Ski Press World Inc. - Index

Ski Press World Inc. - SIA Day 1 - Index

SNOWPRESS INAUGURATES ANNUAL INNOVATION AWARDS
HONORING THE BEST INNOVATIONS IN THE SNOWSPORTS INDUSTRY FOR THE 2008/2009 SEASON.
SIA is a show of discovery. The innovation and inspiration unveiled here each year often becomes news for the entire active world. The way Gore-Tex changed the very
language of apparel, the way shaped skis opened Alaska, and the way snowboarding has become the action-sports equivalent of rock-and-roll — the products on display at
Mandalay Bay represent a unique coalescence of science, sport and culture.
Too often these boots and bindings, skis and snowboards, goggles and glasses, parkas and pants are seen merely as merchandise, SKUs or gear, rather than as the works of
imagination and perspiration — of art — they really are.
At the SnowPress Show Daily, we decided to change that. Culling from our countless hours of trend-spotting, hot-product reporting, retail researching and pre-show interviewing,
our editors hit the show in search of the most innovative products of the year. In the categories of Culture, Sexy, Skill and Smart, we present our choices for the SnowPress
Innovation Awards of the SIA.08 show.
SNOWPRESS INNOVATION AWARDS: CULTURE
Tribes, posses and cliques generate a strong sense of community in the snow sports world, bonding snow sports consumers via commonalities in passion, language and
style. From backcountry powder hippies to polished-edge gate bumpers to pipe-boosting park pilots, skiers, snowboarders and snowshoers defi ne themselves according to
their sport. They also buy soft goods, hard goods and accessories accordingly. Here, from the editors of SnowPress Magazine, the top products celebrating culture on snow.
Rossignol Seven
Artistic Sins
At its core, freestyle culture is
all about artistic expression.
And that art has always gone
beyond athletic creativity on
the hill and in the air to include
skate-inspired style on skis and
snowboards. To celebrate that
style, Rossignol’s new limited
edition of seven twin tips features
interpretations of lust,
gluttony, greed, sloth, rage,
envy and pride painted by iconic
board-sport and album-cover
artists. The painters include
Steve Caballero, Will Barras and
Squindo. Barras’s tortured soul
on the greed board resonated
most strongly with us here at
the trade show in Vegas.
— DOUG SCHNITZSPAHN
Karhu XCD Guide
Thirty years ago Karhu’s XCD glided
toward a revolution in ski mountain eering
that married deep-powder descents with
epic cross-country tours. The ski was integral
to Steve Barnett’s iconic book Cross
Country Downhill, Tom Carter and Allan
Bard’s famed Redline Traverse of the Sierra
Mountains, and led directly to the explosion
in telemark skiing and alpine touring
rocking the ski community today. With
the XCD Guide (109/78/95), a full metaledge
ski with an Omnitrak NoWax base,
Karhu re-embraces its freeheel roots while
embracing a new future of mountain-bike
style backcountry adventure of wideranging
tours and turns. — PETER KRAY
50 SNOWPRESS DAY 1 skipressworld.com/snowpress
Smith Evolve
While many apparel brands, resorts and, most importantly, customers have been
proactively creating more sustainable culture, most hard goods and accessories manufacturers
have continued to embrace petrochemicals. Smith makes an admirable break
from that dirty supply chain with its Evolve series of helmets and goggles, which are
made from reground, excess material form the medical industry. Best of all, there’s
no drop-off in performance — high-end models like Smith’s popular Variant helmet
and interchangeable I/O goggle are part of the Evolve series. — DS
ThirtyTwo Fruit Boot
Forget stoking the animosity between boarders
and skiers. ThirtyTwo’s retro Fruit, a snowboard
boot designed to look like a Hot-Dog-era ski
boot, complete with Velcro straps disguised
as Fruity-Pebbles-colored buckles, celebrates
the depravity and bad style of 80’s ski culture.
Maybe it’s a refl ection of the popularity
of ironic retro culture with today’s teens. Or
maybe it’s a ironic statement on how skiing has
passed its prime. Who cares? This boot stood
out in an ocean of 00s sameness. — DS
Oakley’s
J.P. Auclair
Goggle Line
Want to see halfpipe and tabletop
lips with the clarity of highfl
ying freestyler J.P. Auclair? Don
his new signature goggle from
Oakley, a crowbar design with
Iridium Fire lens and custom
strap and frame depicting the ski
star’s beloved — and convoluted
— Tokyo subway system. Look
for Auclair at the Oakley booth
on Wednesday.
— EUGENE BUCHANAN
VOLVO — OFFICIAL CAR OF