Outdoor Retailer Winter Market Update — Women Rule

SNEWS will be running regular Outdoor Retailer Winter Market updates through late January. We are doing this as a service to the industry to assist retailers, reps and exhibitors with trade show attendance and planning.

Do you have a trade show event you think is worth noting?

If you have a trade show event that’s scheduled, confirmed and more than just an introduction of a new product (as in, entertaining and educational), fire an email to the SNEWS team at orevents@snewsnet.com.

Outdoor Retailer-sponsored seminar is a must attend!

Do not pass go and do not collect $200 if you don’t attend the “Lifestyles and Design Trends” seminar led by Haysun Hahn, director of Futuremode, on Monday, Feb. 2, 7:30 to 9 a.m. in Ballroom A of the Salt Palace. Expect to get your collective outdoor industry butt lovingly kicked by this leading authority in the fashion and active sports industry. We guarantee that Hahn’s not only a compelling speaker, but she’ll get you thinking creatively about how to approach the market. Hahn tells us that the functional features of outdoor product design continue to have a strong impact in the way we define the modern wardrobe. But what are the elements that separate everyday lifestyle and outdoor style? Is the fusion good for outdoor distribution? And, how important is sex appeal for the outdoor industry? Futuremode will discuss the “f” word, fashion and other trends that are affecting the outdoor style.

OIWC sponsoring free women’s clinics at the Backcountry Base Camp

The OIWC has organized a quartet of free clinics open to all women in the outdoor industry and being held in conjunction with Outdoor Retailer’s Backcountry Base Camp event. OIWC clinic participants for snowshoeing, basic backcountry skills and beginning telemark skiing will be provided with lift tickets, transportation, swag bags and all gear. Women participating in the guided backcountry tour will receive lift tickets, transportation and swag bags but will be responsible for bringing their own skis, boots, poles, skins, packs, beacon and shovel. There will be no advance registration. Sign-ups for the clinics will take place on-site at Brighton at the OIWC booth. Participation is on a first-come, first-served basis. The four clinics will be conducted in the morning and repeated in the afternoon. Each clinic will be limited to six to eight women depending on the type of clinic. Patrick Nelson from the Cottonwood Canyons Foundation will be leading the snowshoe tours on behalf of Tubbs Snowshoes. Nelson is a guide with the Cottonwoods Canyon Foundation, an organization working to maintain and improve the environmental health of Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons. The foundation leads educational and instructional tours in the Wasatch-Cache Country National Forest. Babes in the Backcountry founder and owner Leslie Ross will conduct the Basic Backcountry Skills Clinic, courtesy of Black Diamond. Ross is a three-time National Telemark Free Skiing Champion and has also earned the 2002 overall USTSA National Telemark Free Skiing Championships series title. She is an AAI Level II and AIARE Level I Avalanche Educator and shares her knowledge and experience through her Babes in the Backcountry program. Heather Paul will teach the beginning telemark ski clinic, courtesy of Marmot. Paul is the founder of Ultimate Groove, a company offering instructional clinics in telemark skiing for women. She is a two-time National Telemark Champion, a former World Cup Team member and a bronze medal winner in the 1995 World Championships. Once you’ve tuckered out your legs and mind, don’t forget to head over to the après Base Camp Bash at the Alpine Rose with food, refreshments and music — courtesy of the good folks at Outdoor Retailer.