If you want to get your own Zinger session started, shop all Krooked cruiser decks here.

A lot info was covered at last night’s Back Country Awareness tour, but one of our favorite things mentioned was Bryan Iguchi talking about what it means to take an avalanche safety course. It was so good, we wrote it dow…errr, we tweeted it:

“Avi training is for your friends, you’re preparing yourself to save someone else’s life” — @bryaniguchi speaking the truth at #BCA

— Tactics (@tactics) February 17, 2012

Isn’t that the truth, though? You spend the money, you invest your time, and ultimately, it’s to prepare yourself with the knowledge to save someone’s life when you find your crew in a sketchy situation. We’re not going to begin to try and regurgitate what was covered. If you weren’t there, well, you missed a good evening with some awesome people.

A big thank you goes out to Bryan Iguchi, Nathaniel Murphy, Clint and Cheyne at Volcom, and everybody else who came out. We hope to see you digging those pits and checking the snow instabilities in the back country.

Happy snowboarding.

Here at Tactics, we get a lot of “stuff”. Goodies, freebies, schwag, whatever you want to call it, we have it at the shop. And there are only so many shirts, sunglasses, and stickers we can give out to the people who work here before we hear, “dude, I don’t need another T-shirt…” By no means is this stuff crap, it’s just things we have: Stickers, bottle openers, magazines, DVDs, coozies; it’s just schwag for Tactics. But now, it’s schwag for you.

So, every now and then we’ll have a giveaway called Freebie Friday where we gather a bunch of goodies, let you all know via Twitter, and pick a winner. We’ll get the package boxed up and shipped the following Monday. A couple days later, voilà, a li’l thank you package possibly sitting on your doorstep.

So everybody’s on the same page and there are no crybabies when we pick a winner, here are a couple rules y’all need to follow to be eligible for our giveaway.

Rules and Regulations

1. Follow Tactics on Twitter. Duh, if you’re not following us, how will you know when we’re giving stuff away? Twitter can tell us who’s following and who’s not, so make sure you hit that follow button.
2. One entry per person. If you’re caught using multiple Twitter accounts, you get the boot.
3. To enter, simply fire off a tweet that starts something like, “Yo @tactics…” or “Hey @tactics…” and use the hashtag #FreebieFriday. If you don’t mention us, how will we know you want free stuf? You could say: “Yo @tactics, if I win this #FreebieFriday, I’m going to sell it all at Buffalo Exchange!” or “Hey @tactics, it’s my li’l bro’s birthday and this #FreebieFriday would make the best gift.” OR, and this is probably the easiest way to enter, just hit the the “Retweet” button when we let you all know about a new giveaway and you’re entered.
4. As much as we love all our international fans and followers, we can’t ship these goodies overseas, so only US residents are eligible.
5. It’s #FreebieFriday, only tweets sent on Friday are eligible.
6. And finally, your tweet must link to this Rules and Regulations page so everybody knows what the deal is.

With only 140 characters and all those rules to follow, you’ll have to get crafty, but we have faith, so start tweeting cause someone’s going to win, might as well be you.

Capiche? Good luck.

A big thanks goes out to Jamie Brown for sharing this photo with us. Thanks Jamie!

SK8EUG sent out an e-mail this morning and we need all Eugene skaters to rally! You want the park built? Let your city councilor know. More info in the press release below. The important parts are in BOLD and CAPS.

EUGENE, ORE. (February 2012)

SKATEPARK SUPPORTERS UNITE!

It has been a long, bumpy road, but now there are only 2 main obstacles left between today and seeing the W-J skatepark become reality:

#1 – Closing the Construction Costs Gap
(the price to build the skatepark above the total funds available)

#2 – Ongoing Maintenance Costs
(the price to maintain the skatepark)

The SES board has come up with answers to both of these issues…but for it to happen we need your help – TODAY!
(And we really mean today as the first City Council vote to even allow a discussion on the issue will be made this Wednesday!)

——————————-
THE MESSAGE:

This week, the process began to get our funding plan on the Eugene City Council’s agenda. In order to get the votes we need, WE NEED YOU TO CALL OR E-MAIL YOUR CITY COUNCILOR AND TELL THEM:

PLEASE DIRECT THE EUGENE PARKS DEPT. TO USE 2006 PARKS BOND FUNDS FOR SKATEPARK CONSTRUCTION COSTS.

This is Democracy in action so please don’t be afraid to act.

Not sure who your councilor is? Click HERE to see the map.

If you live in…..

Cal Young (Ward 5): Mike Clark
mike.clark@ci.eugene.or.us 541-682-8345

NW Eugene (Ward 6): Pat Farr
pat.m.farr@ci.eugene.or.us 541-682-8346

West Eugene (Ward 8): Chris Pryor
chris.e.pryor@ci.eugene.or.us 541-682-8348

NE Eugene (Ward 4): George Poling
george.a.poling@ci.eugene.or.us 541-517-3110

East Eugene (Ward 3): Alan Zelenka
alan.zelenka@ci.eugene.or.us 541-682-8343

South Eugene (Ward 2): Betty Taylor
betty.l.taylor@ci.eugene.or.us 541-338-9947

College Hill to City View (Ward 1): George Brown
george.r.brown@ci.eugene.or.us 541-682-8341

Whiteaker/North Central Eugene (Ward 7): Andrea Ortiz
andrea.f.ortiz@ci.eugene.or.us 541-688-5588

And tell the mayor too:
kitty.piercy@ci.eugene.or.us 541-682-5010

——————————-
THE DETAILS:

Here are the basics on the funding plan:

Construction – Eugene voters passed a bond in 2006 that set aside special funding to improve existing parks and purchase new park lands. This is money waiting to be spent– it’s not part of the Parks Department’s capital improvement project funds, or their general operating budget. We want City Council to direct a portion of the bond funds to build the W-J skatepark.

Maintenance – We have been informed that the Parks Department is facing significant maintenance funding issues. Our goal is to use the bond funds to construct the park, and then SES will help craft a public-private hybrid funding model. We will allocate all the funds raised thus far by SES and Eugene Rotary to be used in conjuction with some city funds currently already allocated to maintaining the space in its current form. All of these combined funds will go to a third party that will be in charge of maintaining and operating the park. We’re talking with Kidsports about assuming this role and they’re excited about helping us make this a reality.

For more details on the issue before City Council, click HERE. It’s been a long time in coming, and this is a HUGE step toward realizing the park that we know will be a game-changer for skating in Eugene. Help us make it happen!

-SK8EUG

You didn’t hear?! Coach JJ Thomas went to Utah with Louie Vito and the duo came out as back-to-back Dew Cup champs!! Well, at least Vito did. But JJ was there coaching him along the way. Congrats to Louie Vito on his consecutive Dew Cup victories. JJ sent us a couple images from the weekend for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

Vans is touting their new Wafflecup as “The best thing to happen to skateboarders’ feet since 1966″ … which just so happens to be the year the Van Doren family started making shoes. After watching the video below, you might just feel the same way.

Will Wafflecup finally settle the age-old Cup vs. Vulcanized debate? It’s always been a give and take with skateboarding shoes. Do you want impact protection on that 15 stair bomb drop or does added boardfeel help you pirouette across the newest ledge in town? Flip in, flip out, bro.

Whether you’re dropping hammers like Chris Pfanner or getting tech like Gilbert Crockett, the Stage 4 will handle everything you throw its way and we’re stoked to have the Chima Ferguson and Andrew Allen colorways available at Tactics.com. Shop all Vans right here.

JJ Thomas’ injury at the Nike Open in Breckenridge could have put him into rehab mode playing hours of video games and watching movies–or whatever professional athletes do when they can’t compete–but it didn’t. He’s still in full rehab mode, but hasn’t stepped away from the contest scene. In fact, he’s stepped up to coach Louie Vito. As the Winter Dew Tour rolls into Ogden, Utah for the third and final stop, Team Louie is looking for their first contest win with a little coaching help from JJ.

How has the season changed since getting injured at the Nike Open?

JJ: Man! Everything has changed. It’s been a wild few 6 weeks for me since the injury. The first big thing to get over was just the fact that I wasn’t going to be able to compete this season, and once I digested and moved past that, things have been amazing!

You’re coaching Louie Vito, right? What’s it like working behind the scenes and helping your close friend throughout the season?

JJ: Yes, I am helping out Louie Vito. It’s been a great ride the last two weeks.It’s amazing being on this side of things and really seeing how another competitor works. I’ve always had respect for Louie, but after working this close with him and seeing how he operates along with the dedication he brings to the sport, I think it’s safe to say respect and support are at an all time high for the kid, Louie Vito.

What was it like not competing at X Games this year? How will coaching Louie Vito help you once you’re back on your board? …is Shaun White really THAT good?

JJ: Not riding at X this year was a trip, but to be honest it was just as intense working with Vito there. He broke though and did something that has never been done before, and that was a 4 trick , double cork combo!!! It was great to help him do that, but now we need to go out this weekend at Dew Tour and get that last hit in and hopefully walk away with a win!

As for what I think of Shaun? Yes, he’s that good! For my real extended opinion on the subject click the link below and go to 2:55. I break it all down there, but come on, 20ft airs in zebra pants followed by back to back 12 combos!?WTF!! Believe it and just enjoy watching the show!

How much longer is the rehab process? Have the doctors given you a date you can strap back onto the board and take some runs? What are you looking forward to the most once you’re cleared to ride?

JJ: I’ll be back on the board this summer at Hood! Looks like I’ll be doing the typical summer time hang out in Mt. Hood and off days in Eugene at Tactics!

Congrats on the iNi announcement. Why did you choose to work with them and what are you most stoked about going forward?

JJ: ! Yeah it’s an honor to be part of what these guys are doing. Eco friendly, technical, fashion forward outerwear doesn’t come along everyday so I jumped on the chance to help them out!

What else do you have going on over the next several months? 

JJ: Right now it’s about getting strong and healthy ASAP! After that I will be busy with projects at iNi cooperative and YEA.NICE. I will also be coaching Louie through the rest of the season and will be continuing to do recaps from the events for the Inside Alli Sports show on YouTube.

Several Tactics employees started their season a couple weeks ago at Hoodoo after the ski area received a healthy dumping of snow. First day out in more than a foot of fresh? You knew the Scorpion King would rear his ugly head. Enjoy this edit courtesy of hardgoods buyer Brandon featuring Tim, Stacy, Tyler, and Tactics homey Tanner.

SIA 2012 went down a couple weeks ago. For those of you who couldn’t attend, there’s plenty of coverage all over the Interwebs for your viewing pleasure. If you want make sure your 2013 kit is up to day, Snowboard Mag has a full recap. If you just want to see party photos, follow Nick Lipton‘s post over on YoBeat. We’re no hard-hitting journalist, so here are six photos sent over from the Tactics heads who made the trek to Denver.

Side note: If you ever make it to a tradeshow, find the Stance booth…you always leave happy.

Another month, another round of shoes from our top brands. Nike SB has a solid February offering and Supra is following that with little bit of something for everybody. If you’re just looking for a solid, no frills sneaker to skate, the Vaider Low is the shoe for you. If you want that added protection–and added flair–the Vaider High will find its way onto your feet. See all the recent releases below and shop all Supra Footwear at Tactics.com right here.

And while you’re looking at all the new shoes, check this video with Spencer Hamilton that Supra posted over the weekend.

Black upper on a white outsole. There really isn’t anything that combo DOESN’T look good with. If you haven’t tried on the Nike SB Koston shoe, we highly recommend it as they are one of the most comfortable shoes in the game right now.

You know the drill. Janoskis always look good. Classic Blazers are hard to beat. The ever popular Dunk Low still turns heads with the updated sole and fat tongue.

Not much else we can say that you don’t already know and can’t see in the photos below, so check ‘em out and if any of these new steps fancy your liking, you can shop all Nike SB here.

A project one year in the making, from the east side of Eugene to the west side of Springfield and everywhere in between (Glenwood), it’s Always Funny In Springfield features Tactics riders, employees, homies, and kooks. “The Crew Goes Skateboarding”

Watch the full clip below or on Vimeo.