Ski Press World Inc. - Index

Ski Press World Inc. - SIA Day 4 - Index

who new
From start-ups to storied brands, Who New gives you the lowdown on which
companies are brand new to the SIA fl oor, and which ones are making a welcome
return. Check out the highlight reel right here every day to see what kind of
cool gear might help give your shop an edge next season.
Don’t expect to see Lowa’s Alpine Touring wares at its
booth this year. “We got out of that category in 2005,”
said sales manager Peter Sachs, whose company is back at
SIA after a two-year hiatus. “AT was only about 1 percent
of our business, and was never going to be more, so
we heave-ho’d it.”
Instead, the company picked up the US distribution
for Italy’s X-Socks and X-Bionic base layers, which offer
a combination of compression zones and moisturemoving
capabilities. The boots, meanwhile, are now
distributed under the parent Tecnica name, a conglomerate
that also owns Nordica, Blizzard, Dolomite
and Nitro.
“We’ve horse-traded some product around,” said Sachs,
adding that the popular Struktura boot is now Tecnica’s
Agent Alp. “We had a line of Alpine boots for quite a
while, but couldn’t compete with our own sister companies.
But we’re excited to be back at SIA. If you’re in the
industry you need to be here.” — EUGENE BUCHANAN
Like an avalanche forecaster examining the snowpack,
when it comes to snowsports apparel, Boise,
Idaho’s Core Concepts focuses on layering.
“It’s the basis of all our product categories,” said
Noah Bryan, a retail consultant who founded the
company in 2006. “From our base layers to our
softshells, it’s the foundation of our entire line.”
The company also puts fashion at the forefront,
with sublimation accents, or imbedded ink patterns,
on its base layers. “Instead of the same old
navy blue or black base layers, we spice them up
with custom print accents,” said Bryan. “Our niche
is fashion-forward performance products.”
The company is launching a new women’s line
at SIA, as well as its fall ’08 line, which Bryan says
has a distinctive ski and snowboard feel.
“We tend not to differentiate between outdoor
and snowsports retailers,” he said. “SIA reaches
the winter outdoor consumer our new line
appeals to. Snowsports is a dynamic and fashionforward
market, and that’s what our products are
all about.” — EB
18 SNOWPRESS DAY 4 skipressworld.com/snowpress
Turn Signal
Don’t be surprised to catch the scent of coffee emanating
from the booth of show newcomer Signal
Snowboards. The company has a line of java beans
as a side venture.
“It’s one of our passions, along with music, art and
snowboarding,” said sales manager Mike Akins.
“We all love coffee.”
Still, the company’s bread and butter is boards,
not beans. Signal is unveiling four new models
at this year’s show, all made by partner Fire Axis
in Huntington Beach, Calif.
“All of our boards are made in the US,” said Akins,
adding that it moved manufacturing stateside in
2006 after two years of making boards overseas.
“We’re trying to drive the snowboard industry to
come back into the United States.”
Founded in 2004 by former SuperNatural Snowboards
executive Dave Lee, Signal merged in
2007 with manufacturer Fire Axis. Since then,
sales have skyrocketed. “We were two companies
running side by side and then we realized that
we had the same goal,” said Akins.
The boards employ a wood core without any fi nger
joints, and graphics based on fi ne art oil paintings.
Signal is also hoping to send its own signal about
the importance of going green. “We’re actively
trying to get our carbon footprint down,” said
Akins, citing US-sourced materials as another step
in this process. — EB
Moment Skis
Going from a Web-based distribution model to
a retail-based one is a leap as big as the cliffs
Moment Skis’ proprietors routinely huck at
nearby Squaw Valley. But the Reno, Nev.-based
ski manufacturer is poised for the challenge,
predicting sales to grow by 400 percent after
its debut at SIA. “It’s a big jump in production,”
said vice-president Luke Jacobson, “but we want
to show our entire line and SIA‘s a great place to
make sure everyone knows who we are.”
Founded in 2003 by Casey Hakansson, the riderowned
and -operated company makes everything
in-house, from laminated Aspen wood cores to
top sheets and graphics. It now has 14 models
in its Jib, Freeride and Women’s lines, all geared
toward towa advanced skiers. The skis’ graphics are
just ust aas
fi ne-tuned.
“Our “O graphics phic differentiate us from a lot of other
ski companies,” anies,” said s Jacobson, listing its Reno
Jib and superfat super Commie oom
(136 mm underfoot)
among g its mo most popular pular oofferings.
Moment’s nt expecting cting half of
this year’s sales to
come from fro online ne order orders and half lf throu through shops
and distributors. distri
“For th the fi rst few years we w just did
made-to-order de-to-ord skis,” said id JJacobson.
obson. “This will
l be
our
fi rst full ull produc
production n year, , and
though ough our numbers
n ers rs
don’t t come close c se to matching matchin at a those e from bigger gg g
companies, comp ie es, s, it’s t’s time me to make th the he jump.” — EB
VOLVO — OFFICIAL CAR OF