In a perfect world every day snowboarding would be a WWSRA On-snow demo. Think about it: No gear to haul, a 1,200 board quiver waiting at the bottom of the mountain—all perfectly tuned and ready to ride no matter what the conditions. Pros like Capita’s Durell Williams on hand to swap out your bindings and explain the latest technology, and on top of all that free beer (and lunch). What more could anyone ask for?
Held February 7-8, 2011 at Lake Tahoe’s Alpine Meadows, the WWSRA Northern California On-snow featured products from more than 50 snow hardgoods and accessory brands. Employees and buyers from 65 shops showed up to try out as many of next year’s snowboards as they could in two days.
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Sacramento’s Ground Zero Owner Seth Sternin makes sure his employees ride the new boards. “We get about eight people a day on snow,” he said. “It makes sense to have as many employees come up and ride as we can because it’s easier to sell stuff once you’ve ridden it. The timing is a little off for us to make buying decisions, but it is a great selling tool for the kids on the floor and a good chance for them to see the whole industry. We pay for all the managers and then the $25 registration and half of their $25 lift ticket for anyone else who wants to go.”
We obviously weren’t buying or selling, but for those who were the whole demo was serious business. Reps and assistants were busy all day long, recommending boards, turning screws all the while spouting off the high points of each piece of equipment. Depending on the rep and the person behind the screwdriver it all felt a bit like a good massage—slightly hypnotic. Shop employees were rolling in and out of the tents with new set-ups like clockwork and could be heard analyzing the gear in lift lines and strapping in at the top of the hill.
Including the demo held at Winter Park, Colorado following SIA, the WWSRA hosts five on-snow demos across the western US each year while three others are offered out East by the WWSRA’s Eastern counterparts—the EWSRA, NEWSR, and SWRA.
The demos are available to pre-registered shops and rep-group members, for those who love snowboard equipment it’s almost worth getting a job at a shop just to ride next year’s gear this season.
