with High Sierra’s new wheeled bags. “The athletes like the wheels.
We want to make sure they make it to the slopes with ease so they
can perform well for our country,” says publicist Stella Peterson.
a roomy exterior accessory pocket and a spacious interior com-
partment with straps to secure boards and skis. They’re padded
and reinforced with molded PVC at the corners for extra protection.
A detachable padded shoulder strap and handle at the un-wheeled
end offer alternate carrying options for lighter loads. Offered in
Patriot Blue, Charcoal and Black, the new bags subtly sport the US
Ski and Snowboard logos for a clean look to match an easy carry.
Newcomers like 4FRNT
growth since their start-up, while even the park
elders, Line, have observed 300-400 percent
growth in some Western regions. With this
expansion, companies are making not one or two
twintip models, but often several, and the earlier
desire to showcase the all-mountain abilities of
park skis is giving way to specialization.
built on decades of snowboard research.
After two years of production, owner Don
Tashman decided it was time to bring his
Loaded Carving Systems skateboards to
SIA. The decks use snowboard construction,
with vertical lamination and an oak core.
“We’re building boards with a freeride snow-
board feel and we couldn’t think of a better
place to reach those people,” says Tashman.
Loaded has five models to cover the entire
range of riding, with different designs for
steeps, hills, parking garages, round town,
banks and big bowls. “We’ve had great
response from retailers, product engineers
and pro skiers, and we’ve been selling lots of
boards to industry people on the spot.”
Fujative and Armada T-Hall with specific flex
profiles for nose presses and buttering spins
onto rails. Armada’s JP vs. Julien keeps the tail
taller than the tip for skiing and landing back-
ward in the backcountry. Both Volkl’s Sumo and
Line’s Elizabeth by Eric Pollard use huge plat-
forms with deep, snowboard-like sidecuts for
carving tricks off of tabletops and cliff drops into
deep powder. Armada’s T-Hall keeps its
detuned edges for rail slides this year, and
Atomic creates the Urban Triplets, a set of
three skis, each with a second set of edges
inboard of the base edges for a smooth slide
and extra durability.