LAS VEGAS, NV (January 29, 2009) – While some SIA.09 attendees recovered from the previous night’s festivities, including SIA’s Farewell to Vegas party, others received a well-deserved pat on the back by their industry peers. Day Two of the SIA.09 SnowSports Trade Show kicked off with the official announcement of the 2009 SIA SnowSports Retailers of the Year and the Canadian SnowSports Retailers and Reps of the Year in the Show’s lobby. Awardees were chosen based on specific criteria and for consistently making a significant impact in the snow sports industry. Later in the day, SnowSports Industries America (SIA) and the U.S. Ski Team named SmartWool as the recipient of the sixth Doc DesRoches Award, which acknowledges a SIA member and Team supplier for its promotion of the Team’s brand and athletes.

While praise and awards were being passed around, a few notable attendees were roaming the aisles of the SIA.09 SnowSports Trade Show. The first “dignitary” was Denver’s Mayor John Hickenlooper, who unveiled the new floor plan for next year’s SIA.10 SnowSports Trade Show and officially welcomed SIA and the snow sports industry to the City of Denver.

Gene Simmons entered the trade show, surrounded by an entourage of about 10 people. Gene posed for pictures, stopped by booths, signed autographs and chatted with media while he walked the Show. And, at the end of the day – Snoop Dogg made a special appearance at the Skull Candy booth, to help promote his recent collaboration with the brand. Skullcandy partnered with the rapper for his own Skullcrusher—an extreme base amplified headphone. Skullcandy will also be creating a DJ headphone from scratch for Mix Master Mike, which is set to hit the market during third quarter. Both Snoop Dogg and Mix Master Mike are scheduled to perform at a party hosted by Skull Candy this evening at Rain in The Palms Casino Resort.

Throughout this week’s four-day trade show, SIA.09 will draw an estimated 20,000 attendees including manufacturers, retailers, reps, resorts and over 100 of the world’s top snow sports athletes. With 348,000 net square feet and 800+ brands exhibiting in 3,479 booths – SIA.09 is THE Show for the snow sports industry.

For more news and highlights from each day of the show, use the following link: skipressworld.com/snowpress to read the official SIA.09 SnowPress Show Daily. SIA also provides Show Updates on Twitter AND Facebook. Follow SIA-insiders on Twitter http://twitter.com/siasnowsportspr. And, if you’re not already a “friend” of SIA on Facebook, look us up under Sia SnowSports.

- SIA -
SnowSports Industries America (SIA) is a not-for-profit trade association whereby competing on-snow product suppliers magnify their power, by working together, for the development of the on-snow sports industry. For more information, check out www.snowsports.org.