Catching Up with: Tim Hoover, Ultimate Boarder Founder

kristina

February 23 2009
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It’s almost that time of year again. The Ultimate Boarder competition is scheduled to take place April 3–11, 2009. The triathlon of boardsports will once again take place in Big Bear for the snow stage and Ventura for the surf and skate stages. Santa Barbara local Tim Hoover started the competition with the dream of hosting the Iron Man of action sports. Here’s what he had to say about the event’s sophomore year.

TWB: How did the idea for Ultimate Boarder come about?
TH: Well, it’s really been fourteen years in the making. I graduated from film school and was struggling to make it in that industry. I was doing some producing, directing, and writing in film, but really I always wanted to do something in my life that would be positive for kids. I grew up in Goleta surfing Sands every day and then skating with my friends, so that’s always been the background of my life. Then an early friend of mine, Chuck Lidell, became successful as an ultimate fighter, and it just seemed like there should be something like that for board sports.

TWB: What is your overall goal for the event?
TH: I want it to be the triathlon for this generation of kids. I want to be the Iron Man of the action sports industry, so that kids growing up will have the same recognition of Ultimate Boarder as the guys in Kona who started the Iron Man triathlon are getting now. It really is a triathlon, but instead of running, swimming, and biking, we’re surfing, skating, and snowboarding.

TWB: What did you learn after the first competition last year, and what are you doing differently in this next event?
TH: Well last year the camaraderie in the event was just amazing. I knew it would be fun, but I was amazed that the vibe was so great. Really, the heart and spirit of the event was about the love of these sports. Everyone had a blast because these are guys who usually don’t see each other all year because they’re out competing and on the road, but when they get together it’s motivating for a whole new generation of kids. So the goal this year was just to get more athletes involved, and we’ve done that through the team competition. Last year it was 50 guys competing for 50,000 dollars. This year we’ve opened it up to a team format where there’s one surfer, one skater, and one snowboarder to a team. This is the perfect way for high schools, colleges, shops, and especially brands to get involved. Already we have teams from Volcom, Hurley, and Freestyle Watches signed up for this year’s competition. We’ll be accepting up to 24 guy teams and 12 girl teams.

TWB: How difficult has it been to bring this competition together in the midst of a recession?
TH: It’s definitely been a struggle, especially since this is really a grassroots movement. A lot of it has been me cold-calling companies trying to get their sponsorship dollars. I’ve spent a lot of time on the road and I even flew out to Phoenix to the Dial soap corporation, and thankfully got them to buy into it. So this year it’s the Coast Body Wash Ultimate Boarder. We also landed a one-hour, primetime show with Fuel TV that will air in June, so that’s a huge amount of exposure. Mostly what the recession has meant is no sponsorship from the endemic world, but hopefully those companies can continue to support us by registering teams. Talk about a recession buster—team registration is only 300 bucks. We’re very conscious of the economy and the current situation.

TWB: From your perspective, how successful was the event last year?
TH: Honestly, last year if 15 guys showed up I would have been stoked. But we had 50 guys register and 41 finish the competition, so the 2008 event was a humongous success. I had kids coming up to me saying, “I want to be the next Ultimate Boarder,” and as long as I can motivate those kids, that’s what keeps me going.

TWB: What are you most looking forward to this year?
TH: Aside from the team aspect, this year will be rad because there’s a lot of young groms in the event this year. It’s really cool to get kids like Jon Jon Florence going up against some of the old—well, old by our industry’s standards—guys and giving them a run for their money. It also gives these guys some longevity to their careers because they can still do all three sports consistently. It’s not about who’s the best at any one sport, it’s about being consistent in all three. It really came from the days of sitting around the fire pit with friends and talking about who’s the best athlete overall. You can talk about Shaun White or Kelly Slater, but if they’re not competing in this event, then they really can’t be considered the best overall.