Issue 4, vol. 3 - April 2007

SBC Media is one of the world’s leaders in action sports lifestyle and media content and an unheralded hero of the Canadian magazine industry. They have over 25 years of action sports publishing heritage and reach out to over 2 million action sports fans with 10 different magazine titles such as Snowboard Canada and SBC Skateboard. This is proving to be yet another ground breaking year for SBC, where this past winter they launched the Snowboard Canada Women’s Annual. A snowboard magazine just for girls. Rad.

But what’s most intriguing for us is that SBC Media just launched Canada’s first ever surfing magazine, SBC Surf. Yes, that’s right, a Canadian surfing magazine.

Surfing in Canada, you say!? Well, yes. Canada actually has a booming surf population that’s on the rise. And if you’re from Tofino on Vancouver Island, Lawrencetown Beach outside Halifax, or familiar with that one spot on the Montreal river, then this will really come as no surprise. According to SBC Surf, “The simple truth is this: Right here, right now, there is no better place on Earth to surf. The Canadian coasts are ridiculously rich with waves”.

The mag itself is formatted in the consistently-slick SBC-style with great visuals and cool editorial. The magazine includes local surf news called “Mixed Lines” that profiles what’s happening in Canada’s hottest surf spots in the West, East, Great Lakes, and (maybe more surprising) Quebec and Alberta. The content in the magazine will always be genuinely Canadian, with editorial content originating in Canada, or from Canadians traveling abroad. And a Canadian surf magazine wouldn’t be complete without a look at the distinctly Canadian culture that consumes those who tackle the waves of the great North. Dry suit reviews are a must.

So what does all this mean? Canada’s surf culture was kept, until lately, off the radar of most Canadians. This magazine proves evidence to the impact of surfing in youth culture here in Canada. Core surf brands like Billabong, Quiksilver, Rip Curl and Volcom continue to dominate youth fashion here…there’s now Billabong stores in Toronto, Banff, Calgary and Whistler and Quiksilver stores in Toronto and Whistler. And the major US surfing retail chain, Ron Jon Surf Shop, now has two locations in Canada.

Want more on SBC Surf? Pick it up at newstands now, or check out MuchAdrenaline’s behind-the-scenes feature on the launch of the magazine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV-FqpqMQyA