Altamont - Andrew’s New Baby…

Words and Photos by Barak Wiser
Captions by Rob Meronek

For reasons I'm not allowed to discuss, I'm not allowed to shave for a month. I hope I don't end up with a beard of bees like Justin Regan here. Justin works at Sole Tech. That's Barak with him on the left

I guess they let everyone drive these cars. I could picture smashing the car and my face to pieces while behind the wheel of this thing

That's the designer, Don Brown, and Justin Regan, but all you care about is Andrew Reynolds in the center

If you ever sort of grow up and start working in the sketchy skateboard industry and end up at parties with dinner menu's like this, you're doing something right

Does Don Brown think you can hear the ocean when you put a beer up to your ear?

Andrew Reynolds with what appears to be an Altamont shirt. That's Barak with him

What?!?!? Amy from KCDC was there? She's in the top five hottest chicks in the sketchy skateboard industry for sure

I'd like to be kickin' it with Amy from KCDC in the back of one of these Rolls Royce limos

Sole Technology has been making shoes for 20 years. You may know them as etnies, éS, and Emerica. Sole Technology’s owner, Pierre Andre and Vice President of Marketing, Don Brown, the names behind the “ginormous” distribution and ex-pro freestylers from back-in-my-day, decided to make way for a new apparel brand named Altamont, headed by Andrew Reynolds. Why name it Altamont? Well, they made every effort to educate me and about 30 others from all over the planet a few weeks ago when they invited us to the unveiling.

They flew me out to Oakland, CA, picked up a few of us at the airport, and drove us to a sort of historic motel in San Francisco called The Phoenix Hotel. Apparently, the hotel is famous for having many big-time rockers crash there back in the 60’s and 70’s. This is where the theme of the trip begins.

The next morning five Rolls Royce limousines picked us up and hauled us out to the desert to Altamont Raceway. This is where the Stones held their "Murderous" concert some 37 years ago. I won’t bore you with all the details, but on December 6, 1969, the Rolling Stones hosted a “West Coast Woodstock” at Altamont Raceway and hired the Hell’s Angels for security. People died and people were born there; hence, history was made. Google it if you get a chance.

We all headed into a room overlooking the race track for a presentation and unveiling. Check the pictures for a better idea of what I saw. We each got a turn in a real NASCAR if we wanted and ate some real race track food. Good times.

The brand should be a unique change in the skate world. Andrew Reynolds is the Lead Designer and nothing gets made unless he says it’s okay. Look for trends to be set and a team to be forged. Brian Herman is the first one to hatch out of the Altamont egg under Drew and you can bet some more golden eggs will be hatching soon.

Oh yeah, we partied a lot, hung out, and drank too much, but that’s a given.

Barak

http://www.altamontapparel.com/apparel/