John Sommers & Awake Snowboards

John Sommers, early 1990's Nor Cal ripper-extraordinaire for Burton and later Allian Snowboards, walked away from a peaking career. Word was he was over the hype, the endless travel and the industry bullshit-who can blame him (if those were in fact the reasons).

Shortly after his departure from sponsors, heavy word on-the-street was that many established snow firms and start-up shred companies tried to contact Sommers-in the distant hopes of getting him to ride their gear... but to no avail. Sommers' skill set and drive to choose the biggest and scariest lines at Kirkweed grabbed the eyeballs of every kid in the park, as well as every boot-packer on the spines of his fabled hill. Then, just like that, Sommers vanished from the bro-da-torium overnight.

Now it appears Sommers has lifted the stage curtain and poked his head out to let us know of his zen-like brand, Awake Snowboards. It will be interesting to see how the boards come out-something tells me the Brooklyn infused artwork will be topnotch (standout-like The Movement) and the boards will be designed to last and ride every piece of the hill-like Sommers himself.

I am stoked to have real blood circulating again. Given Sommers' iconic style to ride full-out, it is going to be yet another sad day for all the fashion teams that strut the one dimensional rail equation for your hard-earned dollars.

Awake appears to have a focused approach, delivery and a soul. Yes-a soul.