Mountain inventors with dreams mix with industry giants at annual ski, snowboard trade show

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Newbies mix with industry giants at ski trade show

DENVER — While ski and snowboard makers showed off their latest models at SnowSports Industries America’s annual Snow Show this year, inventors with big ideas were trying to get retailers to bite.

In a sprawling Vegas-style booth decked out with slot machines, a casino floor and fake Elvises, Burton touted its $1,499, super-light silver Method snowboard at the industry’s annual trade show, where retailers place orders for the next season.

Just yards away, a 54-year-old snowboarding lawyer worked a small booth with a black curtain, trying to interest retailers in bandana-like neckwear with waterproof material.

And as Icelantic offered first looks at its new Oracle skis designed specifically for women, a former professional motocross racer was unveiling his snowboard bindings with built-in suspension.

Carl Lindemann, whose “real job” is working at a rock quarry, dreamed up full-suspension bindings eight years ago after launching himself off a kicker at Squaw Valley near Lake Tahoe, landing awkwardly and suffering a heel bruise that ended his snowboarding season.

He sold his house, moved his family in with his mother, and turned to relatives and friends to save money to develop his idea. About $100,000 and seven prototypes later, his newly formed company Manic Snow is taking orders. Manic Snow, based in Vallejo, Calif., unveiled its full-suspension bindings with titanium springs at the Snow Show.

“It was a big relief to get there finally after all that hard work,” said Lindemann, who attended previous SIA shows only as an observer. “At the beginning, I was nervous because I didn’t know how people would respond.”

Lindemann is hoping kids can fly higher and land safer with his bindings.

“I’ve been working at a rock quarry for 20 years. I’m very much over it,” Lindemann said. “This is my way to try to get the heck out of where I’m at and make a living at my hobby.”

Other companies, including established ones, had gadgets for wheeling skis from the parking lot to the lift and recharging cell phones or MP3 players using the sun.

The Strap Pad returned to the show with a tweaked design. It’s a strap that attaches where a stomp pad normally goes, between the snowboard bindings. A snowboarder can slide his back foot into the strap for better control to avoid an embarrassing fall getting off the lift.

Specialty Sports Venture LLC President Ken Gart, who oversees retail and rental operations in Colorado and California, was stoked on video technology, from goggles with video cameras built in on the bridge to helmet cams.

Other innovations included bindings from Buzrun Snowboards of Korea that don’t have buckles or ratchets.

Manic Snow didn’t have the proper insurance to let Snow Show attendees try out its bindings on a real ski hill this year, but maybe they’ll do it at next year’s show.

“It’s something I’ll definitely be back for,” Lindemann said.