Here’s a nice story to take you into the weekend. Westbeach UK have been in touch to let us know that Billy Morgan and Will Smith have left the team for pastures new (Quiksilver and Vans respectively), while young Scot Jesse Smith has come on board.

Rather than leave the reporting of Will and Billy’s departure to their new supporters, Westbeach chose to acknowledge the hard work the boys put in, and wish them all the best for the future. Will, who got picked up when he was 11, had nothing but good things to say about his former sponsors:

Riding for Westbeach has taken up a massive part of my snowboarding life and I will never forget all of the sick times I had on team trips and riding with the crew! It has been a rad experience and has helped me progress in my riding with the opportunities that I was given that I would not of had if I was not riding for Westbeach.

Likewise Billy, who hit countless podiums while repping the brand, gave them a parting big-up:

‘Riding for Westbeach was rad. Traveling, riding and filming with the crew was filled with many rad times and memories I won’t be able to forget.  It showed me a whole new side of snowboarding.  Riding places I wouldn’t have been able to without their help allowed me to push my riding and get the experience I needed to progress. This, along with being able to rock awesome outerwear, made it super sick!’

This gave us the same warm and fuzzy feeling we got when Bataleon bid a fond farewell to Tyler Chorlton. Congrats to Jesse, Will and Billy for their new deals, and hats off to Westbeach for showing real class. It’s a shame it can’t always be like this; anyone remember the press release from when Bjorn Leines left Forum for Rome? There appeared to be no love lost….