K2 Snowboards named Johnny West as its new brand director to lead the marketing and branding programs for the company’s snowboard, boot, binding, apparel and accessories lines. He’ll oversee K2 Snowboards’ advertising, promotions, public relations, athlete and sponsorship programs, and be responsible for building a consistent brand image on a global basis.

West has been a part of the SnowSports industry for more than 12 years and has participated in the sport for two decades. Earlier this year he completed a term serving on the Snow Sports Industries of America board of directors.

West is stepping into the Marketing leadership role and is the last piece of the puzzle in the formation of the new K2 snowboard team.

“We couldn’t have landed a better talent to define the future of K2 Snowboards,” said Anthony De Rocco, K2 Sports’ Vice President Global Marketing. “He has the respect of the industry from both the retail and media side and has an excellent track record. When you combine his talents with the recently promoted sales manager John O’Connor, sales director Chuck Mason, and product director Alex Draper we have a world class K2 Snowboard team to help fuel the momentum of the brand in the years ahead.”

West most recently was the director of sales and marketing and brand manager for O’Neill’s snow division. Previously he held sales and marketing leadership positions with Generator Distribution (Swag, Prom and Twist Apparel), Gen-X Equipment’s action sports division and Lamar snowboards. West is in the process of relocating from Carlsbad, California, to the Seattle area and will work out of the K2 headquarters on Vashon Island.

“K2 is exactly what I was looking for at this point in my career,” West said. “It’s an authentic American brand that’s on the dawn of a new era. There’s a fresh, insanely talented and hungry marketing, sales and product development group on Vashon. I’m happy to be a part of it.”