1000 days of Kjus

Since becoming a full-time ski bum in 2003 AspenSpin has come a long way.  Sometime in early December I will achieve my 1000th ski day since escaping the real world.  For the past 10 years I have toiled diligently on the slopes of Aspen/Snowmass.  I've never been the most talented skier on the mountain, or the most athletic, or the most stylish but I have always chased the stoke 100%. Blogging came later. 

A.Part.y sporting Blue KJUS in 13/14As I continued to hone my skills on the slopes and on the keyboard, I set out to allign myself with products, services and brands that I truly believed in.  

KJUS ski wear has been supportive of AspenSpin almost from the start. Kjus has been a loyal and generous partner over the years.   KJUS is a Swiss company that is named after Norwegian ski racer Lasse Kjus.  Lasse Kjus is one of the most decorated skiers of all-time, winning Olympic Gold, 2 World Championships and 2 overall World Cups.  I first connected with KJUS during the early days of twitter. The first tweet was something like this;  "hey @kjus I dig your gear. but not sure I have a euro-body"   The response came back;  "thanks @aspenspin everybody looks good in Kjus."   Kjus has been outfitting Aspen Spin ever since.   

KJUS strives to produce the best ski wear in the world.  Uncompromising performance is their credo. Today Kjus stands for extraordinary design, outstanding quality and maximum performance.  The gear is highly technical, super light weight and aesthetically innovative.   Whether it's a beautiful Colorado bluebird day or the siiiickest, windiest, deepest POW day...my Kjus garb keeps me protected from the elements and looking very stylie.  Besides standing out stylistically, my Kjus gear considers all the details.  It starts with the leading edge weather proof fabrics and the fashion forward silhouettes,  but for me it's the little things that make Kjus the best and make a HUGE difference.  The freedom of movement is better than any other ski wear I've ever tried. The materials are awesome.  The pockets are functional and in the right places, the zippers are easy to use...and never get stuck or jammed, the hood easily fits over my helmet and can be adjusted with one hand.  I can feel the quality and attention to detail every time I suit up in KJUS.

Lasse Kjus and Bode Miller with their World Championship Globes. Kjus: Uncompromising performance.So as ski season 2013/14 kicks off and I approach my 1000th day as a ski bum, I give HUGE thanks to KJUS for keeping me warm, dry and looking like a billion dollars.   Didi Serena, CEO of KJUS is doing it right.  Their pro team includes 3 of the greatest ski racers of all-time; Lasse Kjus, Bode Miller and Didier Cuche.   I strive to be as loyal to them as they have been to me.   

I still don't have a euro-body....but I do look good in KJUS.  Special thanks go out to my contact at Kjus North America...Brooke Mackenzie...she's the best.   Kjus is available at the finest ski stores worldwide.   In Aspen, Kjus can be found at Gorsuch, Hamilton Sports and Aspen Sports.

Take it from me...the ski bum / blogger with almost 1000 ski days under his belt..  KJUS is the best.

Click here to learn more about KJUS ski wear, golf wear and outdoor wear.

Keep on Blogging in the FREE WORLD

AspenSpin has been publishing continuously since 2006.  That makes me an O.G. in the blogosphere. AspenSpin was the very first "powder blogger" and now all that hard work has paid off.  In 2011, AspenSpin was named the #1 winter sports blog in the world by Cision, a large international P.R. firm. We now get between 50 and 100 P.R pitches per week.  Sometimes from very unusual sources.  

We've has some great sponsor's over the years who have been very loyal to us.  KJUS, KASTLE, NEVE, GORSUCH, HESTRA and others have supported AspenSpin and we thank them.  Honestly, I don't normally like to do product reviews...unless its a product or service or brand that we actually use and truly believe in, like the ones mentioned above.  Most of the 50-to 100 p.r. pitches get deleted with the other spam.  They're impersonal and not relevant, interesting or authentic to the mountain lifestyle, Aspen or skiing.    No!!  I'm not interested in "spreading the news" about adult diapers, or broadcasting info about above ground pools or jamming with a band I've never seen...or heard...or even heard of.  It's not that easy to make someone else's agenda or their product or service seem cool.   It takes time and effort.  

So why does AspenSpin continue to document the lifestyle.  We do get to ski every day and party every night...so there's that.

Honestly, it's not for the cash (blogging is soooo lucrative).  It's not for the chicks (there are tons of them).  It's not for the accolades ( non-stop awards).  We blog for the Love, and we love to get the FREE STUFF.

Every once in a while we get an invite from an interesting, relevant, authentic source.  Something that catches our eye.  Last week it was a stampede of FREE STUFF.  Here's my take on the best of the best.

Flips Audio. headphones & amp'd speakersFLIPS AUDIO HEADPHONES:  I can't count the number of free headphone's I've received...but FLIPS AUDIO are the coolest by far.  Cooler than Skullcandy, cooler than Beats.  FLIPS Headphones are also speakers. You can just flip the ear pads around...and you have portable, amplified speakers that sound awesome. Whether you wear them on your head or not...Flips offers tremendous sound in a durable, well designed, stylish package.   Give them a try for free... Click FLIPS AUDIO.

Picture Organic Clothing. 100% Re-Cycled ski & snowboard gear.PICTURE ORGANIC CLOTHING:  Skiing and snowboarding merge together with PICTURE ORGANIC CLOTHING, one of the few outer-wear brands that totally crosses over.  RIDE, SHARE, PROTECT is the moto of this French gear manufacturer that produces its garments with an organic and environmental mission.  I received a fantastic outfit made of fully RECYCLED material.   The Welcome Jacket was a Gold Medal Winner at the 2012 IPSO show.  Picture is new to the U.S. and I can't wait to try it out on the mountain.  Click: PICTURE

GoBites. nom nom nomGOBITES:  Healthy snacks delivered.  The "snack packs" from GoBites are 100% natural and USDA certified organic.  No preservatives or additives either.  Best of all they're tasty and they get delivered to your door every month.  GoBites offers 25 varieties of healthy, portion controlled snack packs.  mmmmmm good.  Nom Nom Nom.  Order here, Click GOBITES.

Robetowl. SuperabsorbantROBETOWL:  By Cascade Designs the folks who brought you Packtowl.  Robetowl is a highly packable, ultra-soft, superabsorbant robe.  It's a robe and a towel in one.  Robetowl is a fabulous product for travelling, at home, for guests or just toss it in your gym bag.  It's machine washable and antimicrobial. A great piece of gear for anyone.  Click: ROBETOWL

Bootlegger by Camelbak

BOOTLEGGER: By  Camelbak.  Bootlegger is a low profile hydration pack designed to be worn under your ski jacket.  It's lift-friendly, lightweight (200 g) and carries 1.5 liters of hydration.  The Bootlegger is designed specifically for skiing and riding...but it can be used anytime that you want to stay hydrated.   Its a great product...perfect for hiking the Aspen Highland Bowl.  Get one, Click: BOOTLEGGER.

*AspenSpin recieved promotional considerations for this posting.

STOKED 4 SNOW: SIA 2013

Tony and Barbara at the Kjus Booth.Trade shows are like mullets.  Business up front...all party in the back.The annual SnowSports Industries America (SIA) Snow Show in Denver is always 3 days of chaos. 10 hours on your feet, unlimited swag, lunch at the candy jar, booth models, endless meetings, plenty of bro-heiming and many beers starting precisely at 5 pm. 

Click 4 Pix:

STOKED 4 SNOW and   FRESHIES

If you've ever been to a major trade show..like MAGIC, ICSC, or CES you can picture what SIA is like.  One important difference with SIA is that skiing and riding on snow is... in reality... the business of fun.  The entire industry shows up in Dever for SIA; Athletes, gear brands, fashion brands, retailers, wholesalers, media, boutique brands, emerging brands, new products, old products, ski areas, non-profits....everybody.   Almost 20,000 people and 106 exhibitors attend SIA.  There are over 1,500 Alpine ski models on the market and more than 1,000 snowboard varietals.  There are 30 million participants in skiing and snowboarding in the U.S.  Skiing and snowboarding equipment, apparel and accessories achieved more than $3.3 billion in sales last year.   It's a big biz, and SIA is the most important event of the year.

Full Disclosure:  AspenSpin has promotional relationships with several brands. Over the years, A-Spin has become associated with some of the greatest gear and apparel brands available World Wide.  The following brands have been extremely loyal to us...and hopefully we return the favor. Our ski kit is as follows: Outerwear (Kjus) Mid-Layer (Neve) Under-layer & socks (Ice-breaker, Ibex and Smarwool), Skis (Kastle), Optics (Oakley), Extreme Weather Gear (The North Face), Footwear (Nike), Apres Ski (Haute Hippie), Beanies (Free Time Goods). Boots, poles, helmet (sponsorships available).  

Aspen homies were all over the floor.  It's always great to see Aspen representing.  Spotted dominating at SIA were local Aspen brands; High Society, Strafe, Obermeyer, Free Time Goods, Poc, Vintage Ski World  Hometown retailers Gorsuch, Hamilton Sports, Pomeroy and Performance were checking out next year's models.  Media collegues like Aspen Peak, Aspen 82, Snow Mag, Backbone Media made the scene.

It's BEER o'clock at SIA.The convention floor at SIA has several distinct zones.  The traditional alpine brands are in the NE quadrant.  As expected, the bigger the brand...the bigger the booth.  Rossignol, K2, Volkl, yada, yada, yada.  New energy is being provided in the alpine arena by boutique brands...like Armada (really a mid-major), Icelantic, Ski Logik, DPS, RMU and more. 

The fashionista brands huddle in the SE corner.  $1.4 billion was spent last year on Ski and Snowboard apparel.  Brands from all over the world show their wares at SIA.  In addtiton to our favorites, Kjus and Neve we were impressed by the fashion offerings from SOS, Picture, Alp n Rock, Coldsmoke and for the sparkly types...Snow Sugar.

The SW section is Street, Lifestyle and accessories which crosses over to the SE square which is home to  Snowboarding.   The booths in the back are loud and fun and filled with SWAG.  Volcom, Lib Tech, Vans, Skullcandy and Go Pro have huge and interactive booths and lots of hottie booth models (male and female).  Volcom hosted an extremely loud metal band, Diarreha Planet and free beer at exactly 5 o'clock.  Actually almost evey booth has free beer at exactly 5 o'clock.  Emerging brands like INI Cooperative, Spacecraft and Wrong Gear brought their fresh new looks to the show.

SIA is crazy and fun and you get to see what's hot for next year.  Bright colors are still important in both hard goods and softgoods.  Innovative ski shapes continue to evolve with some of the smaller, more agile brands now leading the way with design development both technologically and graphically.  Back country and side country gear is still the fastesat growing segment for skiing.  While snowboarding has experienced a mild plateau in growth...the youth oriented apparel and lifestyle gear seems to be thriving.  Actually the skiers and riders are morphing together....everybody is STOKED 4 SNOW.

Click 4 pix:    STOKED 4 SNOW  &  FRESHIES

The Kastle Skis booth was like an oasis on the SIA Convention Floor. Click for Pix.Neve Designs from Boulder Colorado makes the greatest sweaters for men and women. Click for pix.Ski industry legend Klaus Obermeyer going strong at SIA 2013 . Click for Pix.Rory Bushfield and friends celebrated the life of Sarah Burke at a photo exhibit in her honor. Click 4 pix.

AVSC's Ajax Cup 2012: Speed, Style & Philanthropy

The Aspen Valley Ski  & Snowboard Club (AVSC) hosted the 3rd annual Ajax Cup Ski Race and Apres' Ski Party yesterday in Aspen.   Ajax Cup has already become a signature event in Aspen and probably the best apres ski party of all time.   The Ajax Cup is the most important fund-raising event of the year for AVSC. It's a one-of-a-kind ski race down Aspen Mountain featuring  famous ski athletes, celebrities and some of the most competitive racing you'll find outside the FIS.  A record 14 teams were vying for the Ajax Cup this year which raised over $300,000 for AVSC.  AVSC reaches 2,200 kids throughout the Roaring Fork Valley.  99% of the participants in AVSC's programs pay a subsidized fee and many are on full scholarship.  The skills learned...and bonds formed by AVSC's programming last a life-time for the children. AVSC's core values of COMMITMENT, TEAMWORK and INTEGRITY are evident in everything AVSC does, including Ajax Cup.

Click 4 Pix:

AJAX CUP - On Mountain (part 1)

AJAX CUP - Speed & Style (part 2)

For the second year in a row, The Ajax Cup was hosted by Antonio Banderas.  Antonio has proven that he can ski and that he can party with the best of them.  At the top of the race course, prior to his first run, Antonio could be heard shouting..."Puss in Ski Boots" in homage to one of his popular movie roles.  Antonio along with event Co-Chairs Katy Frisch, Marc Ganzi and Jackie & John Bucksbaum pulled out all the stops for this year's Ajax Cup.

As well documented on the pages of AspenSpin...athletes in Aspen are extremely competitive.  There really is no "recreational" division in Aspen.  Everybody's a pro...and as Ajax Cup grows in popularity and status...the race for "bragging rights" is pretty intense.   With ski pros like Chris Davenport, Casey Puckett, Jake Zamansky, Wendy Fisher, Kristina Koznick, Kim Reichhelm and Wiley Maple leading the charge...the racing got very serious ...very quickly.  Good natured accusations of "sand bagging" during the time trials and team stacking were flying all over Aspen Mountain

Team Ganzi. Repeat Champs. Ajax Cup. click 4 pix.You might think that a celebrity ski race might be all fun and games...and it is...but it's became very clear that winning the ski race, taking home the Ajax Cup trophy and the status that goes with winning was very important to everyone involved. 

After a full day of racing it game down to a super-competitive final heat between returning champs, Team Ganzi led by pro Jake Zamansky...and Team Potamkin fronted by pro Kristina Koznick.   After 9 head-to-head races Team Ganzi was ahead by one point.  The Ganzi squad was stacked with big strong guys like Garrett Fisher, Grant Ganzi and Jeremy Oates while the Potamkin team was mostly teen-aged ladies.   It came down to Zamansky vs. Koznick for all the marbles.  In the final race...Koz nipped Jake by a 700th of a second to tie the  overall score. After a judges delay...which seemed like a life-time...Team Potamkin erupted in joy as they appeared to have won the competition based on a series of complex tie breakers.  Celebration ensued.  An "un-official" announcement was made crowning team Potamkin the 2012 Ajax Cup Champs.  But wait...upon closer inspection of the rules...and the application of the Pythagorean theory...it turned out that Team Ganzi had actually prevailed...by one 1000th of a second. 

The ladies of Team Potamkin were stunned.  Team Ganzi celebrated wildly..as the official word came down from the judges... TEAM GANZI...repeat champs.

LET THE PARTY BEGIN.  

Many thanks to AVSC and AJAX CUP event sponsors; GORSUCH, KJUS, St. REGIS, CARIBOU CLUB, ROWLAND + BROUGHTON and EKS Events. 

Click 4 Pix: 

AJAX CUP -  On Mountain (part 1)

AJAX CUP - Speed & Style (part 2)

Event host Antonio Banderas and Pro Skier Kim Reichhelm. click 4 pix.

Team Potamkin...for a minute they were champs..but hey had to settle for 2nd. click 4 pix.Jeff Gorsuch and Antonio Banderas were pumped to be stoked for Ajax Cup. Click for pix.

The BIG fun started early at the Apres Party. Click for more siiiiiiiick pix. Everybody was chillin' and thrillin' at the 3rd Anuual Ajax Cup. Click for pix.

Aspen Fashion Statement

Klaus Obermeyer at Aspen Fashion Week.Aspen Fashion Week 2012 is a wrap.  The cat-walk at the ice rink is getting packed up as we speak. The models and the Bentleys are hitting the road.  In it's fourth year Aspen Fashion Week (AFW) is staking it's claim among the pantheon of exciting events in Aspen.  Despite a tumultuous history, AFW appears to be working out the kinks and maturing into a super-fun and popular event. 

The brands, the fans, the models and the fasionistas all had a blast. Over a jam packed 3-day period we caught  8 cat-walk shows on the Snowstage, 6 at The Chateau and 7 in-store events.  AspenSpin was hopping, we snapped over 3000 photos for your viewing pleasure.  Here's the Best of AFW.

Click 4 Pix;

THE ASPEN LOOK BOOK: by AspenSpin

NEVE Designs  

KJUS

Roots / SIA Snow Collection / Duohta Vuohta

SKEA / PAJAR /MARMOT / AUTHIER

BLUE STEEL Aspen (the people pix)

Lauren Bush of The Feed Project.AFW highlights:

A super-fresh runway show from KJUS mixing vibrant colors and classic lines.  Kjus showed off both their functional on-mountain looks and their life-style offerings.  The sophisticated audience of fashionistas and industry folk were wowed by the animated show and the fashion forward KJUS style.

Neve Designs from Boulder showed their luxurious and stylish knit products.  The Neve sweaters were a HUGE hit in Aspen.

Bentley Motor Cars.  Bentley pulled out all the stops to open AFW. Bentley inlisted local dare-devil Ted Davenport to perform a wing-suit sky dive from a chopper.  Ted flew into the AFW venue to kick off the festivities.   AspenSpin took advantage of the Bentley test-drive program by taking a convertible Continental GT up Independence Pass at a very high rate of speed.  No one was injured in either stunt.

SIA.  The Snowsports Industry Association presented, Snow Collections a fashion show featuring several of their member brands.  Oberymeyer (Aspen), Skea (Vail), Killy, Fera, Krimson Klover (Vail) Dale of Norway and Helly Hansen strutted their stuff on the Snowstage.

Fashion for a cause:  The Feed Foundation, Krochet Kids International and The Empowerment Project shared their respective eco-friendly, fashion oriented and  progressive messages with AFW.

The Marmot in-store event featured tacos, tequila and a mariachi band.

Aspen is known for its night-life...so needless to say their were tons of parties, in-store events, model interactions and hosted bars all over  town...all within the TBR..three block radius.  The Swag--- well that was off the hook.  

To see the Party Pix:  click  BLUE STEEL ASPEN.