Richard Woolcott and Tucker Hall, set off on a snowboarding trip that would forever change their lives. Tucker had just been laid off from work but that wouldn’t stop him from attending his routine Tahoe trip to visit Nathan Fletcher and Mark Gabriel. After riding four days of fresh powder, Richard called work with the excuse that they were snowed in and extended his stay. For more than a week, they awoke every morning with two new feet of snow. It was their first real experience riding powder and the new obsession wouldn't stop there. Two weeks later Richard quit his job to take some time off and snowboard. He and Tucker had also talked of starting a clothing company during the Tahoe trip but nothing was really finalized. Later that spring, the two came up with the idea of starting a riding company based around the three sports they enjoyed (snowboarding, skateboarding and surfing). With an initial $5,000 from Richard's dad, they started the process. First came the name, then came the stone and Volcom was born.