There was much speculation after the announcement last year that the annual Snowsports Industries America tradeshow would move to Denver after a 47 year stint in Las Vegas. Would being in Denver mean less partying and more business? I'm proud to say that the spirit of Las Vegas was strong this past weekend in Denver. Companies brought their A-game and introduced breakthrough new products, Denver rolled out the red-carpet with top notch apres events and the VIP industry parties were on par with the ones thrown in Las Vegas. Each day, Freeskier editors were roaming the floor in search of the latest and greatest gear. We've amassed hundreds of photos, dozens of videos and over the next couple of days will be bringing you the gear that caught our eyes along with an inside look at the parties and personalities that make up the annual SIA tradeshow.
Salomon
Salomon has new skis and boots for the 2010-2011 season. Backcountry / out of bounds powderhounds will be thrilled with an all new boot called The Quest. It combines the rigidity of an alpine boot with the flexibility of an AT boot. It's got removable rubber grips on the base which gives you greater stability while scrambling on rocks and better traction.
Also this season there's a new halfpipe specific ski called the Pro Pipe. It's been designed by athletes like Simon Dumont and Aj Kempannien. No doubt you saw this ski over the past weekend lighting up the pipe at X Games. This ski takes the place of The Dumont.
Here's the new Salomon 2012. It's a park ski that has rocker in the tip and tail!
From left to right: Salomon Rocker, El Dictator, Czar, Shogun
Here's a top to bottom look at the new Salomon El Dictator. Cody Townsend worked hand in hand with Salomon to bring this ski to life. It features a full wood core, ptex 4000 base for speed and is fully rockered.
The new SPK pro boot. The rubber toe introduced last season carries over due to its success in preventing toe-bang.
New SPK Boot.
Salomon Suspect, Threat and Mai Tai.
The new Salomon Sentinel is a match made in heaven for the new Quest boot. If you plan on riding some big mountains, going out through backcountry gates and starting to explore new terrain on the mountain this is a great new ski for you. It's got a full wood core and just enough rocker to keep those tips up and charging through snow of all types.
Salomon Freeski TV superstar, X Dragon! Hopefully you've seen episode 10 of Salomon Freeski TV season 3 where they venture off to Korea to shred with XD's crew. It's an episode not to be missed.
Here's some of the new Salomon Outerwear that was designed with the assistance of Dane Tudor. Look for the dub-xl to be donned by Salomon athletes all winter.
Salomon athlete: Chris Anthony
Jenny "Salomom" Naftulin and Freeskier's Nicole Birkhold in the Salomon booth.
POC
POC has been riding a wave of success over the past few seasons. Top athletes like TJ Schiller, Tanner Hall, Tucker Perkins, Jon Olson, Chris Tatsuno, Dan Marion and more are all representing the brand. This year they've got new colorways, signature helmets, advances in body protection that make the gear more responsive and lighter plus a brand new line of sunglasses. TJ Schiller's new pro model helmet.
Of course there's a matching t-shirt!
Some of the new POC back protection.
POC already makes optically brilliant goggles, now they've taken some of that optical knowledge and have made a complete line of sunglasses for next year.
Chris Tatsuno dropped into the POC booth before he heads back up to Canada to shred the Powder Highway. Be sure to look for his upcoming video series documenting his adventures.
POC celebrated their Swedish heritige by offering free tins of snus. This made a couple of Freeskier editors very happy.
New colorways for POC goggles.
Permission to buzz the tower?
Full Tilt Boots
We've seen Tom Wallisch rocking some new boots this season at the Dew Tour with some outrageously large toungues that resemble basketball sneakers. Turns out, that pair of boots is his Full Tilt Hot Dogger pro model. This boot has been engineered to reduce the effects of shin-bang and bring a style that is completely unique.
Under Armour
Under Armour is going into its third season making technical outerwear for snowsports. Since day one they've been focused on creating gear that has high quality materials, shapes & cuts that are suggested by their athletes along with baselayer pieces, gloves, hats and accessories to compliment their outerwear. This year, Under Armour has partnered with Skullcandy to create outerwear pieces such as jackets and pants that have complimentary headphones and on-jacket audio controls to work with your iPhone, iPod or alternative mp3 player.
Under Armour is creating the outerwear pieces for the US Olympic Freestyle Team. Look for these in Vancouver.
Protect this house! Under Armour / Skullcandy collaboration GI's.
New Under Armour pipe gloves.
Ladies will enjoy the fact that Under Armour is making their outerwear longer.
Go Pro
One of the most popular booths at SIA was the Go Pro booth. These cats were killing it over the weekend by giving away free Go Pro HD models to lucky show attendees, showing Freeskier TV episodes from the Winter Dew tour on their half dozen HD tv's and giving demos of their new Go Pro HD model that shoots full 1080p (1920×1080) with full 60 frame a second support. This camera is the real deal, we've been fortunate enough to be using the new HD model for a few months now and cannot say enough good about it. It's easier to operate, utilizes a rechargeable battery pack, still works with all your existing Go Pro mounts and gives you HD quality at a fraction of the cost of some POV cameras.
Here's one of the videos that they were showing at the booth of Tom Wallisch at Breckenridge, shot by Abe Kislevitz using the new Go Pro HD.
Black Diamond
Black Diamond is a name synonymous with backcountry skiing, touring and avalanche safety. Check out this video to learn what's new with BD.
Here's the new Bandit Avalung pack. It was designed by Seth Morrison.
