Outdoor: Did you hear?… Mammut Sendfest offers competition and climbers' festival, plus Black Diamond, Salomon, Clive, Thorlos, OIA and more

For the week of July 19-25

>> Calling all climbers and boulderers — if you’re heading to Salt Lake City a few days early for Outdoor Retailer Summer Market, check out the first-ever Mammut Sendfest. The competition and climbers’ festival rolled into one will be at The Front Climbing Club (www.frontslc.com) on Aug. 12-13 and open to climbers of all ages and abilities. Problems of all grades and styles will be set, and three climbing events will be held: a Pro Bouldering Comp, a Citizen Comp, and a Dyno Comp by La Sportiva. The Pro Bouldering Comp has two rounds: qualifiers on Friday and finals on Saturday, with four problems per round. The Citizen Comp has two separate three-hour sessions, for youth and adults, and both feature 50 problems of all styles and grades. The La Sportiva Dyno Comp will be held after the Pro Bouldering Finals, and will show off the amazing leaps and tricks of the best dyno specialists in the country. Throughout the weekend there will be a silent auction and raffle benefiting the U.S. Climbing Team. The money raised will help send the team to the international World Cups and the World Championships. In addition to the competition, there will be film screenings, a slackline demo and plenty of food, drinks, music and prizes. Complete event details, ticket sales and competitor registration is posted at www.sendfest.com. For more information, contact Scott Rennak at info@sendfest.com or 303-818-3758.

>> It’s not just about the kayak for Emily Jackson. The 15-year-old whitewater kayaker — and daughter of three-time World Freestyle Kayak Champion Eric “EJ” Jackson — is dedicating her purse money from competitions this summer to a project to provide clean water to villagers half a world away at the headwaters of Africa’s White Nile. A member of the U.S. Junior Women’s Freestyle Kayak Team, Jackson is already $3,500 closer to her goal of raising $10,000 to provide a Play-Pump to the village of Kyabirwa, Uganda. The Play-Pump is a cross between a kids’ playground merry-go-round and water well pump. Kids playing on the Play-Pump can get it spinning at speeds up to 16 rpm, supplying 1,400 liters of water per hour from wells from 40 to 100 meters deep below the ground. The water is stored in an attached 2,500-liter aboveground tank. One pump can provide clean water to a community of up to 2,500 people. Jackson also hopes to solicit additional funds for the project from exhibitors and attendees at Outdoor Retailer Summer Market. For further information on how to help Jackson meet her goal, visit www.jacksonkayak.com or email emily@jacksonkayak.com.

>> Black Diamond Equipment has integrated Franklin Climbing Equipment into the Black Diamond brand to hone its focus and efforts on fostering a complete climbing brand. With the integration, Black Diamond’s management said it can more efficiently build, develop and market specific, high-end bouldering gear. To increase Black Diamond Bouldering’s global and urban appeal, the company said it has turned to Switzerland-based Mike Tscharner and Tomas Hodel, both well-known boulders and designers, to drive development of future bouldering products.

>> Salomon has been anointed the exclusive cross-country ski, boot and binding supplier to the Subaru Factory Team for the 2005-2006 season and beyond. Salomon has been the official boot and binding of the Subaru Factory Team since the team’s inception in 1994. During that time, Subaru Factory Team athletes have won 11 consecutive American Ski Marathon Series titles. Since 2000, Salomon Boot and Binding systems have won 85 percent of all Olympic, World Cup and World Championship medals. For more information on the Salomon Subaru Factory Team, visit www.enjoywinter.com.

>> Following the departure of SGB’s Publisher Mark Sullivan and two associate publishers in mid-July, SGB’s parent VNU has promoted Charlotte Erwin to group publisher, effective Aug. 1. VNU said that Erwin will be transitioning from her current responsibilities as publisher of Brandweek magazine, “while also moving aggressively to fill the remaining sales/sales management positions on SGB.” Erwin has been with the company since 1998, starting as West Coast director of sales for Adweek Magazine. She then moved to New York in 2001 to be publisher of Brandweek magazine.  

>> Clive is looking to jive with the outdoor industry. The maker of more stylized everyday bags, backpacks and accessories plans to expand into the outdoor distribution channel to capitalize on the emerging youth lifestyle category. A subsidiary of Eagle Creek, Clive joins the spring 2006 outdoor market as a “new brand,” repositioned with an entirely new and uniquely stylized, design-oriented product line for the urban commuter, student or traveler. Eagle Creek’s Vice President of Sales Michael Millenacker has been newly appointed to oversee the Clive business. Millenacker credits renewed interest in Clive in large part to the new direction created by Clive Brand Director Roger Sgarbossa, who previously served as creative and marketing director for Sugoi. Sgarbossa is also leading the development of the Clive design and marketing strategy. Marketing support for the spring 2006 line includes full fixturing and point-of-sale solutions. Clive accounts will be managed by Eagle Creek’s existing sales and customer service reps. The spring 2006 line will be unveiled at Outdoor Retailer Summer Market in booth #3707.

>> After seven years and one tornado, Stanwood & Partners PR has resigned from the VNU Sports Group account, which includes the Outdoor Retailer trade shows. To aid VNU in the transition, Stanwood & Partners will handle PR duties for next month’s Outdoor Retailer Summer Market in Salt Lake City. Stanwood & Partners was recently retained by SnowSports Industries America to represent the SIA trade show.

>> Thorlos is at it again, sponsoring the Sock Trade-in at Outdoor Retailer Summer Market and giving the socks to Salt Lake City’s Family Shelter. The Family Shelter, located in the downtown area, is a decades-old community-based shelter that provides housing for men, women and families. Trade in your old socks for a new pair of Thorlos on days one and two of Summer Market from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. For each pair traded-in, Thorlos will also donate $1 to the American Hiking Society’s National Trails Fund.

>> There’s a very happy 8-year-old in Massachusetts getting ready to spend, spend, spend. Tommy Olney of Wayland, Mass., won a $500 shopping spree at Rugged Bear in Sudbury, Mass., as part of Tubbs Snowshoes Scout Sweepstakes. This past winter, Tubbs Snowshoes offered a shopping spree sweepstakes to children shopping with their parents at participating dealers who championed snowshoeing as the perfect winter sport for families and offered Tubbs’ children’s snowshoes. All children between the ages of 4 and 13 were eligible to enter the sweepstakes. Any dealer that offered Tubbs Snowshoes children’s Flurry or Storm models was eligible to take part in this promotion. Along with Tommy, Katelyn Gherna, 11, of Calumet, Mich., won the second place $250 shopping spree after visiting Re-Run Sports, while Gareth Price, 13, of Waterloo, Ontario, took the third place prize of a $100 shopping spree after visiting Adventure Guide. “The shopping spree giveaway really drew in customers, and it gave me a chance to talk about snowshoeing and the Tubbs line,” said Tom Fouts of Re-Run Sports. “Programs like Tubbs’ shopping spree demonstrate the company’s commitment to its retailers and growth of the snowshoe category.”

>> Lori Herrera has been appointed vice president of finance for Outdoor Industry Association and will start on Aug. 1. Formerly the vice president of finance and operations for Qualstar Early Learning and Educare Colorado, Herrera has extensive experience working with non-profit organizations. She also spent 13 years working in finance and administration for the Vector Companies in Colorado.

>> After 26 years in the business, Dahlgren Footwear is introducing a new line of women’s socks designed specifically for smaller and narrower feet. Initially, the company is debuting five women’s-specific styles: backpacking, light hiking, running, outdoor cross training and walking. The new styles are expected to hit retailers in early spring 2006.

>> Hydrapak has hired Matt Patterson as its new director of sales and national accounts, and Ashley Erdman as the service and promotions coordinator. Patterson will oversee all aspects of sales development including retail distribution, strategy, branding and the company’s expanding growth into the OE hydration market. Erdman will take charge of all event activities, team and athlete programs as well as all sales and service support.  

>> Loki USA apparel is gaining ground from coast to coast and beyond. On the East Coast, Loki will make its debut in Jimmy Jazz stores — considered a New York City source for fashion — this fall. On the West Coast, a full range of Loki jackets and accessories will hit the racks of Any Mountain’s stores in the San Francisco Bay area this October. Even farther afield, Loki has become one of A & F Corp.’s featured American brands. A & F is a Japanese distributor of American outdoor specialty product imports. New doors opened include Oshman’s of Japan and L-Breath, one of the country’s largest outdoor chains. For more information about Loki, visit www.lokiusa.com.