2013 SIA Snow Show – Highlights from Day One

Before the Colorado Convention Center doors opened for today’s 2013 SIA Snow Show (Jan. 31-Feb. 3), many from the snow sports industry had already immersed themselves in the Show experience.

On Wednesday, the new Sourcing Snow trade show kicked off seven days of SIA-hosted events, parties, seminars and gatherings.

That night, more than a thousand attendees gathered to watch the annual Snow Fashion & Trends Show, presented by Ford, happening on a mountain-lodge inspired runway. The models highlighted the 2014 hottest snow sports style trends identified by Stylesight in technical skiing, snowboarding, youth and high fashion. The 74 outfits were contributed by more than 30 brands. The night ended with 686 President/Creative Director Mike West introducing the three Reclaim Project designers each tasked with creating an original garment utilizing 686 reclaimed materials in the 686, SIA and Malakye.com-hosted event.

The sold-out Snow Show features 476 exhibitors including 106 new exhibitors representing 1,084 snow sports brands. An estimated 18,000+ attendees from across the globe will attend this year’s Snow Show including manufacturers, retailers, reps, athletes, media and personalities from the snow sports industry.

Day One began with SIA’s traditional Opening Ceremony where Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, VISIT Denver and Colorado Ski Country USA representatives rang cowbells to signal the start of the 2013 Snow Show. During the ceremony, the National Ski Patrol was also recognized for the organization’s 75th Anniversary being celebrated during the Show.

Within an hour of the Show’s opening, POC Sports was honored by the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USAA) and SnowSports Industries America (SIA) with the Doc DesRoches Award. The award is presented annually by SIA and the USSA to recognize a national team supplier for innovation in marketing the team’s brands and athletes. Since 2004, the award has been presented annually to recognize a U.S. Ski Team supplier for its work in marketing the Team and its athletes.

“In addition to its strong support of elite athletes such as Olympic champions Bode Miller and Julia Mancuso, POC is known for its innovative educational and support programs targeting local U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association clubs,” commented Bill Marolt, President and CEO, U. S. Ski and Snowboard Association.

“This is extremely rewarding. Back when we started the company we had no idea we would be here today and getting an award like this. We try to develop relevant products for athletes to get the most adequate stuff they need to perform without compromising our mission to do the best we can to save lives and reduce consequences of accidents,” commented Stefan Ytterborn, CEO/Founder of POC Sports.

Highlights from Day One here “SIA Snow Show Daily Dose” at: https://vimeo.com/58678128.

“You need to be here to show that you’re a player in the industry and that you’re not going anywhere. The Snow Show is the one place where you’ve got all of your main retailers and you can get valuable feedback from everybody. It’s all the feedback and just being able to connect with every different type of buyer from different territories,” Mike Nick, Orage’s Global Marketing Director.

Day One buzz in the aisles focused on the optimism that prevails despite the challenges the United States has faced in recent months with varying weather conditions, a struggling economy, the East Coast’s recovery from Hurricane Sandy and “fiscal cliff” concerns.

“In spite of a challenging retail climate, we’ve felt a lot of really good energy,” said Blair Clark of Smith Optics.

Homestead Snowboards had a productive first day at the Snow Show. “I went to the Sourcing Snow and got quite a bit done there,” said Daniel Clancey, founder/creative director of Homestead Snowboards. “We’re here to open up some new doors and turn people on to our product. We’re here and we’re making progress and stoked for that.”

Confirming the industry is holding steady, SIA released fresh data indicating December started slow, but when winter conditions gained momentum, sales of equipment, apparel and accessories accelerated. Consumers spent more than $1B in the snow sports market in December alone and sales for the season have reached $2.B. With snow continuing to fall, all eyes are on recovery from last season’s difficulties brought on by lack of snow.

“Snow in late December across much of the country definitely put sales in high gear,” commented Kelly Davis, SIA’s Director of Research.

Member-owned, industry-inspired and dedicated exclusively to snow sports, the SIA Snow Show is the industry’s largest annual global gathering. It’s where the most influential and visionary brands connect with leading retailers, resorts and media to unveil innovations, exchange ideas and build solid relationships that shape the industry.

Stay connected to 2013 SIA Snow Show news with the SIA Social Dashboard, with feeds from the SIA Facebook page, SIA’s Latest and @siasnowsports on Twitter. Use #SIA13 to join the Twitter and Instagram dialogues with thousands of snow sports industry professionals at the SIA Snow Show in Denver and On-Snow Demo at Winter Park and Devil’s Thumb Ranch, Colo. through February 5.

– SIA –
SnowSports Industries America (SIA) is the national not-for-profit, North American member-owned, trade association representing suppliers and service providers of snow sports products with constituents in the retailer, rep and resort communities. Annually producing the SIA Snow Show, the largest snow sports industry trade show, on-snow demo and networking environment globally, SIA delivers invaluable data/research reports including the Snow Sports Market Intelligence Reports, SnowSports RetailTRAKTM and Executive Market Summary. SIA also produces the Supplier Show, Sourcing Snow, at the SIA Snow Show; learn more at siasnowshow.com/sourcing. SIA is dedicated to growing the industry through consumer initiatives and websites, snowlink.com and wintertrails.org, marketing resources, services and collaborative programs to increase participation and move product. Ford is the official partner of the 2013 SIA Snow Show. For more information, visit snowsports.org. SnowSports Industries America, 8377-B Greensboro Drive, McLean, VA 22102-3587 (Washington, DC Area). Phone: 703-556-9020, Fax: 703-821-8276, Email: SIAmail@snowsports.org.