The Snowsports industry tradeshow is always a hoot. All your favorite super heroes are there, the latest and greatest technology is revealed (usually a re-packaged form of old technology under a new name) and the hype machines are running full steam.  All the big companies fight for attention using whatever gimmicks they can pull…  free beer, half naked chicks, DJs, free swag of all sorts, juggling clowns, …. anything to grab your attention so they can convince you that their company is hot shit or their technology is superior to all the other companies that are making the same product.   We didn’t have anything like that so we did things Grassroots Style.  We showed our product and let it speak for itself.  We are doing our own thing and we have been doing it for 7 years now. Powsurfing is the purest form of “snowboarding” in existence and is the most “free” form of any type of mountain riding.   So what’s not to love about it? I don’t think any snowsports enthusiast could hate on something that so purely defines what it is we are all after when we head out into the mountains.  In our eyes this is more powerful than any side-show gimmick that the mega corporations could ever dream up.

We were fortunate to have good friends who see the beauty in what we do and they believe in our product and what it stands for.  These friends came up huge in helping us show our product at SIA. We were able to showcase boards all around the show.  They were a perfect fit in the Mtn Approach booth, they are the perfect companion for that kit and they looked right at home in the booth that Cory made from old barn wood.  They fit beautifully in Dave Basterrechea’s Cheetah Factory Racing booth- CFR makes the perfect rack to haul your powsurfer around on the back of your snow machine.  Our boards found another home in the “Backcountry Experience” booth that housed many split boards and powder specific snowboards. Powsurfing is of course THE ultimate backcountry experience!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grassroots was a big hit amongst the legends of snowboarding both young and old.  Shawn Farmer, Terry Kidwell, Nicolas Muller, JJ Thomas, Bjorn Leines, Danny Davis, Johnny Paxton, Lucas Magoon, and the list goes on and on… The most creative minds in snowboarding were naturally drawn in and clearly hyped on what we have created.  Our videos looped on a TV screen in the CFR booth and passers by were able to see the possibilities on these unique looking wooden toys.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Retailers were hyped, industry legends were hyped, pro snowboarders/skiers/snowmobilers were hyped…. so of course we were hyped that our first real SIA show was a success. After being involved with snowboarding for 25 years it’s easy to get burnt out on an industry that creates so many cliques and fads to try to keep their product fresh in the eyes of the buyer. It feels good to be doing what we love without having to put a spin on our product to sell it to people. The fun and freedom will always speak for itself.

HOMEWARD BOUND!  When the show was over and packed up we were stoked to get the hell out of Denver.  We had left Utah just as 3 feet + of pow had fallen, so we were eager to get back to where the goods were at.  We let the rest of the industry go do their on-snow demos (more like on-man-made-ice demos) at Winterpark and we went home and surfed pow with “the Daves” from Cheetah Factory Racing.  I was stoked to show Dave B some of our backyard goods since he showed us such a good time up in Canada last month.  Both Daves took their first powsurf runs ever and were blown away.  They were both naturals, slaying the steep tree chutes and popping ollies on the fun buttons.  Tall Dave called it the funnest time he’d ever had and the best road trip of his life.  Cheers to that!