NH's BIGGEST Selection of Loaded Skateboards

Loaded Longboards have quickly become the longboard by which other boards are judged by. We're so stoked to be working with the crew at Loaded and Orangoutang and we just got our second shipment of the spring. We're fully stocked with Dervishes and Tan-Tiens in both completes and and decks. We've also got a killer assortment of Orangoutang wheels! We've got 75mm In Heats in 80a, 83a, and 86a, 75mm Durian in 83a and 86a, 70mm Stimulus in 83a, and 70mm 4presidents in 83a! We've also got a killer selection of other longboard completes from Sector 9 and Arbor as well as wheels from Sector 9 and Abec 11. We've got every quality of bearing and trucks from Paris, Randal, Bear, and Gullwing!

Warm weather and sand and salt free roads are on the way. Get ready to shred!!!

Local planing hull shaper, surfer, and videographer Michael sanders spends as much time playing with pink foam in the basement as I do here at the shop. He certainly gets his fair share of weird looks when he slide the pink squares out of his back seat but you can't argue with the video. Surfing is fun no matter how you do it and Mike does it finless and by hand from Home Depot products. Still waiting to try one but if it's anything like The Tuna I'm sure it will be super fun.

Weather on the way, snow up north and waves on the coast. Could be time for another NH Triathlon.... who's in???

Still Feeling Like Winter

As much as it's felt like spring lately, boy does it feel like winter today. In like a lion, out like a lamb. Gotta love March. Brian shot the above photo today from up in the Whites. Cold temps, lots of wind, and light snow equals avalanche danger and winter conditions. Mt. Washington has been up to it's old tricks as of late too. Pretty much anything that can slide has or is threatening to. Pretty soon though we'll be sliding true NH corn and I can't wait! I haven't been north in a few weeks now and I'm getting a little antsy, maybe this weekend.... I'm feeling like once we come out of this freeze it's gonna be all thaw from here on out, gotta get those last couple of turns in!

If the thought of winter makes your eyes bleed then self medicate with a new tank! We've got some really awesome ones right now from Vans, Matix, Lost, Volcom, and O'neill. Check them out!

New kicks from DVS in today. The Convict is it's name and they are tight! Think I might even pick a pair up for myself. Two colors, check em!

O'neill Cold Water Classic is on and LIVE HERE. Quarters, Semis, and Finals right now.

GET ON IT!!!

NEW LOST SURFBOARDS ARE IN!!!!!!!!

There is a strange similarity between Christmas morning and unpacking new surfboards. Even though the new boards are not mine it still feels pretty good to rip those boxes apart and check out all the new creations that Matt Biolis of Lost has sent our way. The 2011 line looks amazing and we've got a few of his latest creation along with some tried and true Lost shapes.

First up is The Black Sheep. Lost combined two of their most popular designs putting a Sub-Scorcher tail on the Rockets nose. What came out is the driviest, on- rail carving, hybrid stub we have ever made. Featuring the exact nose outline, rocker and foil that made the Rockets so fast, smashed together with the Sub-Scorcher’s wide tailed, flat rocker to vee combo. The rear outline and rocker both become straighter than the Rocket, allowing this board to fly across flat gutless waves in a way the Rocket couldn't for many surfers. The vee lends control and smooth rail-to-rail transitions, and "Super Swallow" tail allows some bleeding off of speed and adds bite, encouraging hard turning. For any one who wished the Rocket was easier to ride in junky waves, but didn’t want to add volume or go to a more "grovel" board design, this is your answer. Designed with double concave, ”exacta deck” (first used in our Placebo line a few years back) in the tail, to mimic that “magic board”, locked in feeling for your back foot. Because of the low tail rocker and tail shape this board works well as a Thruster or quad.

This is the new UBER PLANK and it's a refined, more high performance version of “The Plank". Never one to leave well enough alone and influenced by the feeling of burying a snowboard rail 90 degrees into soft powder, Matt went to work fine tuning The Plank into a small wave, on rail, carving Machine. Same rocker and foil, but with updates in bottom curves and outline to increase performance. Wing "Squallow" (swallow set into a squash) tail adds bite and increases precision. Nose tip is pulled to reduce un-needed volume, swing weight and quicken up turns. Bottom now features single concave set into a rolled Vee through middle, increasing lift at low speedswhile still being easy to roll onto a rail for hard carves in the smallest of waves.

We also got got a restock on the tried and true Motivators and Rockets!!! Two of the best boards EVER. Steve and I will be singing their praises for years to come. Ride a Motivator, ride a rocket, you'll be stoked!!!!! Come on in and check them out, we've also got the new 2011 catalog for you take home and drool over!

If you haven't heard yet we, the skateboarders and residents of the Seacoast are doing everything we can to get a concrete bowl built in Hampton. We have a goal set and we're about half way there. We've got some fundraisers in the works and I'll tell you about them as we get them finalized! For the rest of March we've got a deal going for ya'll that helps you and our goal. Buy any think deck and we'll put 5 bucks of your purchase into the concrete fund. Think decks start at $40 so stock up and buy two. Support skateboarding, Support Concrete!!!

New Ripcurl and O'neill Wetsuits in stock at Pioneers in NH

Deep in the woods of Wildcat, TODAY.

In true New England style, mother nature welcomed spring with 10 inches of snow in ski country and chest high waves on the coast. I've yet to score either of the two but I just like knowing they're there. I'm holding onto the hope of an after work session tonight where I can double check and make sure that they really are there. Even though we literally have snow in the air the feeling of spring is there too. It only takes one day above 60 and people start jonesing for it. I love winter but after a long cold one like we had those warm temps are just to good to forget.

One the ABSOLUTE BEST parts of turning the corner to spring is knowing that the water is starting to warm up. That means trading in the winter suit for the 4/3 and ditching those 5 mil mittens for some 3 mil gloves!!! O how sweet it is!!! I can't wait to climb back into my Ripcurl Insulator 4/3, just can't wait! And as if O'neill and Ripcurl could read my mind new 4/3s suits, 3 mil gloves and 3 mil boots showed up yesterday for both the ladies and the men. We maybe getting a little ahead of ourselves her but there's nothing wrong with a little wishful thinking. 4/3 weather on the way!

New Skate Product

CREATURE

SANTA CRUZ Ever Slicks in the Dressen and the Tom Knox. Retro never felt so right!

INDEPENDENT SKATEBOARD TRUCKS

Every size in matte Black, matte whit, and RAW

It seems as if the Flordia Bowlriders Cup has become a right of passage for all of our skate team. I know they all look forward to the Florida mission every year. This year was no exception and the first lady of Pioneers, Nora Vasconcellos, earned a third place finish overall and our mini grom Eamon, earned himself a top five finish! Good job team! Check out the video for a recap of what was going down!

The first stop of the O'neill Cold Water Classic kicks off today in New Zealand! I really like the CWC series because most of the waves they end up surfing remind me of the waves in NH. I like watching really good surfers surf the waves I surf. Round of 144 should be in the water by the time you read this. Check out the live coverage HERE.

Beach Sweep Tomorrow!!!!

Well gang, it's that time of year again where we start pitching in to keep our beaches clean! I'm guessing that by now you've heard that the Hookset water treatment plant released 300,000 gallons or raw sewage and between 4 and 8 million small plastic disks into the Merrimak river on March 6th. Some of the disks made it north to Hampton and N. Hampton and lots of folks are doing there part to help the clean up.

The Blue Ocean Society was at it yesterday at the main beach and tomorrow the Pioneers crew will be cleaning up North Hampton State Beach/Plaice Cove and the local Surfrider Foundation will be taking care of the Wall. The Pioneers crew will be meeting across from The Beach Plum at 8am tomorrow and the Surfrider crew will be meeting at the bath houses at the north end of the wall at 8am also.We'll have plastic gloves and trash bags for picking up all the garbage we find. If you've got a minute tomorrow we'd love to have you pitch in with us and pick up some trash. Earn your karma points and set waves for the summer tomorrow with the Pioneers Crew!

New stuff continues to pour into the shop. New shoes, shorts, trunks, sandals, skate and surf gear, it just won't stop.

This is the new Holbrook Low from es.

A HUGE order from FCS just came in. New pads, leashes, bags, fins, and more!!!

New H-3s, PCs, and ULs.

from surfer.

Tragedy struck the surfing world on Wednesday when news broke that Sion Milosky, 35 of Kaleheo, Kauai, passed away while surfing Maverick’s in Northern California. According to a report by the, Sion had caught a handful waves before he took a two-wave hold-down and apparently drowned. The report went on to state that Nathan Fletcher found Sion’s body floating about a mile from the lineup.

Sion, who began his professional surfing career as a longboarder, rose to fame in recent years when he began paddling into some of the biggest waves ever recorded. Whether it was casually slipping into Second Reef Pipe or hucking himself over the ledge on the North Shore’s outer reefs, Sion was one of the most respected individuals in the big-wave surfing scene. As friendly as he was determined, Sion’s good-natured attitude made him a friend to all. Having found a career as a professional surfer later in life, Sion spent many of his years working as a craftsman and building gates. Proud of his blue-collar background, Sion found solace knowing that he was able to provide for his wife and two daughters by working with his hands.

After gaining traction in the surf media in 2009, Sion’s career reached a crescendo this past winter when he graced the cover of three different surf magazines and was awarded $25,000 for winning Surfing Magazine’s North Shore Underground award. With the momentum behind him, Sion began setting out to realize his dream of paddling into the biggest waves possible. “I’m planning on going even harder now,” Sion said in a recent interview. “I want to catch the biggest wave ever.”

Volcom has announced a fund that they have established to help his wife and two daughters in this most difficult time. All of the money collected will go straight to the Milosky family. Click HERE to donate.

The New Seaglass Tuna Surfboard now available at Pioneers in NH

The Board: 6'2 Seaglass Project Tuna

The Tester: Stoked Shop Guy

The Wave: clean waist to stomach high sets peeling down a point for about about 75 yards and nobody out but me.

Well I'll start this thing out with WOW, you've got to try this thing, the Tuna is a lot of fun. I've been intrigued by the a'laias that Tom Wegner has been shaping since the first time I saw one ridden. I was stoked to get the chance to try one a short time later and quickly realized you have to either be a damn good surfer or under 75 lbs to ride one. Last year when I saw that Global Surf Industries was working with Wegner to create a more user friendly version of the a'laia I was stoked at the prospect of tryin g one out again.

We got our first shipment of Tunas into the shop earlier this week and after I got out of work last night I grabbed a demo Tuna, waxed it up, and took it out to a place I've always wanted to surf finless . Turns out conditions were perfect, long clean lefts all to myself. The Tuna was easier to paddle than I thought it would be and it's much easier to paddle in a straight line than a wooden a'laia. The first few waves had me reminiscing my last a'laia experience, I was slipping out on the drops and the ones I did make were blown once I tried to make a bottom turn. After 4 or 5 failed attempt/learning experiences I successfully made a drop and flew down the line with incredible glide and speed.

The feeling was awesome and one I had never experienced before. After catching that first wave all the way to the beach all I wanted was to get back outside for another. The more waves I caught and rode the easier the whole process got. I went from searching out the smaller inside waves to waiting out the back for the biggest set waves of the evening. I was even able to slide a couple of 360s during that first session proving the board is pretty user friendly.

So overall the board truly is an a'laia for beginners. It's relatively easy to ride and fun as hell once you figure out you've got to surf it a little different than your regular board. The Tuna is fast, it's smooth, it's responsive, and again FUN AS HELL. It's definitely a fun one to add to the quiver if you're looking to get a new outlook on surfing. I'm already looking forward to my next session on the Tuna and I'm pretty sure if you try the Tuna out you'll feel the same way. We've got two Tunas here at the shop and we're encouraging everyone to come in and try one out. If you like one enough to add it to your quiver just say the word and we'll have you your very own Tuna in a week.

If you've got any question email the shop, give us a call, or stop by.

TUNA SESSION???

OH IT FEELS SO GOOD TO BE BACK IN THE WATER! It's been so long since we've had multiple days of head high surf in a row! My arms are tired and for the first time in a while I went to bed exhausted last night. As stoked as I am my surfing is all over the place, botched drops, misplaced feet, and duck dives that more look more like a duck drowning. I started to find my rhythm by the end of this morning's session and I hope it keeps coming. So if your feeling like a kook you're in good company. I'm hoping to get a session in after work and if I do I plan on taking the TUNA out for a cruise. I'll be back with a report on the finless wonder tomorrow.

Well I've never been to Alaska, but I do plan on making the pilgrimage to AK some day. Hopefully that day will come sooner than later and when it does I'm sure my excitement and stoke will be similar to our buddy Brian's, who is fresh off the plane from his holy experience. Share Brian's trip through his camera and his words here on Get In The Van.

Pioneers skate team update: We're CRUSHING IT!!! This weekend one of the most prestigious contest in the skate world. I'm talking about the Tampa Pro/Am. Local up and coming vert destroyer, ZAC ROSE, earned himself a third place finish in the amateur vert contest. Then we've got our two local Pioneer's pros, Dave Bachinsky and Manny Santiago, qualifying 7th and 24th respectively. Live coverage of the FINALS is TODAY right HERE from SPoT.

Fantasy Surf Team Update: Men's team, 840 points and a 177th place out of 10000 finish.

Women's team, 800 points and a 53rd place out of 9,200 finish.

Get your team in order and we'll battle. If you already have a team let us know how you did!

Enjoy your Sunday, I hope you find a few fun one wherever you are, and as a wise man once said "say YES to yourself a little more often".

Pioneers has NH's Biggest Selection of Vans Skate Shoes!!!

Pacific wave heights...

Well gang our World is ALIVE!!! LAst week a major quake hit NZ and an 8.9 magnitude quake struck just off the coast of Japan sending tsunami waves across the Pacific Ocean. The majority of the West Coast of North America is under a tsunami watch/warning or has already been affected by the waves in some way. Steve spoke with one of our distributers just a few moments ago and he said things are pretty nuts on the left coast right now. Surfline has some INSANE photos that I think are worth a look. Luckily the devastation is nothing like the Indian Ocean tsunami from 2004 but many lives where still lost today.

Well by now you know Zoltan made it happen, he was the first person to officially stick the surfing KICKFLIP. VOLCOM answered with a "we're stoked Zoltan but if you want the money you got to kickflip above the lip". I thought that was a fair response as the criteria for the "$10,000 kickflip" were clearly outlined. Then in an interesting turn of event Volcom changed their mind, they gave Zoltan the 10Gs and re-upped the kickflip contest! "It's gone every which way, we've circled around the world five times trying to figure out the dynamics of the kickflip," says Gaurino. "But what it boils down to is this: what Zoltan did meets with the vision of what the contest was in the first place. It's the closest thing we've ever seen, and it is a make. We want to celebrate it." The new kickflip contest will have stricter rules but the prize purse is now $20,000. The bar has been set, who will take the kickflip to new heights!!!

Let's stick to the surf topic for a minute... Waves!!! They're back, been back, and been fun! I haven't been spending as much time in the water as usual but I've still been getting mine! I'll be getting more this weekend too!!! Waves tomorrow, waves Sunday, and it keeps going! This is the type of surf forecast I've grown accustomed too, and I'm very happy to have it back!

To celebrate the surf PIONEERS is hooking you up! O'neill winter wetsuits are 20% OFF. That includes 6/5/4 heats for $280 and 5.5/4.5 Psychofreaks $465 . The water is still in the 30s, why be cold? Get a new suit, get your stoke back, and SURF ALL WEEKEND LONG!

So what do you think, Slater 11 in 11??? We all know once he gets the lead he doesn't give it up, so it would only make sense that 11 in 11 could be a reality. He looked a little shaky in his first few heats but not in the last couple. I can't wait to see what the future holds for Slater and the ASP in 2011. Check out the highlight clip below of the final day of men's competition at Snappers on the Goldy!!!

New Shoes in today! These are just a few of what came in and there's still more coming

Vans Rowley 99s

Vans AVE 6

ES Square ones

Emerica HSU low

The Year of the ROOKIE

It may be a little early for this claim but these two could potentially be the title race for 2011.

I've been following the ASP World tour for a while now but in the past 3 years it's become my religion here at the shop. Steve and I never miss a contest and we are well versed in the who's who and the what's what of competitive surfing. If the boys or girls are in the water our computers are no doubt feeding the live web cast from some exotic destination straight to us. The men's tour last year was the best yet and this year is shaping up to be even better with more events and new qualification criteria. They boys are surfing LIVE, right now, right HERE. But as exciting as the men are in the water it is the women of the World Tour that are absolutely blowing my mind!!!

It's been a long time coming now and I think it's safe to say that the women are truly ready to compete! Last year's women's tour saw some fresh faces and a new level of surfing. For the fourth year in a row Steph Gilmore ruled. Last year however, Steph had some true competition for the first time in a while. She spent most of her year battling the likes of tour rookies Coco and Carissa. Well I'm here to tell you that Steph, the reigning world champ, is going to have her work cut out for her this year.

The big story at the Roxy Pro, the first stop of the women's tour, is again the rookies. Tyler Wright and Carrisa Moore ABSOLUTELY OWNED IT. It was a big day for the ladies and a huge day for the rookies. The level that these girls are at is absolutely amazing and it's progressing SO FAST!!! Every time I see these girls in the water they are better than they were last week. They're all progressing at a level that video just can't keep up with it. The only way to have a handle on it, is to watch the live webcasts.

The other awesome thing about yesterday is that the rookies and young guns effectively drew a line in the sand and said "we are the new standard". If you're not blowing your tail, going for airs, and spinning you are not going to be a champion!!! The Roxy Pro was Tyler's first event as a full time professional and she placed second! Laura Enever also earned an equal third in her big debut!!! Carrisa earned the victory as a second year tour veteran. These girls are young, they're beautiful, they are going to propel women's surfing to the next level and the bikinis are phenomenal!!!

When ever I get going on this topic I get a lot of people who look at me funny. They give me the "it's only surfing, don't take it so serious" or "how can you really care that much about surfing". What always cracks me up is that the people that give me shit are the same ones who would die for there favorite football team, LAME!!! I'll take cute girls in bikinis over fat dudes in spandex and pads ANY DAY OF THE WEEK!!! You can have your Bo Sox, I'm sticking with the ladies of ASP.

The above video is the shape of things to come... Check it!

We're in the shop everyday and the new gear is POURING in!!! After a long flat spell the waves are back and the forecast looks solid. Spring is on the way and we're as STOKED as ever!!! Swing by the shop and share the day!!!!