To our friends in the media, at retail, and elsewhere:
I would like to personally pass along a piece of news that we’re very proud of at Arbor. We’ve recently released our first signature skate with friend, Kelly Slater. The new “Slater Series” was created to honor Kelly’s accomplishments as an 8x world champion surfer, while at the same time speak to the other aspects of his amazing life.
The Slater Series is Arbor’s first composite design. It is built with a unique blend of materials that deliver a powerful combination of attributes, including: carve-oriented performance; solid downhill style; the right amount of surf heritage; and most importantly, a respect for the environment. In the end, it’s the environment that makes a life of surf, skate, and snow possible. This awareness has always been important to both Kelly and Arbor. It fueled our design efforts ensuring the creation of the most environmentally friendly composite skate possible.
The Slater Series is built around four plys of sustainably sourced Canadian Hardrock Maple sandwiched between two layers of pre-cured fiberglass. The glass makes the board’s long-lasting flex-style performance possible – creating a fun, more forgiving ride. In the Arbor tradition, we added an innovation not previously used in composite design; we finished the deck with an ecologically accessed ply of Hawaiian Koa wood, creating improved durability and response time. Koa’s widely varying color and grain patterns ensure that each Slater skate is a unique, one of a kind piece of art, while Koa’s history solidifies the skate’s legacy. Koa was first used 1,000 years ago by the Ancient Hawaiians to build the original surfboards and create the sport of surfing.
Graphics for the Slater Series were developed to highlight Kelly’s passions – surfing, music, travel, and friends. The location of the right point featured in the graphic will be left open to interpretation. Look for several subtle design features that hint at Kelly’s eight world championship titles.
The 38” long, 8.75” wide shape is loosely based on the chopped down mini guns that Kelly surfs at Pipe. The deck is designed with a concave beam for rail-to-rail performance, and a reverse rocker profile that helps create added return. A 26.25” wheelbase provides stability at speed and carve-oriented, large-radius turning. The Slater Series also features gummy 65mm, 78a durometer Arbor wheels for a smooth ride, and Gullwing 9” trucks for improved turn initiation.
In the end, we worked hard to create a skate that could carry Kelly’s name. We’re proud of the results. They represent a coming together of Kelly and Arbor’s ideas about life, design, and the environment. For Arbor, the Slater Series is an excellent opportunity to highlight our belief that performance and style solutions can be created using environmentally friendly, natural materials. Arbor’s goal remains to feed diversity with an alternative line of green products unlike anything else on the snow, skate, and apparel market.
Thanks for taking the time to check it out.
Sincerely,
Gregor Common
President
www.arborboards.com