Before Snowboarding...before Snurfing...

...way, way before...like 300 years ago...there was Petranboarding!

Last winter, stuck in the office and dreaming of snow, I found myself watching a super chill, completely sublime documentary featured by Patagonia that explored a small village in Turkey that had been "Petranboarding" for 300 years. The village is called Petran and the board they've been hand crafting for centuries is simply called a Petranboard; wooden planks in a "toboggan-esque" style, but ridden standing up snurfer fashion, without bindings.  According to the author and producer, Alex Yoder, Mythology claims Petranboarding was invented by a small Muslim boy who used his prayer board (a board instead of a rug, since textiles were scarcer than wood) to slide on snow.  It was a chance encounter, but "after a grueling hike in waist-deep snow, he went on a date with gravity he'd never forget".  And so, Petranboarding was invented and exists to this day, virtually unchanged, but -alas- barely holding onto the interests of kids.   As explained in the video, "The youth is so caught up in social media and popular entertainment culture that they're simply not excited about Petranboarding's craftsmanship...they don't care to learn the craftsmanship and as soon as they're old enough most of them will move to the city".  Boy, that sounds like the same old lament of this blogger, doesn't it?  Maybe one day, like I did, they will return from the city (or escape for a bit) and rediscover the joy of their childhood riding fresh tracks on wooden boards.

If you too are stuck in the office dreaming of snow, dreaming perhaps of a simpler time with simpler pleasures, do yourself a favor and read about Petranboarding

...and then watch the video (it's at the bottom of the page, along with some other cool snurfer videos).

...and then, well, since Petranboards aren't for sale outside of Turkey (yet!) you'll probably want to grab a PHNX Board...infused with the original Petran spirit!

Free Shipping...and other lies!

A potential customer called on "Black Friday" and wanted to know if we offered free shipping.  I explained that no, we did not, and that if we did offer "free" shipping, we'd have to raise the price to include it.  We are so accustomed to phony marketing in this country, people truly believe you can get something of value for free, when in fact you are mostly paying too much anyway. Sure, retailers will often reduce prices in order to move product, and "free" shipping is just another way of offering a discount and calling it something else.  But, just as often, they will set phony high prices on an item to begin with so that then they can offer a phony sale or that "Free" shipping.  Have you ever read the fine print on a Kohl's catalog (or Macy's or most other large retailers)?  Here's Kohl's:

"Sale" prices and percentage savings offered in the advertisement are discounts from Kohl's "Regular" or "Original" prices.  The "Regular" or "Original" price of an item is the former or future offered price for the item or a comparable item by Kohl's or another retailer.  Actual sales may not have been made at the "Regular" or "Original" prices, (emphasis added by the blogger) and intermediate markdowns may have been taken. "Original" prices may not have been in effect during the past 90 days or in all trade areas.  Merchandise in this advertisement could be offered at the same or lower "Sale" prices during future promotional events..." (November 30, 2017 flyer)

Can you blame people for expecting everything to be discounted, and shipping to be for free when you have this kind of phony pricing to be the norm in our culture?  How can a small business compete, when they try and offer a genuine, hand-crafted product at a fair price and don't want to join the phony merchandising game?  It's a challenge, for sure, especially given all the other costs that go into running a business that somehow must be paid for out of every "Sale" (web fees, advertising, rent, supplies, etc.)  .

Oh, BTW, the reality of shipping costs at PHNX Boards is that we lose money pretty much every time, mostly because we haven't figured out the algorithm, but also because we realize there is a point at which people will hesitate to buy (those who aren't expecting free shipping, anyway).  As an example, we shipped a board recently to Oregon and it cost us $38, while we only recouped $17.95.  That person got a $20.05 "sale" without even knowing it, and we recouped that much less.

So, in the spirit of the season, PHNX Boards is now offering a HUGE 50% OFF SALE on all of our Boards, with FREE Shipping*

*note: this sale assumes a "Regular" and "Original" price double the current listed price plus whatever the web-store shipping algorithm spits out.  Uh, yeah, that equals exactly what the boards are selling for, plus shipping, but if it makes you feel better, go ahead and tell everyone you got 50% off with "Free" shipping!

AYADOAW?

Years ago, while living in Europe, I signed up for a weekend bus trip to a famous ski resort in the Alps.  It was to be a fantastic ski adventure with a group of friends and none of us had to drive.  But when I called my best friend at the time, he said he'd have to miss it because it was Super Bowl weekend.  Not being a huge football fan, it hadn't occurred to me that this was the "big" weekend.  I appealed to my friend, painting a picture of fresh snow, alpine peaks, fast skiing, cold beer, and camaraderie.  No luck.  How could anyone miss the Super Bowl...even if we were living in Europe, where you'd have to go to an American bar to watch, since the only football anyone cares about over there is soccer?

I was at a loss for words, bummed that my friend would miss out on an epic trip and that I'd miss out on skiing with him.  But then, without thinking, I blurted out: Are you a Doer or a Watcher?  

I don't know where the words came from, but it worked.

My friend came on the trip and if you ask him who won the Super Bowl that year, I doubt he'd know who it was.  But if you ask him about the ski trip I guarantee he'll tell you all about it: about the all-night bus ride, the cool hotel we stayed at, and especially the last run of the last day, where we decided to take one more chairlift ride to the top, and then raced at breakneck speed the entire 3,000 vertical feet to the waiting bus (and the last ones on the bus, much to the chagrin of the waiting group!).  Yeah, he missed an exciting football game on TV, but instead of watching other people "do" something, he was "doing", he was living, he was starring in his own far more memorable adventure.

As I've noted before in my blog and videos, I'm often outside in the snow all alone, or with very few people around.  Gorgeous blue sky days after a fresh snowfall, with hills all around and only a handful of "doers" taking advantage, and more often than not, the doers are younger kids, still excited to grab a sled or a tube or a snurfer (!) and hike up a hill to come right back down. Fresh air, fun, exercise. Not yet so immersed in digital culture that they've forgotten the joy of playing outside in the snow rather than hanging out inside (sedentary) and watching football or a movie on TV ....watching other people live, or playing video games...watching other digital people live!

So, Are you a Doer or a Watcher?