{"id":801373,"date":"2019-11-14T12:32:01","date_gmt":"2019-11-14T19:32:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/minturn-based-weston-snowboards-earns-awards-now-worlds-no-2-splitboard-provider\/"},"modified":"2019-11-14T12:32:01","modified_gmt":"2019-11-14T19:32:01","slug":"minturn-based-weston-snowboards-earns-awards-now-worlds-no-2-splitboard-provider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/minturn-based-weston-snowboards-earns-awards-now-worlds-no-2-splitboard-provider\/","title":{"rendered":"Minturn-based Weston snowboards earns awards, now world\u2019s No. 2 splitboard provider"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.8246628131021\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-374505-137\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/11\/weston-vdn-111219-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/11\/weston-vdn-111219-1024x798.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Carly Finke \/ Special to The Daily | Weston rider Izzy Lazarus heads uphill with a Weston Rise splitboard attached to her back. The Rise won Backcountry Magazine Editor\u2019s Choice award, and also earned Splitboard Magazine\u2019s most versatile award for 2019-20.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>Weston rider Izzy Lazarus heads uphill with a Weston Rise splitboard attached to her back. The Rise won Backcountry Magazine Editor\u2019s Choice award, and also earned Splitboard Magazine\u2019s most versatile award for 2019-20.<\/strong><br \/>Carly Finke \/ Special to The Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/11\/weston-vdn-111219-1024x798.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Weston rider Izzy Lazarus heads uphill with a Weston Rise splitboard attached to her back. The Rise won Backcountry Magazine Editor\u2019s Choice award, and also earned Splitboard Magazine\u2019s most versatile award for 2019-20.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/11\/weston-vdn-111219-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/11\/weston-vdn-111219-1-1024x1024.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Jeff Kepler \/ Special to The Daily | The Weston Japow splitboard was the highest-rated men\u2019s board of Backcountry Magazine's 2019-20 splitboard test and earned the magazine's Editor\u2019s Choice award.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>The Weston Japow splitboard was the highest-rated men\u2019s board of Backcountry Magazine&#8217;s 2019-20 splitboard test and earned the magazine&#8217;s Editor\u2019s Choice award.<\/strong><br \/>Jeff Kepler \/ Special to The Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/11\/weston-vdn-111219-1-1024x1024.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"The Weston Japow splitboard was the highest-rated men\u2019s board of Backcountry Magazine's 2019-20 splitboard test and earned the magazine's Editor\u2019s Choice award.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/11\/weston-vdn-111219-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/11\/weston-vdn-111219-2-1024x682.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Dag Larson \/ Special to The Daily | Weston Backcountry's 2019-20 line of snowboards and splitboards is the company's most expansive to date. Last year, Weston became the world's second largest provider of splitboards, according to sales figures released by Snowsports Industries of America.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"0\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"11\">\n<p><strong>Weston Backcountry&#8217;s 2019-20 line of snowboards and splitboards is the company&#8217;s most expansive to date. Last year, Weston became the world&#8217;s second largest provider of splitboards, according to sales figures released by Snowsports Industries of America.<\/strong><br \/>Dag Larson \/ Special to The Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/11\/weston-vdn-111219-2-1024x682.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Weston Backcountry's 2019-20 line of snowboards and splitboards is the company's most expansive to date. Last year, Weston became the world's second largest provider of splitboards, according to sales figures released by Snowsports Industries of America.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/11\/weston-vdn-111219-3-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/11\/weston-vdn-111219-3-819x1024.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Jeff Kepler | Special to the Daily | Weston Backcountry owner Leo Tsuo is an expert snowboarder himself and personally tests all of the company's boards. Tsuo says the company's focus on the environment and sustainability will mark their growth strategy moving forward.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"9\">\n<p><strong>Weston Backcountry owner Leo Tsuo is an expert snowboarder himself and personally tests all of the company&#8217;s boards. Tsuo says the company&#8217;s focus on the environment and sustainability will mark their growth strategy moving forward.<\/strong><br \/>Jeff Kepler | Special to the Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/11\/weston-vdn-111219-3-819x1024.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Weston Backcountry owner Leo Tsuo is an expert snowboarder himself and personally tests all of the company's boards. Tsuo says the company's focus on the environment and sustainability will mark their growth strategy moving forward.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/minturn-based-weston-snowboards-earns-awards-now-worlds-no-2-splitboard-provider\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/minturn-based-weston-snowboards-earns-awards-now-worlds-no-2-splitboard-provider\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Minturn-based Weston Backcountry has taken home another slew of awards heading into the new season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The local High Country Colorado manufacturer of snowboards and splitboards has earned the Backcountry Magazine Editor\u2019s Choice award for its swallowtail splitboard, the Japow and its women\u2019s splitboard, the Rise. The Rise also earned Splitboard Magazine\u2019s most versatile award.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Started in Minturn in 2012, Weston Backcountry has used a slow growth model and strong community focus to earn recognition in the industry. The company started getting noticed a few years ago; in 2016 a pair of Weston snowboards received Transworld\u2019s Tested and Approved stamp and by 2018, the company had produced the top-rated board of all 86 tested by Outside Magazine\u2019s team of more than 30 snowboard testers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">During the 2018-19 season, Weston Backcountry also learned it is the No. 2 splitboard manufacturer in the world, according to sales figures released at the Snowsports Industries of America trade show in Denver. Weston is also the No. 2 snowboard manufacturer in Colorado according to those same figures.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote p402_hide\" readability=\"3.5\">\n<blockquote readability=\"10\">\n<p>\u201cI think we\u2019re doing things that people care about, and that\u2019s resonating. The brand, and what we stand for, is not just limited to a well thought out, high performing board.\u201dLeo TsuoOwner<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Owner Leo Tsuo says the company earned the designation first and foremost through the products themselves. Weston has been on the cutting edge, literally, of the shaped board movement, where the traditional twin tip has been cast aside for something with more shape and less symmetry. The Japow snowboard, with its deep swallowtail design, has been a poster board of sorts for this movement. While a swallowtail \u2014 a tail with a V cut out of it to allow the nose to rise up out of the snow easier \u2014 is not an uncommon sight anymore on the mountain, few swallowtails are as uncompromising as the Japow. Other swallowtail snowboards have a smaller V cut and more early rise in an effort to create a tail that can be ridden forward in the switch stance, but Weston\u2019s cut in its Japow tail is unmistakably deep, with no early rise to mitigate its impact. Strap into a Japow on a powder day and you\u2019ll feel the tail sink deep into the snow, allowing you to float the nose with less effort, preserving your strength for more turns later in the day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Last year, Weston decided to create a splitboard version of the Japow, and the editors of Backcountry Magazine took notice during their annual test.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cNamed after arguably the hottest shred destination of 2019, Weston\u2019s Japow was the highest-rated men\u2019s board of the test, and it thrives in the fabled blower conditions that even dirtbag splitboarders will chase halfway around the world,\u201d Backcountry wrote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In their description Backcountry is, of course, referring to Japan, where Tsuo takes his crew every spring to test boards and enjoy the culture.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Amid the travel and fossil fuel consumption that comes with creating a snowboard company known around the world, Tsuo says sustainability \u2014 not just within his company, but in the larger environment as a whole \u2014 has been constantly on his mind. Weston has worked to become carbon neutral through purchasing offset credits, and the company has taken a hard stance against the sale and development of national lands and contributes to the National Forest Foundation. The company also inspires riders to go human-powered on their expeditions, with the splitboard seen as the ultimate way to avoid helicopters, snowmobiles and chairlifts in snowboarding. Weston has also taken a more sustainable approach to its showroom, selling boards out of a mobile, solar-powered tiny home.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">With splitboarding comes a degree of responsibility and education, which Weston riders have helped the company promote over the years. Weston hosts clinics, intro to splitboarding classes, education seminars and partners with the Colorado Avalanche Information Center and other avalanche information centers around the country to promote safe decision making in the backcountry.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">This total-package approach will continue to mark the company\u2019s growth strategy heading into the future, Tsuo says.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI think we\u2019re doing things that people care about, and that\u2019s resonating,\u201d Tsuo said. \u201cThe brand and what we stand for is not just limited to a well thought out, high performing board. Riding a Weston board also means that you\u2019re standing behind sustainability, you\u2019re standing behind the building of community and the promotion and proliferation of education, safe travel and being a good steward of the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">For more information, visit: westonbackcountry.com.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\">This story is from VailDaily.com<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/minturn-based-weston-snowboards-earns-awards-now-worlds-no-2-splitboard-provider\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Weston rider Izzy Lazarus heads uphill with a Weston Rise splitboard attached to her back. The Rise won Backcountry Magazine Editor\u2019s Choice award, and also earned Splitboard Magazine\u2019s most versatile award for 2019-20.Carly Finke \/ Special to The Daily The Weston Japow splitboard was the highest-rated men\u2019s board of Backcountry Magazine&#8217;s 2019-20 splitboard test and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-801373","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-01 15:35:31","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=801373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801373\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=801373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=801373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=801373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}