LAKE FOREST, CA (January 26, 2012) - etnies is excited to welcome Matt "Wilko" Wilkinson to its surf team! Wilko charged his way into the top 30 ASP Men's World Ranking and warmed people's hearts with his vividly designed wetsuits and wild ways of life, making etnies proud to call him one of its own. He is celebrated with this video edit: http://etnies.com/blog/2012/1/26/wilko-lands-on-etnies/

The Australian native and 23-year-old goofy-footer knows how to keep things interesting while touring the world and documenting his "badass" life on his blog out2brunch.com. Wilko's next event will be on his home turf at the Australian Open of Surfing in February.

"Wilko is an incredible talent," said Mike Regan, Global Brand Director. "He's the perfect fit for etnies. His style and personality align well with our brand. We're very happy to have him and can't wait to see him surf the 2012 ASP World Tour."

For more information on Wilko and the etnies surf team, visit etnies.com

Director Stacy Peralta and a grip of the athletes featured in the upcoming documentary BONES BRIGADE: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY give the Sundance crew an insider interview in Utah at the film festival this year.

Check out the video below:

Photos courtesy of O'Neill

Plain and simple, Sebastien Toutant destroys the park. At only 19, Seb Toots is already dubbed a freestyle snowboarding phenomenon and rightfully so. This French Canadian became the first-ever rookie to claim the ever-coveted Winter X Games gold in slopestyle in 2011 since Travis Rice in 2002. Impressive and satisfying, Toutant conquered a giant goal that he had set for himself. He's been sponsored since he was 13 and has pretty much been a force to be reckoned with ever since.

Fluid style, fearless mentality, almost always a guaranteed stomp after every trick, and a bright future ahead of him, Toutant is only getting better with age. Last year, Seb joined Mark McMorris and Torstein Horgmo in history by stomping a triple cork 1440. If that's not extraordinary enough, this teen also dropped a full breakthrough video part that is simply insane. If you haven't caught on yet, we're pretty hyped on this kid.

With Winter X Games 16 directly upon us - we wanted to get an inside glimpse into the madness behind this shredder. He's looking to defend his title of Winter X slopestyle champ and we're guessing that it's highly likely that he'll pull it off. He also nailed second in Big Air last year and will be looking to throw down in that event on Friday night as well. To cruise with Seb during his time at X Games, keep up with the O'Neill Experience - a bundle of videos put together that follow this Canadian throughout his competitions, interviews, and media appearances.

First episode below:



"The behind-the-scenes content at www.oneillexperience.com will include daily interviews with Seb, footage throughout the Games' venues, and interviews with fans. The campaign will also feature other O'Neill riders, including popular backcountry snowboarder Celia Miller, 10-year-old skiing phenom, Aspen Spora and David Wise, who will be competing at Winter X in Skier Halfpipe. Additionally, Seb will provide insight into his upcoming competitions, including tricks and strategy. Head cameras and small microphones will be used to offer viewers a more personal perspective." - O'Neill

Check out 15 random factoids you might not know about the shredder below and be sure to watch men's slopestyle finals going off on Saturday night. Keep your eye on this kid - he's sure to rock your socks off.

1) My favorite part about Montreal is the city. It's so nice to be able to film street rails during the winter at home.

2) My favorite mountains/park to take laps in are Keystone and Breckenridge. They are the best two parks ever.

3) Three things I can't live without while traveling are my phone, my sunglasses and my computer.

4) My favorite events to compete in are the Winter X Games in Aspen and Ride Shakedown.

5) The worst injury I've ever had was a broken ankle.

6) Although I've ridden with Jeremy Jones before (fellow team rider), I've never ridden a big mountain line with him and would like to one day.

7) I don't ride with music, but music is a really good way to make me want a ride. Hip hop or anything with a good beat is always good.

8) The best part about competing in the 2014 Olympics in Sochi to me would be just to be part of a new event and meeting new people will be such a good experience.

9) Winter X Games in 5 words: Creativity, Xtreme, crowd, fun, exposure

10) My favorite go-to trick is either a backside 720 or frontside 540.

11) I've had bling in my ears for about three years.

12) New Zealand is my favorite place to travel. Just cause everything is different and beautiful.

13) The reason I got started with slopestyle instead of halfpipe is because my home resort had really good jumps and rails.

14) I got my first sponsor when I was 13 years old.

15) I say "Yeah, hell yeah" way too often.

It all started with a kid from Ventura.

He surfed good. So good, in fact, that he single handedly re-wrote the criteria for how contest surfing is judged, as well as the criteria of the sponsor-surfer relationship. He started his own clothing company, with the help of his clothing company sponsor, to create a brand within a brand.

Dane Reynolds has Summer Teeth. Some are over here, and some are over there.

Now Kelly Slater has followed suit with his own Quik-backed line which, again, has an identity all it's own.

It's called VSTR, pronounced Visitor, and let's hear what the great one has to say :

"It's about how to put your passions and beliefs into something that wasn't seen as just a product for mass sale, the line and Web site are ways to express that in a different forum. Of course, we're still a company and we're backed by (quik) , just to be transparent about that, but we can quickly change direction or make decisions without all the red tape."

Check er out here.