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Last night, Thursday, January 28, FREESKIER FEST put its mark on Denver, Colorado; this particular iteration of the five-stop party tour involved a throng of SIA Snow Show-goers (i.e. a who’s who of industry personalities, representing dozens of brands who have flocked to Denver to showcase new ski gear at the Colorado Convention Center) a blazing ping pong showdown, an open bar, abundant prizes and a late-night party bus adventure, too. One individual summed up the action quite nicely, noting, “This is seriously the best party ever.”
Indeed, the 2016 SIA Snow Show—the largest trade show in the snow sports industry—has invaded the Mile High City, and with it comes 3,000-plus exhibiting brands with “next year’s gear” in tow. We spent the day Thursday perusing the showroom, getting an up-close-and-personal look at the latest and greatest products in the biz, from skis, to boots, to outerwear and beyond. Thursday marked day one of the show, and the action continues through Sunday. To be sure folks capped off their first day here in Denver with a big ol’ exclamation point, we did what we do best: We hosted one hell of a rager.
Following a Wednesday night bash in Aspen, kicking off the 2016 Winter X Games, we completed a successful back-to-back party experience as we rented out Denver’s Ace Eat Serve for the first-ever FREESKIER Magazine Balls of Fury World Ping Pong Championship. In addition to a full-on bracket style ping pong tournament, complete with 32 players (including representatives of brands like K2, Fischer, Line, Armada, anon., Faction, Level 1, MSP Films, Shred/Slytech and Under Armour), there were open tables for the rest of the motley crew to utilize. “Open” matches were taken quite seriously, as prizes were available for the winners of said matches. In fact, we dished out more than $5,000 in prizes throughout the evening. Regarding the tournament, the play was fast and furious. We went to great lengths to ensure a legitimate tourney: custom-made jerseys, headbands, referees, whistles, strict rules… and we even kicked off the evening with a singing of the national anthem, led by the Denver-based barbershop quartet, The Grace Notes.
After hours of intense play and a whole lot of loud screaming and “Oos” and “Ahhs,” the first place prize and its associated bragging rights went to none other than Armada’s Alyssa Forrest; second place went to Peter Rice of Ski Utah; and AJ Avrin of Shred Slytech rounded out the podium in third. The winning players and their various cheering squads were then invited to join us on a 55-person party bus for a late-night spin. What better way to celebrate, right?
We extend big thanks to Ace Eat Serve for hosting our bash, and to all those who joined in on the fun. Here’s to a great SIA Snow Show!
Note: Follow along with the SIA Snow Show action by following FREESKIER magazine on Snapchat (user: freeskier_mag). Additionally, stay tuned to freeskier.com—we’ll be posting photo galleries each day following the show.
Related: Game on, folks! FREESKIER hosts Kickoff Party at the 2016 Winter X Games
