Gigi Ruf Signs With Volcom SNOWBOARDS!!
lgallagher
- October 21 2008
- 2,986 views
- 38 comments
Volcom is proud to announce that Gigi Rüf will be rocking Volcom outerwear
and riding Volcom snowboards for the 2008/2009 season and beyond.
Gigi has been a part of the Volcom family for more than 15 years. The young
Austrian made his first trip to Volcom when he was just 12 years old. At
that time Volcom Art Director, Ethan Anderson sent Gigi home with a hand
made Volcom card. In the card EA wrote “Christian aka Gigi- Thank you for
coming to America and hanging out. You rule. You are the future keep it up.
Ethan”. The future is now.
Gigi is on top of the snowboarding world. At the end of this past season he
ranked in the top 10 of Transworld Business’ Exposure Meter and was also in
the top 10 in Snowboarders Rider of the Year issue. To see Gigi in motion
check any one of his multiple video parts including the opener of Absinthe’s
latest release “Ready” and Pirate Movie Productions “Overseas”. The loop jib
is a must see.
There have been few riders over the years whose riding style, technical
ability, fluidity and creativity come together as perfection. Gigi is one of
those few, watching him ride is always exciting and inspiring as he opens up
new lines with an uncanny mountain sense. It must be instinct, considering
his roots run deep in the heart of the Alps.
“Gigi has a timeless style, creative mind, and unbelievable personality. We
are really excited to see what the future holds.” –Billy Anderson, Volcom
Snow Brand Manager
“Gigi has been a part of the Volcom family since the beginning and I’m
really stoked to see him now 100% Volcom Snowboarding. This is a major plus
for the company and very motivating as we plan for the future. Yea Gigi!”
–Richard Woolcott, Volcom CEO
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October 21st, 2008 at 11:24 am
R.I.P. Un Inc.
October 21st, 2008 at 11:28 am
F@CK BURTON! stoked.
October 21st, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Gigi is the most influential rider iv ever had the opportunity to meet and ride with. “werd!” your an arrogant douche. If it wasnt for burton you wouldnt be riding at all or no what snowboarding is! Gigi left Uninc a company he help build because Jake let go all of his homies “JP, DCP, Romain” to make room for his “new” up and comers. Who ever they may be. Leaving a six figure contract because your friends got booted now thats love for the sport. DONT TALK SHIT UNLESS YOU GOT THE FACTS MY FRIENDS
October 21st, 2008 at 2:28 pm
you are so right
and to “dont you…” maybe burton pushed snowboarding at the beginning…but they were one of the first capitalistic ,out of touch with teh people brands, selling out.
plus they spread the worst style concerning outerwear and team riders (exept a few including gigi of course)
October 21st, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Man, i bet gigi loses all of his style and skill now that he is off burton. He probably won’t even be able to ride a snowboard anymore. Looks like Absinthe will have to find a new guy to get the first section in their movies for the next 10 years.
October 21st, 2008 at 3:11 pm
I heard now that he is off burton he won’t even be able to do tricks the that loop jib above…..apparently burton owns the rights to every trick he threw down while working for them and he isn’t allowed to do them anymore…damn you burton you evil empire!
October 21st, 2008 at 3:36 pm
you cant own the rights to a trick so thats a lie. Him leaving burton (or which ever way it went) is terrible. all you guys are talking about how corp burton is? okay yea in the snowboarding industry its the biggest but look at volcom…the biggest sell out company ever. What the hell are they doing making snowboards….i mean come on, thats ridiculous. We have companies like signal and forecast who are just getting a name in the industry and here comes volcom snowboards! same with nike. at least volcom has been in the industry for a while…Nike?
October 21st, 2008 at 3:38 pm
haha…you must be one of those tight pant wearing rome snowboard riding emo kids, huh? Sick style bro
October 21st, 2008 at 5:45 pm
by selling out do you mean being sold in the mall? or that they arent privately owned?
your right, volcom is way more core than burton
October 21st, 2008 at 5:55 pm
if you think burton is sold out, how can you not say volcom is? i see so many kids in my school wearing volcom that dont ride its ridiculous. they dont even try to make their stuff legit for snowboarding
October 21st, 2008 at 9:09 pm
Who gives a shit! Lets go ride and have some fun!!
October 22nd, 2008 at 1:49 am
Word drone527!!! Who gives a shit who is making snowboards, clothing, gloves, or bindings. I am just thankful I dont have to buy ski clothing anymore even though I snowboard because nobody has accepted snowboarding yet (respect the history and what snowboarding had to go through to get where it is now). Sport what you wanna sport. Nobody is forcing you to ride Volcom, Burton, DC, Nike, or any other company. If you dont like it or think you can do better, than stop talking shit on a blog and change it and make it better. Start your own company, and make it what you want. Let me know when you are done pouring your heart, soul, blood, and tears into your company, so I can tear it apart in blog like a bitch.
October 22nd, 2008 at 7:03 am
For all of you, Burton left GIGI, along with Romain, Keir, and a few others on the global team so that they could move up their younger riders, Danny, Mason, Kevin and make room for more. As for all of you ranting about a company being corporate, that’s snowboarding and thats how companies like this survive so that you guys can buy all their scene new outerwear, styles, board graphics, etc to supply your fantasy snowboarding career which most of you can’t back up because all you care about is how you look instead of actually showing passion to learn how to do tricks and learn how to ride your boards.
October 22nd, 2008 at 8:43 am
shocking move
October 22nd, 2008 at 9:42 am
Rather than worry about whos the bigger “Bad Guy” Burton or Volcom, some of these people leaving comments should focus in a different direction. Focus on pushing out, or not letting in the companies that wanted nothing to do with this industry in the first place! You know, the companies that make rollerblades, baseball bats, golf clubs, now their making boots that match peoples AF-1’s, and let’s not forget all the companies that said snowboarding was just a fad and wouldnt last. Volcom has been cutting teeth in ths industry since 1991, that’s a lot longer than some of you have been riding!
October 22nd, 2008 at 2:42 pm
All of you guys are sellouts. Pussies.
October 22nd, 2008 at 3:48 pm
What a joke. It’s obvious that he just want’s more money to fill up his $100k dollar Mercedes SUV with Gas. And Volcom of all companies. Give me a break. Surf company gone wild.
You can hate Burton just because of their size,but they are a snowboard company that’s privately owned by a snowboarder. Volcom, Lib, Gnu, Ride, K2, Salomon, and DC are all companies that are public traded. If you don’t know what that means, there are people own these companies (stock holders) that don’t snowboard who are allowed to dictate the direction of the company will the sole purpose of making money. I can guarantee that he will be riding Burton Bindings and boots. Because they are great.
To make the statement that Gigi left Burton because his friend don’t ride for Burton is B.S. He left for money. I did not see a press release that JP and DCP were getting picked up by Volcom.
Go Ride-Buy Local
Don’t be dumb……..
October 22nd, 2008 at 4:06 pm
So true
October 22nd, 2008 at 6:44 pm
The whole corporate vs. non-corporate battle is so tired. Support companies that do good things for snowboarding and all the shareholders will be happy and support you. Private or not.
October 22nd, 2008 at 10:50 pm
I agree, support companies that support snowboarding. Gigi has made a career out of snowboarding and Burton has allowed him to do so, and in return, Burton has gotten some great publicity from Gigi and his amazing riding.
Enjoy the Pow!!
October 23rd, 2008 at 5:49 am
Volcom shouldnt even be making boards or anything related to snowboaerding its just like Nike trying to take over every other f-king thing so they can make more money. So i say screw volcom and other sell out companies
October 23rd, 2008 at 3:33 pm
wow everyone on here is lame, big deal if the corporate people run some snowboarding companies, most of those companies have produced decent gear and have brought snowboarding to the masses. For real, many of you couldnt tell me you havent owned burton gear before.
October 23rd, 2008 at 4:50 pm
You couldn’t be more wrong. Burton is PRIVATELY OWNED by JAKE BURTON, and remains one of the ONLY privately owned brands in snowboarding. Volcom is publicly traded and has been for several years now.
October 23rd, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Burton still has Gigi on their global team list, every other rider they “cut” didn’t make the list this year.
October 25th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
I carry a chainsaw around all day and each night I sleep on a bed made of wild squirrel pelts.
October 30th, 2008 at 5:47 am
Snowboarding as a sport is fun.
Snowboarding as a business is a sellout. Look its in the olympics and Nike is involved.
Is a brand a movement I don’t think so.
Is snowboard riding a movement I hope so.
Quit worshipping brands start worshipping the fun part, riding.
I love Gigi’s riding it makes me want to ride.
Burton and volcom are corporations that make products.
If you don’t like them the best statement to make is to not buy their products.
Get out and ride with your friends.
STFU and go ride!
Most of these people defending the brands that are being bashed here work for them.
November 10th, 2008 at 9:59 am
wtf people? get it through your head that Companies, by their very nature, HAVE NO SOUL! they simply can’t operate from a “SOUL” perspective if they want to survive and prosper. Not Burton, Not Volcom, Not Nike, Not Rome, Not LibTech, Not RVCA. But here’s the catch -PEOPLE HAVE SOUL.
All those companies, and all the ones in this industry, have people working for them that have soul. that’s why they’re designing for Volcom and Burton and not Eddie Bauer. But these same people that have SOUL also have car payments, mortgages, families, student loans, and back taxes. And that’s why they work - to keep their lives going, to afford a season’s pass, to buy better tires for the Winter, to see their favorite band, to buy some god damn Food!
you got a problem with that?
start your own company. see how much fun you have. until then, STFU.
oh, and the people that design at Eddie Bauer? some of them like to snowboard.
So do Republicans. And Racists. and people who can’t skateboard! and people who don’t know Lamar from Burton from Palmer! Oh no! what are we going to do?
Here’s my suggestion: STFU (again) and wax your stick and get ready for the Winter. The snow is coming and the mountain doesn’t give two hoots about your ’soul-level” or the brand you ride.
November 25th, 2008 at 10:43 am
you do know volcom is a clothing company right?
you see kids wearing a clothing company’s clothes
so what does them not riding have to do with anything
what are they supposed to be riding?
volcom has the main house at pipeline
so do you mean they dont surf
they used to sponsor the most dominant
snowboarder of our day (shaun white)
FOR OUTERWEAR
they sponsor surfers skaters probably
freestyle moto x and who knows what else
your blabbing makes no sense
and volcom has made legit outerwear
for a long time now get with it
December 3rd, 2008 at 12:00 am
Does anyone know who is making the Volcom boards? My guess is that there is not a Volcom factory producing snowboards. Though it is possible. I heard someone say Lib Tech might be making the sticks for Volcom. I also havent seen any for sale maybe they are not releasing boards until next year and that is why Burton is still using Gigi to advertise. Does anyone have any idea?
January 24th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Man with a name like harry potter you can’t be making calls about style buddy!! Harry Palmer more like it.
March 7th, 2009 at 2:40 am
dont u wish u knew who i was knows whats up.everyone likes to slag the big companies.burton has pushed the boudaries of boards and riders since day dot.emo tight pant wearing numnuts should look back at the roots of this sport an will see jake b being a pretty big part of the initial steps in boarding.i am a huge fan of uninc an the ohgees of this crew but life goes on.gigi,dcp an rdm are an will always be the shizil no matter who they ride for.amd not a pair of tighty pants between them!!!
rock on gigi,you rule dude.look forward to seeing you shredding down here in nz again soon hopefully
peace out
ps if you havent got it,tight pants are for the 70s!!!
March 23rd, 2009 at 1:42 pm
???? ?? ?? ????????? ?????
—
Regards from Russia
April 8th, 2009 at 10:59 am
that i the most ridiculous load i have ever read on these stupid forums. get real!
April 21st, 2009 at 8:26 am
Who cares who owns what now, they were both started by riders, who love the sport.
When burton were growing they wanted to appeal to a wider audience,we would all do the same if it meant success.
Now however volcom is perhaps more appealing as it doesnt have the nasty ‘commercial’ stigma that burton does, however, at the rate volcom is growing it wont be long before people feel the same way about that to.
April 21st, 2009 at 8:31 am
Right.
April 21st, 2009 at 8:32 am
Drone527, thankyou.
July 10th, 2009 at 9:23 am
Extremely crystalline ?
October 14th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
you guys are crazy!!!!! life goes on and that's it, there is no lost, each of these guys still riding, and enjoy their life, where is the problem?
I think that some of you just need to move on!
For the corporation debate, i just say: when you buy brands, you vote! Just make the right choice!
Have a nice season and hope we'll get some deep sht this year!!!!!!!