crew.

Stay tuned for more info and exclusive video about "Frends Vision". In the meantime, go surf the brand new site and tell your own friends about it.