Red Bull Announces First Sky-High Urban Snowboard Event to Take Place in New York City
Olympic Gold Medalist Shaun White to Compete Against 15 Top Professionals at Red Bull Snowscrapers
On Thursday, February 5, 2009, iconic snowboarders including Olympic Gold Medalist Shaun White, freestyle / backcountry legend Travis Rice, ultra-progressive phenomenon Pat Moore along with 13 other pro riders will compete against the majestic backdrop of the New York City skyline in a contest that will prove to be the biggest winter event to come to New York City.
Sixteen of the world’s best snowboarders will compete to own a piece of the $100,000 prize purse as Anthrax and other soon to be announced music acts perform live, giving the crowd a show they’ll never forget. Red Bull Snowscrapers marks the debut of the largest snowboarding contest held in an urban setting in North America, complete with music acts and a spectator village located in East River Park (corner of Houston Street and FDR).
BIG AIR IN THE BIG APPLE
OWNING THE MANHATTAN SKYLINE
For the first-time ever, Red Bull will create a towering 90-foot tall, state-of-the-art structure for top riders to own the iconic Manhattan skyline. The athletes will charge down the nine-story structure before flying off the specially constructed ramp toward an immense 80-foot long hip landing area. The innovative hip, built by world-renowned designers Frank Wells and Mike Bettera of Snow Park Technology, allows riders multiple angles of trajectory, landing on either the right or left side of the massive 45-degree spine. Additionally, the ramp design will allow spectators to get up close and personal, giving fans an opportunity to experience the action first hand as the riders spin roughly four stories into the sky.
A NEW YORK STATE OF MIND
New York spectators may deem them insane, but for the competitors, pushing the limits is a constant frame of mind. Although both their skill and style will be put to the test, the challenge here lies in the Red Bull Snowscrapers unique double-sided pyramid landing that pushes the envelope of big-air competition and rider adaptability.
With so many angles of approach, options, and opportunity, the athlete who ultimately conquers the ramp may be determined by their creative state of mind. And that creativity will be rewarded handsomely with a hefty $50,000 awarded to the winner. With so much on the line, Red Bull left nothing to chance, and will be enlisting a panel of internationally licensed judges to score the event.
For more information please visit www.RedBullSnowscrapers.com.
Snow Sports Bargain Hunters Drive August to October Sales Increases
Snow Sports Market Among the More Resilient During Recession
Snow sports shoppers are willing to spend their money on snow sports equipment, apparel and accessories even when the overall economy is significantly down. August to October snow sports sales of $507 million were up 9% overall bolstered by very strong sales of carryover equipment and gear for juniors. “Snow sports shoppers went out looking for bargains and they were willing to buy when they found them,” said Kelly Davis, Director of Research for SnowSports Industries America (SIA), the not-for-profit industry trade group represents manufacturers and distributors of snow sports products.
August to October 2008 retail sales in the snow sports industry were driven by pre-season clearance sales. Sales of carryover gear accounted for a significant portion of the observed increases in snow sports equipment sales. Sales like the “SkiBonkers” sale in Seattle, which are dominated by leftover inventory from the past season, help consumers find bargains on carryover items. Carryover is officially defined as any item that sells for less than the average retail cost for that item. Carryover accounted for 28% of skis, 23% of snowboards, 24% of ski boots, and 26% of snowboard boots sold August to October 2008. Compare that to last season’s August to October results when carryover sales accounted for just 16% of skis and 19% of snowboards sold and millions fewer dollars spent.
Parents did not slow their spending on equipment and apparel for the kids. Junior ski sales were up 34% in dollars, junior snowboard sales increased 17% in dollars, juniors parka sales were up 16% in dollars and sales of junior snow suits increased more than 40% in units and in dollars. Mom and Dad may be planning to forgo new skis and boards this season, but they are making sure their kids have the right gear.
SIA has monitored the snow sports retail market for more than 30 years and historically, economic conditions have far less impact on the market than snowfall. When the snow is good, the snow sports market does well even if the economic outlook is bleak. The current recession has demonstrated clearly that the world is inextricably connected economically as the impact of the U.S. foreclosure crisis spread across the globe. Even in a global economic downturn the snow sports demographic continued to buy snow sports gear and history tells us that if it snows, then they will use what they purchased on the slopes.
During a recession, the snow sports market is among the more resilient retail markets. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, overall October retail sales increased 1.6% compared with October 2007, and the sporting goods retail market increased 2.2%. The snow sports market was up 9% compared to August to October 2007. Keep in mind that these data are measures of sales from August through October and that the global economy was under significantly more pressure in November. “We observed other retail market segments move downward significantly last month and we plan to keep a close watch on the market. We anticipate reporting November sales during the first week of January 2009,” said David Ingemie, President of SIA.
Equipment sales were healthy August to October with a 2% increase in alpine ski and 11% increase in snowboard equipment. Apparel sales were up 14% in units and 9% in dollars indicating strong sales on discounted prices. Accessories such as helmets and goggles were particularly strong while auto racks and snowshoe sales declined.
The Internet channel continued to grow at an astounding pace gaining 27% in dollars and 36% in units compared to August to October 2007. Overall, consumers spent $131 million on snow sports equipment, apparel and accessories online. Internet sales comprised 26% of all the dollars consumers spent on snow sports products in the U.S. between August 1 and October 31, 2008.
Specialty shops brought in the lion’s share of snow sports dollars, consumers spent $297 million in snow sports specialty shops August to October compared with $286 million over the same time period in 2007. Alpine ski sales were flat in specialty shops, snowboard sales increased about 7% in dollars and 2% in units sold, and apparel sales, which accounted for almost 40% of all dollars spent in specialty shops, increased by just 3%.
Chain stores are selling far less snow sports equipment this season. Ski sales decreased 21% in dollars, snowboard sales slid 17% in dollars, and equipment accessories sales dropped 8%. One bright sport in chain store sales was Nordic ski equipment that increased 48% in units and 67% in dollars. At $78 million, chain store sales accounted for 15% of all dollars spent on snow sports goods in the U.S. market August to October. Apparel sales accounted for 56% of all chain store snow sports sales and enjoyed a 13% increase in units and 10% increase in dollars spent August to October 2008.
The market data presented in this report comes from the SIA Retail Audit conducted by the Leisure Trends Group. Each season, Leisure Trends gathers data between August 1 and March 31 from a representative panel of more than 1,200 snow sports retailers who provide sales data directly from their Point of Sale systems. The panel and the method for extrapolating the results out to the entire industry is based on a triennial census of snow sports retailers designed to accurately define the size and structure of the snow sports retail marketplace.
Source: SnowSports Industries America
Early Winter Wonderland! The Wilder Kaiser-Brixental Ski World Kicks off the Winter Skiing Season This Weekend!
Winter has Begun: Even Some of the Lower Runs are Already Open!
Great news for all winter sports fans: this coming weekend (Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th November) the SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser – Brixental in Tyrol starts the winter skiing season. Around 40 lift systems are waiting for snow-hungry winter sports fans – along with outstanding piste conditions.
The snow gods have really made an effort this year. The precipitation over the last few days together with the freezing temperatures mean that the first winter sports fans will find optimal piste conditions – a number of connections between runs and a few of the lower runs down to the valley are already open. Initially the facilities will only be open during this coming the weekend, with full operations commencing with the official start of the season on Saturday 6th December.
An early highlight this winter will be the well loved SkiOpening from 12th to 14th December. Ski tests with a diverse range of brands provide the perfect opportunity to explore the Skiwelt’s new pistes and courses. A public favourite is the floodlit parallel-slalom on Friday (12th December), in which everyone can test their form in race conditions. There will also be music as part of the evening programme (free entry!). On Friday the “Jungen Zillertalern” will provide a taste of genuine Tyrolean folk music and on Saturday there will be rocking party sounds courtesy of “Frontal” and the “Hermes House Band”.
Current information about lifts and ski runs can be found at http://www.skiwelt.at
SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser – Brixental is the largest area of connected ski runs in Austria. It has 91 lifts and over 279 kilometres of ski runs of all colours, the majority of which have modern snow-cannon facilities (including all grades of difficulty, with 210 kilometres of piste that can be furnished with artificial snow, 11 km can be made ready for skiing within just 3 days).