inland living

INLAND LIVING MAGAZINE
VOLUME 3, ISSUE 3
contents
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ENTREPRENEURS · Rialto snowboard
company practices Humanity
21
TASTE · Elegance and comfort food
are served at Cafe Montclair 24 WINE · Expressive, affordable selections for spring
28
HEALTH . As technology evolves,
medical imaging gets more precise
32
RETIREMENT • Moving doesn't mean
it's time to say "goodbye"
34
CAREERS • Make a successful leap
into a new line of work
also
Can't Miss and Arts & Culture 8; Dining 38; Seen 45; Nonprofit calendar 48 On the cover: Snowboarder
Davis Poul at Mountain High
in Wrightwood
PHOTO BY PRI SCILLA IEZZI, CHE STUDIOS MAKEUP BY CHRISTINA M. GAUDY, CMG COSMETICS By CARLA SANDERS
AV]S PAU L ce rtain ly
knows how to land on hi s
feet. And th e multi-spa n
at hlete has done jus t that
in the pas t few yea rs, as a standout
college soccer player and on snowy
terrain where he 's leavi ng hi s mark
in the world of snowboarding.
His laid-back conversational style
gives little hin t to the dri ve n young
m an who has car ved out a niche ro r
him se li bo th on and o fr th e playing
field . He auribmes hi s success to
ti ming, great parents and a w illingness
to be open about th e ru ture.
"] have so many different interes ts,"
he says from Mammoth Lakes, where's
he's o n a trip to he lp create a
s nowboa rding video. "] wa nt to see
w here life takes me"
In his 21 years, it's alread y taken
him from the sea to the snow and
hack. Born in San Diego, he moved
to
La Ve rn e as a child . Durin g his eight h
g rade yea r at EI Roble Intermedi ate
School in Clare mont , he joined I he
snowboa rd cl u b and bought a season
pass to Mountain High .
"My first year, 1 had a lot. of fun
I had a lot of friends who were good ,
a nd 1 wa nted to be as good as th em .
I lea rn ed a
10 l
of tri c ks ," Pau l reca ll s.
"The second season I got into th e
video s ide of things. [love filmin g
friends"
Humanity snowboarder
Davis Paul of Upland and
UC Berkeley catches some
air at Mountain High.
PHOTO BY LAfONZO
' SNOWDOGG" CARTER
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'I love extreme sports and at 21, I've been able
to work on the administrative side as well.
I get to work the cameras and help set them up.'
That filming led to offers from
companies for product placement ,
which , in turn have aided Paul
financially. "Since my second year
of snowboarding, I haven't had to
pay for any of the gear," he says
enthusiastically.
When he was a junior at Damien
High School1n La Verne, his parents,
Doug and Donna Paul, moved the
family to Upland. By then he'd also
become a stellar soccer player. At
Damien, Paul led the team to back­
to-back Division 1 e lF titles as both
the goal and points leader. In 2006,
he was an NSCAA/adidas boys youth
All-American and selected to the
prestigious adidas Elite Soccer
Program (ESP) He was one of 35
players chosen to play in the ESP
All-Star Game that year.
After graduation in 2007, he
headed north to ue Berkeley on an
athletic scholarship. In 2008 , he
started 19 of 21 games for the
Golden Bears, earning All-Pac 10
honorable mention honors. That year
he also was a Pac 10 all-academic
honorable-mention selection. Now a
junior, he plays forward on the team.
He expects to graduate after the
fall term this year, and is majoring
in marketing, advertiSing and
American culture, a program he was
allowed to devise himself to suit his
particular interests, which circle
right back to snowboard ing. While
he enJoys riding, he's becoming more
interested in the video production
side of things~
"I love the marketing and
adve rtising areas," he explains.
Humanity rider Ryan Pluche, 18, of Camarillo slides along a rail a t Mountain High.
When he's not on the soccer field at Calor working
on a video, Damien High School grad Davis Paul likes
to escape to the slopes.
More (team) Humanity:
Ryan Pluc:he
It may ·be a bit early to call him "the other
redhead," comparing him to Olympian and
X Games friendShqun White, but 18-year-old
Ryan Pluche of Camarillo is making his way as
a Humanity Snowboards rider and a qualifier
for the Volcom PB&Rj" fi nals at Mammoth·
Mountain in April.
('PB&RJ ­ That's the Peariut Butter & Rail Jam,
Volcom's amateur snowboord contest ·series
during which tricks, not falls, are judged. The
national tour features 17 regional events leading
up to a championship event at Mamrnoth. . .
Peanut butte r a nd jelly sandwiches are served,
of course.)
Ryan has a friendly laid-back demeanor and
says he got into the sport following his.fathei
who was a Rossignol representdtive in Vermont.
When he's not on the slopes, Pluche likes to
cook ­ and hopes to go to culinary schooL
Videos arid more ciboul B uche may be found .·
online at myspace.cotn/notryanpluche, .
www.humanitysnow.com a nd
www.vimec.corril7861443 . .
PHOTO BY PRISCILLA IEZZI
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I inlandlivingmagazine.com I february- march 2010
"I love extreme sports and at 21, I've
been able to work on the ad ministrative
side as well. I get to work the cameras and
help set them up. I'm young and balanCing
all these aspects has been great."
Since Division I soccer is "super time­
consuming" with all the travel, Paul says,
he's only able to hit the slopes about
14-15 days a year. So, the "days I do go
have to be productive; I have to progress
at a quicker rate."
These days he's helped by Humanity
Boards of Rialto, which sponsors him .
Financially, Paul receives free boards and
often assistance with tickets for local
mountains. He also helps the company
with his inSight into new boards.
For Paul, though, there are other
bonuses. "There are a lot of intangible
benefits that are equa lly valuable to me.
Right now, it's about making contacts."
He also va lues Humanity, the company
"Humanity is a very family oriented team,"
he says. 'They're more about helping the
commun ity and being bigger than what
snoKboarding is."
entrepreneurs I sport
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Director of development Daniel Malmese, left. with two of Humanity's co-owners, Ryan Monson and Tommy Czeschin
PHOTOS BY LAFONZO CARTER
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FINDING
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Rialto snowboard company takes a different course
By AMY BENTLEY
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UMANlTY SNOWBOARDS is more than
juSt another business out to make a buck.
It's a small, local online company, and its
three owners have befriended snowboard enthusiasts
nationwide who help promote the sport to
underprivileged kids, do charity work and encourage
other boarders to support each other too.
The owners celebrate the sport, their business and
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inlandlivingmagazine.com 1 february-march 2010
everything their colleagues, called "Humanitarians,"
do to help others and advance the snowboarding life.
"We wanted to implement our vision, and our vision
was do what everybody ciaims to do or wants to do,"
said co-owner Ryan Monson of Rancho Cucamonga. "But
we wanted to do it, not just say we're doing it."
Monson is a snowboard deSigner and engineer who
found ed the company in 2008 with former Olympic
snowboarder Tommy Czeschin and snowboard artist
Greg Huntoon, a childhood friend.
'It's a platform, a community, an evolution ....
We're looking for people who care about riding
the best boards, not the most expensive.'
The fact that the company's owners each
have other businesses and Jobs gives them
the freedom to be socially conscious with
Humanity Snowboards, Monson says.
Czeschin also owns a laundry facility
and a firewood business in the Mammoth
area, where he lives, while Huntoon of
Los Angeles also works full-time as the
social media director for Break Media,
a Los Angeles-based Internet company.
Monson owns a snowboard
manufacturing facility in Rialto where
Humanity's snowboards and boards
of other brands are made.
"We're doing what we wa nt to do. It's not
necessarily about the money," said Monson,
34, who has enjoyed snowboard ing since
he was a teen. "We want people to come
and be a pan of it with us. Anyone is
welcome to call us, we're accessible, we're
real people. We're about being part of
the community."
Humanity Snowboards' Web site,
www.humanitysnow.com. states that
philosophy in a much edgier way to appeal
to hip, young snowboarders: "It's a
platform , a community, an evolution .
We're looking for people who care about
riding the best boards, not the most
expensive . Riders who spend as many days
riding as possible. Kids who doodle slopes
on their binders and wrangle with new
tricks in their head instead of counting
. stupid sheep."
What's unique about this business ­
which gets kudos from supporters and
customers for manufacturing its boards in
Rialto instead of China - is the company's
"Humanitarian" program.
The owners have created a network
of snowboarding friends who help others
and promote snowboarding; Humanity
Snowboards offers them discounted
snowboards and support.
"We provide the Humanitarians with
a lot of support to help them boost their
careers and provide them with a product
at cost so they do get it at a substantial
discount. And they have the opportunity
through word of mouth to earn money
based on products that are sold based
on their influence. Everything is tracked.
Online orders are taken with a specific
code," Monson explained.
There are about 10 Humanitarians
on board so far, and the company plans
to grow the program this spring.
Humanitarians must be involved
with a charity or give back by doing a
"humanitarian deed" in their community
or by helping the snowboard ing
community, Monson says.
One volunteers a few times a month
to serve meals at a shelter, while another
in New York, Brian "Deka" Paupaw, creates
small snowboarding experiences for
inner-city kids at local parks after it snows
to teach them the sport.
Paupaw, a Brooklyn resident who hooked
up with Humanity Snowboards inJuly,
also started a nonprofit organization, The
Hoods to 'vVoods Foundation, to introduce
inner-city kids to snowboarding.
Snowboarder Geoff lsringhausen of
Riverside helps promote the sport by
making snowboarding videos that are
posted online.
Another Humanitarian is longtime
snowboarder Gary Anderson, 37, president
of Ac tion Spons Mi nistries in Alexandria.
Minn. Anderson hits the slopes a couple
of times a week near his home with his
Humanity board and sings its praises.
"They've got the guys who really know
what a board is supposed to ride like. I'm
in love with it," said Anderson, who also
coaches for snowboarding clubs and camps
in his area.
Anderson found Humanity through
Tommy Czeschin , a friend-of-a-friend,
and t~ey met last year in Mammoth when
Anderson visited California.
"One thing led to another," he said.
Action Spons Ministries is a Christian
nonprofit in Minnesota that works to
Chris Espinoza, left, and factory manager Carlos Lopez craft new snowboards.
february-march 20 to I inlandlivingmagazine.com I 19
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provide faith-based opportunities for disadvantaged youths to get them
involved in action sports by helping with scholarships, money to buy
equipment and coaching.
Anderson plans to order some discounted snowboards from Humanity
for Action Spons Ministries, and he appreciates the charitable efforts
of the owne rs.
"It's a nice company. They're doing things a little different from the big
industr y. Helping the guys that help in the community is a new concept,"
said Anderson , who noted that snowboarding is popular in Minnesota,
which has some 20 ski resorts.
As a company, Humanity Snowboards also helps Kiva (www.kiva.org), a
lending program for low-income entrepreneurs around the globe. "We
lend money to entrepreneurs. It may be a farmer in Africa or Europe who
wants to expand their crop for the year and doesn't have the capital to buy
more seeds," Monson said.
Monson, Czeschin and Huntoon often use social networking sites
such as Facebook and Tw itter to reach out to snowboa rders and their
friends, and they frequentl y post photos and videos of their snowboarding
pals on the Web.
On Dec. 23, Monson posted a lighthearted video on the Humanity
Web site and Facebook called , "Santa Shredd ing Hi s Humanity," of
Isringhausen snowboa rding in a Santa costume with a couple of young
skiers at Mountain High in Wrightwood. It looked like a merry
Christmas indeed.
Product profile
Humanity Snowboards has six models
for sale, ranging in price from $349 to $399.
The newest board, released in early
January, is the Midwest Twin, a slightly
smaller board with a different shape
specifically designed for riders in the
Midwest who don't have huge mountains
but ride on smaller or man-made hills.
"It's called the Urban Shredding
Movement." said company co-owner Ryan
Monson. "It's growing like crazy. We're the
only company at this point that has
developed a board just for that."
Humanity Snowboards are made at
Monson Snowboards, a manufacturing
facility in Rialto that Monson has owned
for 13 years. The facility has six employees.
Monson's was the first snowboard
factory to use bamboo as a sidewall
material.
"We have found it to be a great
alternative to plastic," Monson said. "It's
super durable, and it's more eco-friendly."
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