It’s a Twofer Monday Tip!

May 20th, 2013

 

Ali LevyTips By Merchandising Guru Ali Levy, alijlevy@gmail.com

As you may or may not know – I love the idea of using everyday items easily found and easy on the wallet, for displays.  Here are two that I recently scouted while out and about in Burlington, VT.

Ah, the endless uses for wood pallets.  Cut them into sections and use them as shoe shelves.  This photo is courtesy of the Burton Factory Store.

For more information about Ali and her company, contact her at alijlevy@gmail.com or visit her website, www.alijlevy.com.

ATHLETE LIMELIGHT: POWDER ROOM – MERCEDES NICOLL

May 17th, 2013

By: SIA
May 17, 2013

Mercedes grew up in Whistler, where she learned to snowboard. Nicoll has represented Canada in the halfpipe at the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympic Games, finishing 6th at the 2010 Games. Mercedes has been competing in halfpipe since 1997 and is a five-time National Champion. She has competed in various World Cups, World Championships, as well as X Games. Nicoll works closely with the Whistler Blackcomb foundation. Read more about her at mercedesnicoll.com

Board & Other Sponsors:
Drake, DFL 146. Northwave, Drake, Powder Room, IS Eyewear, Whistler Blackcomb, POW.

Q&A:

1. The mountain I learned to ride on was: Whistler when I was 14 years old

2. I can’t live without: Family and friends

3. My favorite cuisine is: Japanese

4. When I’m not riding, you can find me: Basking in the sun, reading a book.

5. My favorite movie of all time is without question: Dirty Dancing

6. Who/What inspires you? Friends and family

7. Favorite:

  1. Bands: Awolnation, Pink, the Black Keys, Serena Ryder, Olly Murs, ZZ Ward, Ellie Goulding
  2. Books: Jaime Oliver cookbooks
  3. Vacation Spots: Barcelona, London, Japan

K.I.D.S. to Distribute Products Donated to New Year, New Start Sandy Relief Drive

May 8th, 2013

By: Minna Casser

SnowSports Industries America

May 8, 2013

In October, Hurricane Sandy devastated the East Coast – taking lives, homes, businesses and belongings from thousands of families. With the snow sports industry looking for ways to help, SIA partnered with K.I.D.S. (Kids In Distressed Situations) to create the New Year, New Start Sand Relief program. More than 5,000 lbs. of donations were collected through the program from SIA members, industry retailers, and sales reps.

K.I.D.S. will be distributing winter apparel and sneakers at two separate events in New York this month. The first event, “Winter in May” will take place this Friday, May 10, 2013 at The Far Rockaway Community Library where K.I.D.S. will be distributing winter apparel.

 

Next Tuesday, May 14, 2013 K.I.D.S. will be holding an “All In” Skateboard Event with refreshments, music, dancing, and a sneaker giveaway at Queens Library for Teens.

Thanks to everyone for their help with the New Year, New Start Sandy Relief Program!

Mannequin Madness!

May 6th, 2013

By: Ali Levy
April 6, 2013

Tips By Merchandising Guru Ali Levy, alijlevy@gmail.com

A few weeks ago I was watching the PBS News hour where economics correspondent Paul Solman (my favorite!) was reporting on baby boomers who were taking their careers into their own hands by starting their own businesses. This might be considered a risky move by some this late into their working years.

The focus of the story was an online success story; Mannequin Madness. Started by Judi-Henderson Townsend, Mannequin Madness aims to recycle, repair, rent and of course sell mannequins of all shapes and sizes. Given the fact that I am a huge advocate of every store having at least a few mannequins on hand, Mannequin Madness is a feel good business that you can be proud to support. Townsend keeps it green and affordable. Why not check out their website today and add some mannequin madness to your very own retail floor.

Click here to view the PBS News hour story, originally aired on April 17, 2013.

Find Mannequin Madness here.

For more information about Ali and her company, contact her at alijlevy@gmail.com or visit her website, www.alijlevy.com.

Physical Activity Council Study Reveals 33% of Americans Active to a Healthy Level

May 1st, 2013

By: PAC
May 1, 2013

MAY 1, 2013 – One-third of the American population age 6 and up is “active to a healthy level,” according to the latest study released by the Physical Activity Council (PAC), a consortium of six major sports, fitness, and leisure trade associations.

The PAC study utilizes a new “calorie burning” component to define activities as low, medium, or high calorie-burning activities. The groundbreaking “active to a healthy level” statistic is defined by the number of Americans that take part in a high calorie-burning activity three or more times a week. Using this definition, the PAC is able to determine that 94.8 million Americans age 6 and older, or 33%, are active to a healthy level.

“Having a third of the U.S. participate in activities to a level deemed healthy is encouraging,” said PAC Chairman and SFIA President & CEO Tom Cove. “It also means that two-thirds of the country is not active to a healthy level and we as a society need to find ways to get America moving. I know the PAC is exploring ways in which this can be done, but the need for more activity needs to be on our national agenda as obesity and health care costs continue to rise.”

 Read More

End of Season Wrap Up: On The Road with Ed Wray

April 25th, 2013

By: Ed Wray
Eastern Sales & Marketing Manager
April 25, 2013

With the ski season winding down, I thought this might be a good point to look back at an amazing season.

I started this season with three goals; 1. Learn to Telemark.  Mission accomplished.  Now my brother Dave is sending me his old set up to get started.  Next year I’ll be joining a few others for morning skin-ups at Loon.  2. To learn to bi-ski. Mission accomplished.  Having my son Connor teach me was one of the most rewarding things ever.  3. To have more fun than ever. Mission accomplished. I skied/rode with more friends, families, reps, retailers, kids of all ages and smiled the whole time.

Who would have thought I would get four straight powders days over Christmas vacation?  Never happened before, but it was sweet to say the least. I was lucky enough to do an amazing splitboarding trip in Utah with Hutch and the crew from K2.  Going from sea level to 10,000 sucked but it was a great time.  Two days at Winter Park at the SIA demo; priceless.  After four very hectic and busy days in Denver, the opportunity to get out and test next year’s stuff is wonderful.  Winter Park and SIA did it right.  If you’ve never gone to the Winter Park SIA On-Snow Demo/Ski-Ride Fest, it’s a must.  You won’t regret it.

Then it’s back to Loon for February break with the family, guess what? More snow= more powder and even more fun.  In one day, I drove from Albany to Stratton and skied at the Stratton Demo. In the morning, I drove back to Rhode Island to avoid winter storm Nemo, then drove to New Hampshire. I was spent; but the next day was epic, actually the next three were epic.

Now it’s March and I had a really great day with Teddy and Leah Schiavoni from Summit Ski Shop; a postcard bluebird day and good snow.  The next week it was another Nor’easter.  This one I skied at Killington with Lee and Cathy Qualia from Aspen East Ski Shop.  Lee and I have been planning this trip for months and every time, something came up; this time we were not going to be denied.  We nailed it! Howling winds and deep powder on fat skis made for another great day.  I drove or rather “bobsledded” back to Loon that day.  Woke up to a perfect morning with fresh light snow… yeah it was Utah light!  It was the single best morning I’ve had at Loon in 30+ years there.

Now I’ve still got one more weekend and a quick trip to Vail before it ends.  However, Tuckerman’s is calling me this year…

Protect Our Winters in the White House

April 25th, 2013

By: Ryan Dunfee
Powder Magazine
April 25, 2013

Jeremy Jones in front of the White House. Photo: POW

On April 11th, Jeremy Jones, pro snowboarder and founder of snow sports non-profit Protect Our Winters, was honored by the White House as a “Champion of Change” for his and POW’s work to bring attention to the issue of climate change within the winter sports community. The Champions of Change awards are part of President Obama’s Winning The Future Initiative, which recognize “ordinary Americans doing extraordinary things in their communities to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world.” Jones was among a crowd that included an environmental biologist from the Bay Area and a climate change educator from Miami. Protect Our Winters was also recognized for being vocal about the effects of climate change and its unique approach of bringing professional snow sports athletes into schools to present young students with information about climate change.

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Suzy Chaffee Explains National Snow Gratitude Ceremonies

April 24th, 2013

By on Sun, 21 Apr 2013

Roland McCook, former N. Ute Chairman

Photo Credit: SAKHI ZACK

ARTICLE: The National Ski Areas Association’s NRDC study said that Colorado and Utah would be losing its snow by the end of the century unless there is an intervention – the East likely earlier. Fortunately, a consensus of the UN’s 192 countries in 2012 identified the key to regenerating Earth: a combination of science/green energy and Ancient Wisdom, especially through the tribes.

Since the Ancient Wisdom part of the intervention is affordable for any ski area, (family or community) our Native American Olympic Team Foundation (NAOTF) helped launch a series of Gratitude Snowdances across America with a handful of trendsetters who wanted to join the bandwagon to help ensure their grandchildren can still enjoy our beloved snow sports.

Thanks to those U.N. countries recognizing in 2009 that Mother Earth is a phenomenally wise, compassionate, sensitive being, and thanks to tribal Elders leading these ceremonies, a lot more people understand that She responds even more generously than people when we give Her appreciation. The intervention tour is lighting the way of how everyone can make a difference in turning around 2012’s worst U.S. drought and warmest temperatures in history by simply saying “Thank you Mother Earth when it snows or rains.”  The tribes remind us that we all have earth-honoring ancestors and how we can extend snow for the kids.

Gratitude Snowdance in Aspen

Photo Credit: Deanne Kessler

PHOTO CAPTION (top of page, and above): Roland McCook, former N. Ute Chairman and Utah Olympic host, led stunning Gratitude Snowdance in Aspen that was part of over eight across the U.S. in April that are helping protect Colorado and other states from 2012’s worst drought and fires in history. Many ski areas are still open.

Read more HERE.

Article is Copr. © by Suzy Chaffee, and originally published on eNewsChannels.com – all commercial and reprint rights reserved. Contact Suzy at: Suzynativevoices@aol.com, or http://naotf.org/ .

Tragedy Strikes Colorado Snowboard Community As Loveland Pass Avalanche Claims Five Lives

April 22nd, 2013

By: Mike Lewis
TransWorld Business
April 23, 2013

Scott Toepfer, a member of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, takes depth measurements every 50 feet at the crown of the avalanche near Loveland Pass on Sunday. (Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post)

Tragedy struck the Colorado snowboard community this Saturday when four experienced backcountry snowboarders and one skier perished in a massive slide on Loveland Pass during the Rocky Mountain High Backcountry Gathering.

The event, which was organized by Yes/Jones/NOW Rep Joe Timlin, who was one of the victims; was put together to promote backcountry safety and gear and as a fundraiser for Friends of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC).

A look at the zone above Loveland Valley ski area. The crown is visible in the middle right above the switchback on Highway 6. At the bottom of the photo, the top of Loveland Valley’s runs is visible. Photo: Courtesy Drago

CAIC’s preliminary report said the slide was approximately 500 feet wide and four feet deep, and was most likely triggered by the riders who were touring on Loveland Pass a popular backcountry zone located about 55 miles west of Denver and just south of Loveland Ski Area, in the Sheep’s Creek area, just above Loveland Valley.
Read More

Happy Earth Day!

April 22nd, 2013

By: SIA’s Communications & PR Manager, Elizabeth Hurst
April 22, 2013

As sad as I am to put my skis in storage at the season’s end, I feel refreshed by spring. Sprigs of green appearing practically out of thin air make me appreciate how resilient our planet is and how dependent we are on it for life. Anything we can do to protect the environment is a step in the right direction no matter how big or small.

I learned a lot about effective green initiatives over the past month preparing for Earth Day and the green issue of the SIA newsletter. I was particularly impressed by the Colorado Convention Center, home of the SIA Snow Show. Did you know that the CCC is the first EVER environmentally sustainable meetings facility? On top of that, the CCC’s solar panels offset 280 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year and the venue recycles 250 tons of meetings materials.

I also didn’t realize that Centerplate, the CCC catering service, has a more than 5,000 square foot Blue Bear garden supplying thousands of pounds of produce annually. Honey from the beehive and produce from 150 plant varieties infuses a lot of locally sourced dishes into menus around the CCC. SIA’s winter crowd misses out on much of the Blue Bear’s bounty, but attendees can cash in on the Colorado Green Chili, pickled peppers, salsas and pesto made from the garden’s summer abundance of basil.

Use this Earth Day to celebrate every major and minor environmental victory that impacts our lives- we’re surrounded by them. Keeping the green spirit of Earth Day all year will safeguard the environment we love and our keep our winters white.

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