Outdoor Retailer Summer Market 2003 Update — Preshow Final

This is the final Outdoor Retailer trade show update SNEWS will be running before Summer Market. We’re out the door and on our way to Outdoor Retailer ourselves, via way of Denver for the Health & Fitness Business trade show.

SNEWS Team To Cover OR Like Never Before — The SNEWS team will be at Outdoor Retailer Summer Market, lending some spice and energy to the Daily Exposure this summer with periodic columns and news shorts from the trade show floor. In addition, SNEWS will provide the most detailed roundup of the trade show possible in the weeks following Outdoor Retailer. We promise that even if you can’t make Salt Lake, our coverage will allow you to feel like you were wandering the aisles with us.

Trade Show Events Worth Noting

>> The Open Air Demo at Little Dell Lake is shaping up very nicely. There are plenty of paddlesport companies with boats, paddles and more to demo for those retailers craving a play day before hitting the trade show floor. In addition, GoLite and W.L. Gore are sponsoring the second annual mini adventure race for retailers and media — Raid the Dell. The starting gun goes off at 12:30 p.m. with competitors expected to drag themselves across the finish line between 3:30 and 4 p.m. At this printing, the following companies will be at the Open Air with products to demo: ACR Electronics, Ally/Bergans, AT Paddles, Bell Canoe Works, Bic Sport North America, Brunton, Cascade Design, Esquif Canoes, GoLite, Gransfors Brucks, Hobie Cat Company, Hydropak, Innova Kayak, Liquidlogic, Luxurylite Gear, Maui Jim, Necky Kayaks/Ocean Kayak, Neocorp, Nike Timing, Nova Sports Equipment, Pentax USA, ScanSport, Sevylor, Simon River Sports, Souris River Canoes, Stearns, Swarovski Optik, Tecnica, Thule, Watermark, Waterstick Paddles, Wenonah Canoe, Werner Paddles, Wildwasser and WL Gore.

>> If you’re in the neighborhood the night before the show opens (Wednesday, Aug. 13), then head over to the Dead Goat Saloon for Canoe & Kayak’s 16th Annual Paddlesports Industry Party. We guarantee beer, wine, dancing, rockin’ blues, debauchery of some kind or another, and general merriment at the one event during the year when most of the paddlesports industry gets together under a single roof in a non-competitive environment for a good time. Canoe & Kayak will be celebrating 30 years in biz — a helluv an accomplishment! Sixteen years ago, when publisher Glen Bernard hosted the first party, we remember the cheap hotel room in Nevada, a single bottle of tequila, three cases of beer and a truckload of laughter. As in years past, C&K will be announcing the Boat and Accessory Manufacturer and Retailer of the Year Awards, given for “outstanding achievement in the promotion, sales and service of paddlesports.” This is a true industry award and advanced congrats go out to the winners.

>> Vaude will have a special guest at its booth (927) from Thursday to Saturday — international cycling adventurer Tilmann Waldthaler. Waldthaler has been biking all over the word since 1977, cycling across 108 countries and logging more than 248,000 miles in the saddle — talk about a durable posterior! If chatting with Waldthaler doesn’t thrill you, then getting a glimpse of new Vaude USA President Read Worth in leather pants will be worth the visit, if for nothing else than the chuckle alone.

>> La Sportiva is organizing a hash run Friday, Aug. 15, at 6:30 p.m. Runners will meet in the alley behind the Dead Goat Saloon (just across from the convention center) where directions will be given by the local Wasatch Hash House Harriers for a run through the downtown streets to the shiggy of the Salt Lake hills. The Wasatch Hashers will lay a trail of flour for runners to follow on a loping 45-minute (or maybe longer) jaunt that combines running (sort of), orienteering (SNEWS reminds these hash house wannabes that orienteering IS NOT a traditional part of hashing) and partying (ahh, music to our ears). This is not a race for the swift, but a race for the most irreverent or, as the true hashers put it, “drinkers with a running problem.” Penalties will be given for anyone wearing new shoes or race T-shirts. Stop by the Sportiva booth for more information on the run or for directions to the après party that certainly means a quenching of summer thirst. SNEWS will be there and remind all that hashing is steeped in tradition — go to the following link to read the Hash Bible: www.gthhh.com/bible/biblepage.asp?zzz=&bookno=1&chapterno=2

>> Warm up for the Hash Run by moseying over to Smartwool booth 3359 on Aug. 16 from 4 to 6 p.m. for what the company is billing as an Adrenaline bash. Smartwool promises cool door prizes, free beer, Smartwool Arenaline CDs to get your groove on, and a special Adrenaline liquid concoction to give you a mid-show shot in the arm. Oh yeah, and you’ll also see a sneak peek at the new Adrenaline sock line that launches the company’s multisport sock design.

>> Another party! Thule and Liquidlogic are co-sponsoring the 2003 IR Big Gun Show awards party to be held on Friday, Aug. 15, from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. at Brewvies Theater in Salt Lake City. During the event, Thule will recognize two of its dealers with Retail Partner Awards. The IR Big Gun Show is a live multi-media presentation awards ceremony. A respected cast of media personalities, from magazine editors to television producers, will judge entries submitted throughout the year by paddler and videographer/photographer teams. The entries will be judged on cinematography/photography, scope, dimensionality (the SNEWS team is still trying to find this word in our dictionary), difficulty, landing, style and other criteria. Passes to the invite only event will be available at the Thule booth 5116.

>> And one more — you’d think partying is all we do at this show. On Friday, Aug. 15, beginning at 5 p.m. in the Montrail Booth 1827 you can meet, greet and party with Team Montrail, winners of the 2003 Raid Gauloises adventure race. Montrail assures us there will be a first-class raffle (beware of booby prizes), entertaining slide show and better than average beverages. The party is sponsored by Montrail, Gregory, Suunto and Adventure Sports Magazine.