Swesport through my eyes and Camera

On the 17th of januari i spent the day at Swesport wintersportstrade show at the Kista mässa. I have attended this trade show a bunch of years before. But i still find it amusing to see next years stuff… I realy like new gadgets.

Next years skiis/boards and all the accessories for wintersport activities. It’s all on display there. So i decided to go there for my own this year. Last year i worked for Sportfack, the Swedish sportstrade magazine, and then i was working fullon during this weekend. Now i wanted to stroll around and check out what i wanted to check out:-) Meet the people i wanted to meet. I did most of it this year.

Walking around and endulging the gear, colours and people is entertaining. It’s amusing to follow the different peoples choice of clothes, the way they adress You, the way they check your name and companytag before they come up to You…

But hey, it’s and important tradeshow, orders are taken, and then spending time with someone not intresting is stupid. I understand that. However. Where ever i went i was friendly taken care of and time was taken for me and my questions.

Here’s some goodies in alphabetical order that i liked…

Aclima makes the best merinowool undergarments for us paraglidingpilots, works for all other kinds of activities as well. Ola Skinnarmo, the expedition freak, uses them all the time. I have almost lived in my fullsuit the last two months. Remarkably comfortable, keeping U warm and cosy without the normal bad smell that comes with sweating. Aclima is good stuff!

Christer from Borka trading chilled in his stand after some hard sales… Borka takes care of skateboard brands such as Santa Cruz, Alva, Independent, Cirka shoes, TSG and many more. The board below is a Santa Cruz Meek Slasher09. I want one or two of these.

One of Santa cruz graphics is the old skateboard design from Rob Roskopp, as seen on the right of this picture. Dude on the phone is Janne from Zytt. He used to live in Åre.

Must have walked by the JO sport stand 10 times and it was always busy. Finally in the afternoon i got to talk to Johan awhile. Dynastar skis looks good but most intresting i is their TEKO socks. Very nice merino wool socks for different activities. Check them out.

Lots of nice shoes at Swesport this year. I liked the look of the new Ecco hikerboot, also some shoes from Icebug and especially one model from Inov-8, gtx290 i think it’s called. Forgot to take a picture of them though…;-)

Elan is still around and looking sweet, with the Boomerang rocker ski in the front the future is bright. Hysterical graphics is the shit by the looks of it for next winter. Elan was there with a stand inside and a big rigg outside aswell.

The Swedish glovemaker Hestra has a heated glove on the market. It has a fantastic fit on the hand and the finish is superb. Materials are the by far best available. The price however is abit high to be sold in bigger amounts… 290 euros. I want a pair. Please

Another Swedish brand, Houdini, makes realy nice functionel clothing. First layer to outer clothing. I spoke quickly with Eva and she seamed happy as a bird. Green production and all that offcourse. Looks nice.

Their longings with extra fleece on the knees are among the best for paragliding. Keeps knees warm!

Hookedonnature.se makes a compact berrypicker. hehe You might say but this will sell. Anyone hiking in the Swedish fjells nows that You always miss that picker when running into blueberries or lingonberries. This is a must for everyone who hikes and likes berries. Turn realy small when folded. Swedish product.

I just found the poster intresting since is has a glider in it. The brand Icepeak is a budget clothing brand. Magnus who sells them is a dude i know from my first years working in a sportshop up in Åre(Duved to be exact).

Björn Andersson from sportprodukter is one big boy. So is K2 Obsethed. Fat rockerski for big mountains. Or people who wants to be seen in the liftcues…

All of K2s skis look awesome for next winter. Realy cool graphics. Lots of different rocker on them. On the snowboards as well. How big will rockers go in the ski/snowboard world? I ride a rockerboard and i think it works well, but have not yet tried a ski with rocker. Will try it on telemark as soon as possible.

Sportprodukter also sells Line skis. Some of them have Jim Phillips graphics. Rock’n roll skis for bigmountains and park…

The Finish Bear, Karhu, makes a ski for hunting. Well not meant to be the actuall hunting device, it’s to get You out there and back home. Short and wide, for flotation and easilly manouverable. Kinda cool. Oh yeah they make all kinds of cool xc skiing skis as well…

Kombi gloves is colourfull. Did not ask for details and new modells. Many models, i’m shure there’s good ones there for everyone… My landlord had a glove model last year. Forgot to ask Kombi about it… The Jon Larsson model. Not the Jon Olsson.

This is my absolute favorite brand of alltime! Life is good. It makes me happy just looking at their coofecups, t-shirts and towels. Very inspiring brand and loggotype. What i would like to have on my paraglider… In Sweden they are sold by North 66’s sales rep.

Cold hands is a problem for most paragliding pilots. With Mountain equipments superduper downmitt that problem is gone. For ever, no matter what temperature jumps at You. Very cosy mitts. Highsports with Ola Hillberg is the dealer.

Henrik Harlaut lives in Åre. He’s clothes are to big for him. My green suit is to big for me. That’s were similarities end. Henrik has his own promodel for Ninthward skis. They are made to be jibbed with i guess…

There must be a new designer at Nordica, lots of colours and fun graphics for next years skis. Sverre and Johan are two Swedish extremeskiers who ride Nordicas. The skis on the right picture are pistracers!!! They graphicly look like jibberskis! Nice one Nordica

Norröna was one of my favorites at last years ISPO trade show. I still think they make good looking functional clothing. I checked their goretex suit, a nice overall. Check them out.

When coming in to the tradeshow this is what i see. A Ozone kite in the roof!

Ozone kites was represented at Swesport.

Photographer Bingo Reimer has set up a contest in Stockholm on the 23rd of januari. As a fellow photographer i feel the urge to help him promote him on his quest…;-) www.battleofthepole.com

Around 2000 i had a K2 Eldorado 174 that i sawed into two pieces and put it back together with the help of a Voile Splitkit. I think i was one of the first splitboarders in Sweden. I still have it and ride it now and then. It still works great! It rides ok and is fantastic uphill.

I wrote some articles for Utemagasinet and Friflyt about the spiltboard. I also managed to get my five minutes of fame on TVÅRE, the local chanel. Splitboarding was not widely known. Still isen’t.

Now it’s being brought back into Sweden by Uhrweder Sports, the have Voile, Prior, Scarpa and Spark R&D in their portfolio. I would very much like a Spark R&D Fuse binding(price 3495 skr). It would make my board better in many ways. Lighter, better in ride mode. But hey, while were at it, i want a Prior splitboard(price 11500 skr) too! They look great! Maybe if i win on some lottery…

Quiksilver definitly had the shows biggest shorts. That’s a normal size skateboard next to them…

The wheels on this bike has a reflective powder on them. When photographed with flash they shine. You get it in a spraypaint bottle and it can be sprayed on to anything that needs reflexes. Dogs, people, bikes, walls and soo on. Your imagination is the limit. Realy smart thing. I got a sample and will try it on my Little Cloud glider for some night flights…

Skateout was one of the first skateboard distributers in Sweden. They are still one of the biggest. In their stand DC shoes was the big thang. Lots of them. I forgot to take a photo of their line… Silly me. But they looked good. Most of them

I wrote about Smith Evolve in Sportfack last year. This year their superlight helmet got a price in “Gear of the Year” and rightly soo. Their superduperlight helmet is not only light and comfy, it’s also recyclable. 100%. Not shure i like the new graphics on the helmet but someone does. I’m shure…

Tomas Breding(translates to The wide one)from Granitbiten showed me the Thermarest Neoair sleepingmat. I tried it on the floor in the stand (Tomas smiled)and it was something else. Very impressive. Comfortable as a good bed and light. Very very very light. Packing volyme is rather small. Price is not small. About 2000 skr… I want one :-). Tomas used to live in Åre.

Direct from Friluftsfabriken in Borås, Tord and Anna. Good friends of mine. Anna used to live in Åre, and Tord used to fly paragliders alot. Even worked at the Apco factory. He told me paragliding had been on hold but now he wanted to get back into it…

Nicklas Tullin works for Oneoff, not Onoff. He sells 32 shoes. Not the amount 32, the brand. He’s from Åre. He’s moved. Wierdo.

Johan Stjerna who is the sales rep for Völkl is enthusiastic and engaged in his scene. Always on it to explain all the details. Can talk for hours… Völkl had some good stuff for next winter. Their superfatty rocker Chopstick looks fun.Oh yeah, Johan lives in Åre.

Flying, skateboarding and seeing friends from the past… »« On the rails…