Launch Event: The Shije Lynn Carve 10/10/2012 – NEW YORK, NY   Sometimes, I write about upcoming events, and I encourage everyone to join me. However, this is an event that happened October 10, 2012, so it’s best if you get the best gear possible and plan to meet me on the slopes later this season instead.

The night was abuzz about American-made ski products and American skiing. The setting, The Martin Lawrence Gallery, (http://martinlawrence.com/gallery_locations/gallery-location-pages/new_york.html) could not have had better lighting for the vibrant graphics on the skis. I loved the stark contrast of the black and white design, and it was the first pair I felt compelled to photograph. The launch had an all-ages mix of people, both skiers and boarders. In New Mexico, where I’m from, where I love to ski, there are lots of real experts on the slopes. Now, these are the skiers that will get hands-on at a ski show: twisting and bending skis, asking technical questions, using terminology like “torsional rigidity”. I am not that type of skier, and this event was not that type of ski show. Instead, at tonight’s skis-as-artwork show there were:

Marc Chagall

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Chagall and

Andy Warhol

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Warhol.

In this beautiful setting of fine art, I met graphic designer Dan Weill and we discussed a custom ski design for me. I requested, “Needs to be rock and roll, angular, zia symbol plus snowflake, Escher-esque, and look 3D. Hot colors, not cold. So I don’t look at them and feel cold.” The orange skis in the skiraves.com logo resulted. I’m calling his pattern Firefrost and using it as background, too. I may get this printed as a fabric to cover my amps. Stay tuned for when the skis will be manufactured.

Products and services featured at the party included Knee Binding (http://www.kneebinding.com) and the MD that founded them. These are touted as the only ski bindings made in America. Only one binding company can say Made in the USA? Can that be true? I’m a singer, not a ski products investigator (http://www.shije.com).

ReddyYeti.com is run by the two nicest guys ever: Josh Salvo (nephew of the gallery’s curator, John Salvo), and his snowboarding business partner Drew Pfundstien. The online ski store, ReddyYeti.com, was started by these two young ski-enthusiast entrepreneurs to provide a solution to the question they posed to the audience, “Where can you get the best, cutting edge, made-in-America skis, that compete on price with the mass produced skis at your local ski shop?”

In Boyne City, MI, is the manufacturer Copper Country Skis by Shaggy’s http://sccskis.com. Yes, I said Michigan! It doesn’t make you think of skiing, does it? Even funnier, Shaggy’s is a ski manufacturer that makes the brand Rocky MTN Underground, with this cool Colorado logo! Their slogan of the evening is “Be American. Buy American.” Wouldn’t a video documentary of The Making of A Pair of Custom Skis be the coolest thing ever?!? All the way to the slopes of Alaska with them…

Speaking of! Also represented at the party was H2o, the world class mountain guides from Valdez, Alaska (http://www.h2oguides.com). Here’s ski champ Dean Cummings on The Tusk:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qj6OST0_Zg.  Last year, Dean Cummings began his own line of skis, too (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvWbWyTNT2s). There was interest in helicopter skiing from some of the experts in the Metropolitan New York Ski Council (http://metnyski.org), who have a trip planned to Alyeska Ski Resort in Girdwood, Alaska.

One guest asked during the PowerPoint presentation which of these skis, shaped more for powder conditions, would be best for the conditions in the east? Someone else laughed, “Bulletproof, you mean?” Others laughed knowingly. Josh then picked up the SL Carve, incidentally, in my two favorite colors, purple and royal blue. This is the hardest ski in the ReddyYeti line-up. This rigidity may well help a spoiled western US powder skier adapt to carving-in like life depends on it on the iciest days in nearby Vermont. I thanked them for the groovy design of the Shije Lynn Carve.

The ReddyYeti team expertly captured all sales leads by having attendees fill out a contact card upon arrival, which went into a large bowl for the drawing to win a daypack from Brooklyn Outfitters, and a Rocky MTN Underground pair of skis! It was great to see the name drawn and the skier come forward and get the bright yellow Colorado skis I had my eye on. Besides collecting contact info, the guys had it together so much that days later a nice thank you email went out to each attendee. Overall, a well-done evening of entrepreneurship. Various companies working together for the common good of the whole industry. Ideals that founded America.