March 11, 2001

Las Vegas is a town that likes to blow shit up. Take the recent wave of demolition activity on gangster-owned, roach-infested casinos in the seedier parts of town. So why not blow up a trade show booth?

The Capita crew.

That�s just what Capita Snowboards did to kick off its premier at the SIA Show in Las Vegas. Despite efforts to disarm the device by Jason Brown, Capita�s founder and resident artist, and the rest of his Tyvex-clad bomb squad, the four pounds of plastique detonated precisely at High Noon, Pacific Standard Time. A considerable crowd witnessed a explosion that filled the aisle with smoke and sent Capita catalogs flying like metaphorical pieces of shrapnel. When the mist cleared, the curtain had been raised and the public had access to check out Capita�s new line of boards.

The countdown.

Without a doubt it was a great publicity stunt for a new brand breaking into the snowboard market. The mock bomb got people�s attention during the first day of the show and by the time it went off, there was a crowd of retailers and industry insiders eager to see what Jason and Capita have in mind. �I thought it would be cool to have a bomb with smoke leaking out of it in a trade show booth for the first day of the show,� says Brown.

According to Brown, Capita differs from other brands because it is completely rider owned and operated, with a complete lack of corporate types to interfere in what the riders want to do. �We�re the designers. We�re the artists. That way, we can do whatever the hell we want.�

When asked about the future vision of Capita, Jason remains true to character and refuses to lay all his cards on the table. �I can�t tell you. Once you define a movement, it�s not a movement. We�re just having fun. My name is Jason Brown and I ride Capita snowboards.�

--Josh Reid