A Wrap-up from the SIA Show in Denver
February 8, 2010, by eugenebBeing the diligent Dad (and book promoter) that I am, while editing the Show Daily magazines at the annual SIA tradeshow in Denver I couldn’t help but canvass what’s out there in the skiing and riding world for kiddos. In the first place, the tradeshow was put on by an organization that truly has kids’ outdoors interests at heart. As well as promoting its 50-for-50 Raffle, an education outreach and fundraising initiative for its Winter Feels Good campaign (www.winterfeelsgood.org) to help get kids out on the snow, SIA also used the show to announce its National Youth Summit. Politicians, resort heads, manufacturers, pro skiers and snowboarders, youth agency leaders and others all came together to help kids get outdoors. In celebration of its National Learn a Snow Sport Month, the association used the gathering to unveil its Recreation Outdoor Initiative, a collaborative effort to ensure a million youth are engaged in winter sports programs over the next 10 years. “We launched it to help raise awareness on the importance of getting kids involved in winter sports, demonstrate how the industry gives back, and the importance of winter sports play in youth development programs,” says SIA’s Annovia Daniels.
OK, onto products. Here’s a sampling of companies carrying the torch for getting kids outside, from mom-and-pops to venerable giants.
SkiJunk.com’s Ski-Z
Tired of carrying your kids’ skis around? Let them do it themselves with the new Ski-Z from SkiJunk.com. With a high-rebound inline-skate wheel boasting a ABEC precision bearing, the Ski-Z caddies your kids’ skis for them, attaching easily to the tips and letting children of all walks roll their skis behind them. No more octopus-armed parents futilely trying to carry everything themselves. I brought a pair home for my daughters and their eyes lit up as round as the contraption’s wheels. Info: www.skijunk.com; 877-SKI-JUNK
K2 Grom Pack
Want to get your kid snowboarding with one easy step? Check out the new Grom Pack from K2, for kids aged 5-10. Retailing for the parent friendly price of $299.99, the Grom pack (love than name) includes Mini Turbo board, bindings and boots, all ready to go. Simply input your child’s foot size when you order. It even comes with sizing shims in the boots so the boots can grow with your brood. “It’s engineered to grow right along with your child’s progression,” says K2 Snowboarding’s Steve Metcalf. “It’s an easy-to-size package making for one-stop shopping for a family headed out to the sledding hill or up to the slopes.” Info: http://store.k2snowboarding.com/products/category/1513.1.1.1.66644.0.0.0.0
Flaik Ski School
Never have your kids get lost on the slopes again (unless, of course, you’re trying to). Real-time tracking of students and classes is delivered by the flaik Ski School tracking solution. With a proven track record at Copper Mountain and Steamboat in Colorado, the system reunites students and instructors when separated anywhere on the mountain. Last season over 80,000 students in children’s ski and ride school were successfully tracked. Revolutionizing the ski industry with it’s real-time location-based suite of solutions for ski resort management, flaik launched its real-time tracking solution in the United States in November 2008. Since then, it’s expanded to nine areas including Whistler-Blackcomb, Winter Park, Stratton Mountain, Mont Tremblant, Smugglers’ Notch, Alpine Meadows, and Homewood. It also lets kids view their runs online when you’re back at the condo.
Snowcraft Co-pilot Ski Trainer
The book bemoans the leashes you use to teach your kids to ski. The Copilot Ski Trainer offers a solution via a tethering towing system that attaches to your kids’ boots instead of their waists. Simply attach the 16-foot-long elasticized webbing via metal trigger snaps to your childs’ boots and then ski behind knowing they’re safe and sound. Pull the right leash to get them to turn right, and the left to turn left. Bonus: if you get to a hill, rotate them to the front of the boots and pull them forward. A better mousetrap indeed. Info: www.gosnowcraft.com, 604-628-9519.
Koala Ski & Snowboard Carriers
Get to the slopes easier and faster with this doo-hickey, a carrier that lets you tote skis and snowboards while freeing up your hands for your toddlers. Fastening around the midsection of skis or boards, and letting you carry them via a shoulder strap, it also comes with ClipNGo accessories that let you fasten goggles, helmets, gloves and more. So you look a little like a laundry line…that’s a small price to pay for ease of motion. Info: www.koalasnowsports.com, 602-653-8256.
phone: 888 582 2001 | International: 613 582 7154
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