Outdoor: Did You Hear?…

>> Indigo Equipment has added veteran designer and outdoor athlete Pete Hill to the Indigo design group. Hill, who is responsible for designing Indigo’s current line of backcountry packs, will formally join the company as a third partner beginning March 1. Hill’s 25 years of hardgoods design experience includes stints at The North Face, Black Diamond, Cascade Designs and, most recently, the Mountain Equipment Co-Op.

>> PrimaLoft is a main sponsor of the first Adirondack Backcountry Ski Festival to be held this coming Friday, Feb. 28, through Sunday, March 2. The festival features three days of instructional clinics and guided tours hosted by The Mountaineer in Keene Valley, N.Y., with help from Adirondack Mountain School and Plattsburgh State University’s Adirondack Experience program. Profits from the event will go to benefit the NYSEF Nordic Youth Ski Racing Program and the Adirondack Ski Touring Council.

>> Kamik has named David Hallgren to the position of vice president sales, eastern region, where he will direct Kamik’s sales efforts east of the Mississippi. Prior to joining Kamik, Hallgren directed sales at Duofold where he served as senior vice president of sales/general manager and prior to that served as a director of footwear operations for the U.S. market at Reebok International Ltd.

>> Thule has appointed Darren Snyder to the newly created position of Thule Envoy. Snyder will report to Mike Moore, Thule’s western sales manager, and support Thule’s western region sales representatives. Snyder’s assignment is to help Thule build its brand and strengthen its partnerships with key western retailers by “providing engaging in-store product training, overall display and merchandising direction, and support with major retail sales.” Snyder will also be closely involved with supporting Thule’s strategic grassroots and consumer programs by displaying the full range of Thule products at selected consumer and outdoor events.

>> Indigenous Designs of Santa Rosa, Calif., was one of four national winners of the Eighth Annual Socially Responsible Business Awards, presented in fall 2002 in Washington, D.C., during the Natural Products Expo East. The award recognizes businesses and individuals in the natural products trade who have shown exemplary effort to promote and practice socially responsible business, and to promote an understanding and appreciation within the business community of socially responsible business practices. Other winners of the Socially Responsible Business Award were La Siembra Co-operative, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Seventh Generation, Burlington, Vt.; and Tom’s of Maine, Kennebunk, Maine.

>> BackcountryStore.com — www.backcountrystore.com — has entered the sales of adventure travel packages by offering “Babes in the Backcountry” and “Ultimate Groove” skiing and mountaineering workshops and clinics on its site. Customers are now able to research and register for 10 packages offered by the adventure outfitters on the retailer’s new Woman’s Backcountry Adventure category.

>> Proderma Sun & Skin Care has produced two new sun safety brochures in conjunction with the Skin Cancer Foundation. “Simple Steps to Sun Safety” is the official Skin Cancer Foundation brochure. “An Ounce of Prevention, a Lifetime of Play” is an informational brochure created by Proderma to answer common questions about skin cancer and sunscreen use, including how skin cancer is caused, how to recognize the signs, and how to prevent it. The Ounce of Prevention brochure is sent with all Proderma products and provided to retailers as part of every display order.

>> Retailers recently awarded Merrell as their choice for Brand of the Year, Outdoor Brand of the Year and the winner in the Innovations in Leather category in association with Footwear Plus magazine’s Plus Awards, which recognize design excellence for the year. The awards were handed out during last week’s World Shoe Association trade show (WSA), the largest footwear trade show in the United States. Thousands of retailers across the country cast their ballots in a Footwear Plus magazine ballot. Sponsored by Footwear Plus, Gore-Tex XCR Footwear, Pittards and WSA, the fourth annual Plus Awards were held Feb. 9 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nev.

>> National Ski & Snowboard Retailers Association (NSSRA) presented five industry suppliers with its “Supplier of the Year” awards during the recent SIA SnowSports Show in Las Vegas. The association membership was asked to cast their votes based on which company best represented the following: innovative product development, responsive customer service, timely shipping of orders, supportive marketing programs for shops, and knowledgeable and cooperative rep/sales force. And the winners of the Third Annual “Supplier of the Year” Awards were: Alpine Equipment – Salomon North America; Alpine Softgoods – Sport Obermeyer; Snowboard Equipment – Ride Snowboards; Snowboard Softgoods – Burton Snowboards; Winter Sports Accessories – Seirus Innovation.