Ski Press World Inc. - Index

Ski Press World Inc. - SIA Day 4 - Index

cover story
30 SNOWPRESS DAY 4 skipressworld.com/snowpress
Photo: Courtesy of SIA/Kevin Arnold
One
Family;
outdoors
USING RESEARCH FROM SIA’S INTELLIGENCE REPORT, SIA’S
BEST PRACTICES AND SIA’S RETAIL AUDIT, PART FOUR OF OUR
SERIES ON SNOWSPORTS FAMILIES FOCUSES ON SOME OF
THE BEST WAYS TO SELL TO SNOWSHOERS AND CROSS-
COUNTRY SKIERS.
When it comes to snowsports, there is only one thing about which John Walker is certain — lifts suck. John, head of the
composite clan of snowshoers and cross-country skiers we created from the fi ndings of SIA’s Intelligence Report, is a winter
enthusiast of a different sort. His disdain for downhill skiing, at least that ski resort fashion show scene of hot apparel and
beautiful people, has been steadfast for as long as he can remember. He wears it like a badge of honor.
For him, skiing has always been about mountains, mountains have always been about exploration — both topographical
and spiritual — and exploration has always been about self-powered travel… slow travel. Like slow food, he explains.
For a man who likes his pleasures simple and unadulterated, John fi nds himself traversing unfamiliar territory. For years,
cross-country skiing literally meant cross-country to John. He and Red, his wife, would head off into the nearby foothills
or mountains and break trail. It was only in the early 1990s, when his daughter was old enough to self-propel, that he
fi nally began to patronize track-set Nordic centers, a development that called for him to abandon his stubborn insistence
that Nordic skiing just wasn’t skiing unless you were constantly fi ddling with grip wax, glide wax and base wax.
But late last winter, at a Come Glide With Us promotion a running partner dragged him to, he tried skate skiing for the fi rst
time. To his utter amazement, he liked it. Loved it, actually. He became hopelessly addicted to it, or at least the idea of it.
It seemed a natural winter pastime for a guy who loves distance running and getting high on endorphins. �
VOLVO — OFFICIAL CAR OF
Photo: Courtesy of Dale of Norway