Grouse Mountain at SIA 2015

Retail manager, Mark O'Quinn, is on site at SIA 2015 in Denver, CO. The SnowSports Industries America Snow Show is one of the largest and most renowned ski and snowboard shows in the world. Nowhere else can you survey the latest gear and get face time with some of the industry's biggest players. With that being said, Mark will keep us updated on all that's gold in The Centennial State.

What a great way to kick off SIA last night with a keynote speech from Paralympic bronze medalist, Amy Purdy. After contracting Meningitis, she lost both of her legs. Later, she found out her kidneys were failing and was forced to receive a transplant from her father. She became incredibly depressed, but reached a turning point and decided to approach her life differently.  

"If I were an author and my life was a book, how would I want this story to end? I want to snowboard!" -Amy Purdy

Since then she has accomplished so much. Including designing prosthetics to make snowboarding for double amputees possible, forming the American Paralympic snowboarding team, winning bronze in Sochi and winning as a runner-up on 'Dancing with the Stars.' Pretty amazing! Her legacy however is her founding Adapted Action Sports. All in, it made me proud of Grouse Mountain's partnership with VASS.

Day Two - Friday, Jan. 30, 2015

So here is my outdoor geek-out on gear and cool tech! Active accessory brand Outdoor Technology has some new products to make digital life outside and on the mountain a little easier. Whether you're hauling around your GoPro all day or snowshoeing on the trails these products are usable, tough, and affordable. 

New Parajumpers line for next year looks amazing. Can't wait for it to hit stores in September. Posted below are the new men's Grizzly jacket and women's Angie.

Photos below are of the second season of the Picture line of ski and snowboard apparel. Second season is coming in fall '15 and looks amazing. All clothes are designed in France and manufactured with organic and recycled material. It is coming to Grouse Mountain and is completely awesome. One of the great sustainably stories at SIA, only at Grouse.

Today while meeting with Smith Optics, I was shown the helmet Bobby Brown wore at the X-Games when he took a large bail from 70 feet of vertical. Here is the helmet aftermath, if you look close you can see where impact was made. He was fine, switched helmets and on his next run secured himself second place. Always wear a helmet!! Big innovation in helmets this year with multi impact technology and MIPS.

Day Three - Saturday, Jan. 31, 2015