Anthony Boronowski leaves armada for surface

Yea that move by salomon was the worst move they made at least for me. Like they dropped him like a month later. I will never ride Salomons because of that, the only way I ever would is if they offered me some deal in which they lose out huge so I can stick it to them finacially, and since that will never happen and I already rock a solid company imo it looks like I'm never riding a Salomon ski or bindings or outerwear.

Of a sponsored athlete from another company, no less.

He was just speaking his mind. If he wasn't a sponsored rider, neither of you would have cared.

Oooooooooooooooooooo

dont know about ur guys thought but he was the first skier who kinda adopted a 'punk' attitude towards skiing i dunno year x=10 was a tight segy definatly some 'hesh' shots in there
 

This post wasn't funny until you were ousted as an alias. You are seriously talking shit on those guys? As a sponsored athlete, and presumably with segments better than either of those two legends in the past three years, wouldn't it be in your best interest to advocate for ski companies to retain athletes well past their prime?

this is big news too ///Surface is getting big and i am liking it

I really hope that Surface/Joystick remain independent. Collabos would be cool, but I am devoted to Joystick.

Truth be told - no one in this thread really knows what's happening or has happened at Armada, w/ Tony or Surface. The speculation is always humorous.

As for the call out, that's what he thinks. Just because someone is a sponsored athlete doesn't mean they should conform their opinion to "show support."

How many people in this thread bought a pair of ANTs, JJs or Armadas because of Anthony's or Julien's skiing in the last three years?

Hopefully we aren't buying skis because someone else skis them. Hopefully we're buying skis because of the way they perform - not how the person who endorses the product performs. I'm well aware this is the current marketing model for most ski and action sports companies.

so pretty much what you're saying is that the job of an action sport athlete shouldn't exist, as well as many other athlete jobs??!!  these careers are based off of athletes endorsing a product so people will buy it.  that's how it works and that's how they make their living.

yeah, the product needs to be quality, but that's where the athlete comes in.  anthony is an amazing skier and he holds the products he uses to a certain standard.  if it's good enough for him and he can do his thing on it, then joe schmoe buyer trusts that and will buy the product according to anthony's skiing.

the athlete should be there to get the name out and pique interest in the product. it would be irresponsible of a company to expect their customer to blindly buy a product based on the skier it represents (i'm talking about skis here, not goggles, outerwear, etc.). 13 and 14 yr. olds don't (didn't?) ride ANTs, and neither does the average joe schmoe.

this has nothing to do with anthony's skiing. i don't doubt how hard he rips by any means. just pointing out the difference between a pro model and a pro rider.

I dont think ANT is really that nuts anymore, not much better than lots of riders in town here.  But he was ahead of the curve at one point, and he is still really good.  I guess I think he should at least film more so we can see him ride more.  I just dont hardly see him in anything.  It would be super weak if Armada had dropped him but thats not the case.       And the ANTs are super popular here.  I bet 100 models sold in Bozeman/Missoula alone.

I go so far as to say the job of a professional skier spans beyond them skiing a certain way and therefore convincing other people they may ski that way too if they buy a product. There's certainly a lot more to it than that. I will concede the ANT allowed Anthony to do a lot of the things he wanted to do while withstanding the abuse of his powerful skiing style. However, there's more to my decision to purchase something than whether someone else is successful w/ it. It certainly helps - however it's just a small part of the process.

Just because I buy a rally car doesn't mean I'm going to be able to drive like Pastrana - you get what I'm saying?

As a piece of the marketing model, the professional athlete helps promote that product. They do this through advertisements and various other forms of media. They also network as a spokesperson for that product. Also, many consumers find brand allegiance with people they relate to - much like you guys and Nimbus. You're opening up more personally - therefore creating a perceived connection to you. These consumers feel they know you in some way and feel purchasing products from companies you endorse is a way of showing their support to you.

I hardly feel professional athletes' careers can be summed up by simply performing well on their sponsors' products. I'd like to think your career isn't simply how you ski, but more your overall presentation of a product in a positive light in various aspects - resulting in more sales.

Would you agree?

In the end it's clear Armada's value of Anthony's brand representation wasn't what Anthony valued it at. Simple as that.

yowsers.....that's bigtime call out...good looks Malone..alias are lame, if you got something to say...lay it out there and be able to back it up with something.  Anthony's an influential dude, I respect him for his art, business, personality, style and riding. Newcomers taking shots like this...go ski more and talk less...it's a lot of sacrifice to get to that next level and you wont get there talking trash about skiers who paved the way.

Truth be told... youre wrong.

Truth be told you're right.
 
I agree - finding out who is who here is super important and you're doing us all a favor if you're right. What I should have done is thank you and I'm sorry for not having done so. Hopefully Doug starts a new thread called "alias" or "call outs" so we can highlight all those people who hide behind aliases.

You're kind of like a detective but way more respectable because of your undying commitment to public service. 

Thanks Malone. I'll send that guy a message and see if it's him for sure - then post his response here so we all know - and we never get fooled again! Let me know if there's anything else I can do to help figure out this issue.

And as to what Blake said - he's right too. You guys are both really right and that's important. Thanks man.

nope

Yes, definitely agree that the job spans their performance of skis, or at least it should in order to be as successful as possible.  An intelligent buyer bases their purchasing decision off of a lot more factors than simply seeing their favorite pro using it on film.  But a lot of buyers, especially younger easily influenced kids, will simply buy something because they see someone on it.  Buying a rally car isn't going to mean I will drive like Pastrana, but it's going to make me feel like I'm getting one step closer.

I definitely agree with what you're saying and that these products need to be presented in various aspects.  I realize its after an athlete reaches a certain point in their career and the company puts a good amount of effort into marketing an athlete that product sales will increase.  But somewhere in that process a tipping point happens where some people will simply buy something because they see it on someone.

I guess what I'm saying is that there are smart consumers and blind consumers.  Some need a lot more knowledge to purchase something than others, but the athlete is generally an integral part of that buying process no matter how you slice it.  If Tanner Hall left Armada to ski for Moment, Moment's sales would definitely increase with the association of those two names.  Anthony has fans, and some of those fans will now simply purchase or be more inclined to purchase Surface because of his career move.

I initially replied because it seemed as if you were excluding the blind consumers from the equation, when they're of huge importance to that equation and an athlete's worth.  But obviously you understand how it works.  Sweet, good discussion.

you kids need to quit speculatin'

GO TONY!!

A few questions...

1. Isn't Julien now the team manager for Armada Europe?  Not a rider for Armada but still very involved in teh company?

2. Isn't it possible that Anthony left Armada for Surface so that the pole acquisition could be completed.  With Surface owning Joystick, it would only make sense that to continue as acting president of Joystick skiing Anthony would not be able to ride for a company that competes directly with Surface skis?

I think Julien's on Black Crow skis now, so I dunno if that's true but who knows.

It's pretty weak on Armada's part to ditch Juline IMO. Aside from the fact that Julien is one of the pioneers of the sport and accomplished more firsts on skis than I have time to list, his creativity and vision helped shape Armada into what it is today.  After all he's done for the brand--way more than just repping them skiing wise-- you'd think Armada would have treated him with a little more respect ( I'm basing this on Julien's posts on NS).

On a side note Julien and Anthony could ski circles around most of Armada's newest team members-- just because you're not doing dubs doesnt mean you're not progressing the sport/ being creative/ getting people hyped to ski.

End rant.

Precisely.

And I think you're absolutely right about people purchasing Surface because of Tony's move.

I am, however, interested to see what skis he prefers and which of his ideas make it into your skis.

I do lots of media work and know w/out athletes and their sponsorships even my role in skiing wouldn't be here. As long as you guys are doing things people wanna hear about, we have work. As long as companies kick down sponsorship dollars - you and I can make money.

BTW, are you in Revelstoke w/ the rest of the Surface guys? IFSA absolutely went off today!

huh iv noticed that also many of armadas athleats have bean droped or left them, for other companys(and most of these guys were the creater) what could be next tanner dropping for corrupt?ahhaha funny thought!

His new topsheets are THE SHIT too!

what would you know about it kansas city