Vertra’s own Jason “Batz” Shibata and Mick Fanning hanging out and having laughs at the Rio Pro in Brazil.  Mick ended up losing in the Semi’s, but looked strong throughout the entire event.  Photo Courtesy of Surfline:  http://www.Surfline.com

A really cool fact about Brett’s father Bill Simpson is that he played in the NFL.  Bill was a defensive back for the Los Angeles Rams and the Buffalo Bills for eight sucessful seasons. Brett’s definitely a chip off the old block as his work ethic to strive to be the best proved true when he qualified for the elite ASP World Tour in 2010 with a big boost from his US Open victory.  Despite his cool, calm and collected demeanor, Simpo is a savvy competitor and is driven to win.  He is one of the most respected surfers on tour coming up through the Hobgood stable in his rookie years as he was able to learn the in’s and out’s of the tour from the best. Now in his fourth season on tour Simpo has his sights set on cracking the Top 16 in 2013.   Check Brett out tomorrow in the Billabong Rio Pro  http://wctbrasil.com/rio13

Name: Brett Simpson
Birthdate: 01/05/85
Hometown: Huntington Beach
Homebreak: HB pier
Mom and Dad: Bill and Lynn simpson
Sponsors: hurley, Nike, Hss , dakine, Vertra , hdx, future fins., Toyota of HB.
Facebook: Brett Simpson – Athlete Page
Twitter: @brettsimpo
Instagram: @brettsimpson

Vertra 5:  Brett Simpson

5 Influential People in your Life and why?
-Mom and Dad because they have taught me to be kind and work hard for everything.
-CJ and Damien Hobgood because they have helped when I was getting starting on tour and their knowledge is priceless!

5 Things people may not know about you.
-I Drive a Toyota Tundra
-I love seal beach
-Chicken Parmigiana is my favorite
-Tried to surf goofy foot when I started surfing
-I love basketball shoes…

5 websites that you look at daily.
-Surfline
-ESPN
-Surfing Magazine
-Magicseaweed
-Nike

5 Things you want people to remember you as.
-Hard worker
-Passionate
-Happy
-Funny
-Caring

5 Places you want to go to/go back to before you die.
-Miami
-Italy
-Fiji
-Mentawai Islands
-New York

Video by: Pilipp Vasilev (Scotty)

Per Surfer Magazine: http://www.surfermag.com/blogs/photo-blog/bryce-lowe-white-dusty-payne-barbados-2/

Featuring JP Walker, Jeremy Jones, Simon Chamberlain, Scott Stevens, Marko Grilic, Chris Grenier, Cody Rosenthal, Tim Eddy, Ben Bilocq and special guest Dave Downing and Dale Rehberg.

Find out the latest Don’s Dispatch on Snowboardermag.com here to read JP”s Behind The Scenes look at creating an event like this. 

We appreciate your support promoting the video!(link love, Facebook, tweet, instagram – Whatever!) Let us know once it’s posted.

Follow JIBBERISH VOLUME 2

Website - AbsoluteJibberish.com

Youtube - youtube.com/AbsoluteJibberish1

Twitter - twitter.com/JibberishSnow

Facebook - facebook.com/AbsoluteJibberish

Instagram – @JibberishSnow

Attention Surf Filmmakers:

The 2013 Mill Valley Surf Film Festival is accepting film submissions now through July 1st. The 2nd Annual MVSFF will take place September 13th and 14th at The Sweetwater Music Hall.

Rules and Guidelines:

1. Feature Films must be over 30 minutes.
2. Short films must be under 30 minutes.
3. Films must have been completed after January 1, 2011.
4. Films should focus on wave riding (any forms) and the ocean.
5. Films should be submitted via a password protected link (i.e. Vimeo).
6. There is NO submission fee
7. All films must be submitted by July 1.
8. Official selections will be made by August 1.
———
9. Upon selection, filmmakers must submit their movie in 2 formats:
a. HD digital file on a hard drive (Dropbox is acceptable for short films); and
b. DVD or Blue Ray for back up.
10. Shipping to the festival will be paid for by the filmmaker. The MVSFF will return all hard drives after the festival.
11. Selected films must be received by August 13 or be subject to forfeit their spot in the festival.

Please submit all entries to
arilurie@gmail.com

Thank you and good luck!

Unique Scoring Format Makes JP Walker’s inaugural Handplant Holiday at Bear Mountain a Total Success 

And the Shot of the Day Goes To…

Encinitas, CA (May 1, 2013): It was an idea that JP Walker conceived on the comfort of his couch: bring a group of snowboarding’s most talented riders together for a day-long handplant contest. But what was supposed to be “no big deal” to pull together took seven months of intense planning that culminated on April 20, 2013 in the highly successful first annual Handplant Holiday at Bear Mountain.

At Bear Mountain, world-class planters were treated to a set–up created by the innovative park crew unlike anything seen before, which included several transiton based variations ranging from a wall ride, channel, spine, hip and extension. 

The riders not only got creative on the feature, they got creative with Sony Action Cams, adapting the mounts to get rare POV video and capture unique angles and technical tricks. In the end, it was JP Walker who took home $1000 of high end Sony electronics gear for Sony’s Best Shot of the Day contest by capturing his perspective of stomping an Eggflip.

 Check out highlights from the best POV footage shot on Sony’s Action Cam and Walker’s winning clip here: http://vimeo.com/64961301

What nailed the event home was a unique team aspect and jam format—which Walker came up specifically for the event—that gave the riders a chance to ride when and where they wanted throughout the day, to session individual sections or lap several features in a row accumulating points for their team. Because of this scoring format, the vibe during the contest was relaxed and friendly—though there was never any doubt that both teams wanted the win.

Both teams benefited from the expertise of their captains, legendary snowboarders Dave Downing and Dale Rehberg. Downing and Rehberg kept track of the riders points, coached, motivated, strategized and even got in the mix throwing down some plants of their own.

Under the guidance of Dave Downing, Marko Grilc, Chris Grenier, Jeremy Jones, Cody Rosenthal and Scott Stevens got down to business early in the day to secure valuable points. Dave’s experience in transitions and coaching came into play helping his team lock in their tricks.

But it was Dale Rehberg’s Team One, which included event mastermind JP Walker, Ben Bilocq, MVP Simon Chamberlain, Tim Eddy and Snowboarder magazine Editor Pat Bridges, who threw down variations of handplants throughout the different features with a combination of talent, teamwork, creativity and experience to earn the win. Team One split the $6000 prize purse and each member received a Sony Camcorder Cradle with LCD to use with the Action Cams they used for the contest.

“Being the Captain of Team One was not only an honor, but also a damn good time.  Watching these guys go through the trick list as if it was no big deal pretty much blew me away, especially since the trick list was incredibly difficult. What an insane group of talented riders, who got it done,” said Rehberg.

It was a tight race between Marko Grilc and Simon Chamberlain for the honour of Plant of Day, but Chamberlain took the win with a Switch Andrect on the Bear Mountain wallride, which also earned him an additional 150 points and a Nixon Player XL Black SR valued at $1200.

Chamberlain also landed several handplant variations including tricks from the undoable category such as a Switch Eggplant Tailgrab and a Phillips 66 over the channel to gain a total individual score of 1270 points. With a final tally more than 400 points above the next highest score, which secured him the Most Valuable Planter award, he ultimately took home the MVP trophy. For this, he scored a Nixon Player XL Gunmetal watch that he graciously gave to Marko Grilc, who Chamberlain felt was “deserving of a win for slaying the features from morning to night.”

“Handplant Holiday was the most fun I have had all season. Team One killed it on every challenge. It’s just that much better sharing the win with your homies. Winning the MVP and best trick was such a surreal feeling. To get those awards riding with all these amazing snowboarders was for sure humbling,” Chamberlain said.

Full event video coverage will appear in the next episode of Jibberish Volume 2 on snowboardermag.com

Check for updates on the video release

Twitter: @JibberishSnow

Instagram: JibberishSnow

Hashtag #HandplantHoliday

and via AbsoluteJibberish.com 

Special Thanks:

All the riders, Rio Tanbara, Clayton Shoemaker and the entire Bear Mountain Crew, Kelly Kroona and Rachelle Arcebido from Sony, Chad Dinenna and Mike Murciano at Nixon, Snowboarder Magazine, Brock Harris, Todd Slack, Aaron Blatt, Marc Pirc, Mark Thalman, Sean Sims Neil, Big Bear Vacations, Dan and Ben Callaway at Hill Street Café, Helena Holis and Johney Burke at CocoRidge, Ashton Maxfield at Fred Water, Scott Nemeth at Sambazon, Dave Frieman and Brian Weaver at Raw Rev, Jeff Heidt, Lee Stockwell, Art N Soul, Natalia O’Connor and Chris Carrier.