WHO
TONEC Supply Co was founded by Mark Rothwell, a designer and ex 90’s pro snowboarder from Scotland, in 2020 during the global lockdown. Fueled by his lifelong passion for board sports and adventure, the lockdown provided the perfect timing for fulfilling a creative dream that has been years in the making. After all, right now more than ever, everyone’s in need of some TONEC!
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Mark’s passion for adventure and for launching himself off things started years before that perfect storm that was the birth of snowboarding; when he first saw Evel Knievel on TV as a kid, and everything changed. From that day on anything and everything had the potential to be a ramp. He spent his days piling bricks under planks of wood and taking turns with any willing or stupid mate jumping off things on their bikes – on a mission to getting air; or perfecting wheelies for hours alone. Hooked on a feeling.
Then BMX exploded in neon and he lapped it up like dog eating scraps and begging for more. Perfecting tricks for days on end and competing in the UKBFA series all over Scotland.
One day, two friends turned up at a local BMX Halfpipe bearing new four wheeled, wooden toys, covered in skull stickers, from a state side trip to Delmar skate ranch-and his love of skating was born. The freedom, attitude and creativity that came with being a fully committed sideways cowboy left the regimented evolution of BMX in the dust. The obsession was transferred from 2 wheels to 4 and he lived and breathed skate culture from that day on.
Then, in the winter of ’88, a good friend lent him a snowboard to try at Glenshee ski resort and he never looked back! He spent the next 4 years throwing himself down the side of an icy unforgiving mountain on a wooden plank with no flex, no give, trying to replicate skate tricks in the snow. Despite the pain, duct-taped equipment, and poor conditions, he still couldn’t get enough. His love for BMX and skateboards never waned, but they took a backseat to this weird and wonderful new world of snowboarding.
Still hooked on that feeling, a few years later he left his job, sold his car and bought a plane ticket to the wild wild north west of Bend, Oregon. He was hell bent on pursuing the sideways life above the clouds in the mountainous skateparks of the world - starting at one of the funnest mountains there is:
Mt Bachelor. From there he went on to ride all over the world with his closest friend and riding mate, Simon “Bloody” Smith; exploring the endless snowy playgrounds in the sky.
During his years in the snowboarding world and beyond, Mark pursued another passion – graphic design. He has worked as a print designer, art director and digital designer for companies such as Snowboard UK magazine and McCann, one of the largest marketing ad agencies in the world (of “Mad Men” fame).
It sounds like a cliché, but snowboarding and the following years changed his life forever. Mark was fortunate enough to have lived the dream during a magical era of a board sport’s explosion. Just like those at ground zero during the Punk Era and the birth of Hip Hop in the 70’s and 80’s, Mark was at the right place at the right time – experiencing and contributing to the evolution of a sport full of creativity, amazing people, beautiful places, rad parties and gnarly adventures!
TODAY
Today, Mark’s passion for skating, surfing, snowboarding and adventure are ever present; he still skates/snowboards/surfs whenever he can; escaping in his T4 camper van to the coast with his girlfriend when there’s waves or to the mountains when it’s dumping. Anywhere else there's an adventure to be shared he’s in. He’ll never stop riding for the pure love of it, just for fun and for the feeling it gives – it’s his TONEC.
You can’t, you won’t and you don’t stop…
