[Episode in English] Basically everyone in the Action Sports industry knows Dave Mailman. And that’s no surprise: for over 20 years, he was the voice behind the biggest surfing and snowboarding events across the Old Continent and has commented hundreds of heats on the beach or on webcasts.

Be that as it may, few actually know Dave’s story in detail. It’s the story of a young Californian with a passion for skateboarding and surfing, who took French lesson in high school. He then came to spend a summer on the Basque coast…but basically never left. It was the heyday of surfing, skateboarding and snowboarding and Dave was lucky enough to witness the founding moments of this movement.

Having mastered the languages of both Tom Curren and Serge Vitelli, he penned articles in the snowboard magazine OnBoard. After a quick passage with Arnette, Dave arrived at Quiksilver to take over as Head of marketing for Europe. Dave tells us about this blossoming time when ideas (shootings, trips, events) overruled budgets. He is namely to thank for the now iconic Bowlriders contest in Marseille. He’ll tell us all about how came about and his memories of that project. It will also give us a chance to hear how « The Mountain and the Wave » was able to infiltrate the core skate market, the missing puzzle piece in their catalog.

For this 19th episode, Dave will also discuss the various subsequent steps of his career: 4 years as President of the ASP Europe, his work on the Freeride World Tour, the Verbier Extreme and even various editorial projects he’s worked on since then (including podcasts!).

We’ll take this opportunity to talk about the evolution of the media and the impact of the digital revolution on athletes and his own career. Finally, we’ll also get his perspective on Olympic surfing and wave pools.

A fascinating new episode on the history of our Action Sports industry, seen through the lens the most American of our European key players.

Enjoy the ride.

You can also listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcast et Deezer.