ISPO Munich 2018 is a wrap and with 2,801 companies exhibiting to over 84,000 visitors from 120 countries, ISPO is officially the world’s largest sporting goods trade show, proving once again why the show will always remain an attraction for boardsports companies and retailers. Images and report by Harry Mitchell Thompson.
The snowboard brands are no longer congregated all together in one block and were instead dissipated throughout B4 and A4 and with some more crossover brands such as Holden venturing as far west as B2. Holden no longer define themselves as a purely snowboarding brand, but a premium brand for winter sports and company Founder, Mikey Leblanc was pleased with their decision to up sticks as they picked up lots of good, different footfall.
The skate brands congregated in hall A5 and although the Longboard Embassy was smaller than in recent years, it was notable just how many motorized longboard brands are now on the market. Skate heavyweights Shiner, Stateside and HLC all setup shop in A5 next to the static pump wave, which was frequented by the rising number of surf style carving boards with pivoting front truck.
Rasmus Ostergaard ran the Welcome to Snowsports platform in the middle of B4, and it served as a hub for the snowboard community, with many meetings and informal chats taking place across the four days. Rasmus pulled together key snowsports product highlights to illustrate current trends and used information from retailers Zero G, Burnside, Black Sheep and On The Mountain to emphasize these points. We look forward to seeing how this concept expands in 2019.
As for the snowboard brands in hall B4, everyone asked was pleased with the show, commenting on the higher levels of traffic, particularly on days one and two. Admittedly all comparisons were working off a low base, with last year’s Polygon format not quite having the desired effect, but there was a lot of positivity at this year’s ISPO and we anticipate seeing a stronger snowboard turnout at ISPO 2019.
Our boy Jeremy Jones stoked on this issue's Big Wig slotSeth Lightcap at ISPO shows the Flagship board with all-new (top) Apollo binder with a flax carbon highback and (bottom) Mercury binding. SOURCE's new German Market Intelligence author Jochen Bauer.Dakine's PJ Rueda in the houseDeeluxe's Florian Heim (Marketing Manager) with the BrisseID, comes with double power strapDeeluxe's stiffest boot, the EdgeCapita's lineupSpring BreakBlacksnow (Denmark)'s Chris & Frederick serving up a Sam Nelson sandwich at the Dragon boothDragon's PXV has widened its vision, and the difference is easy to seeDragon's (top to bottom) Danny Davis, Blake Paul and Forest Bailey goggles. Athlete and art collaborations being a huge part of what Dragon are all aboutDragon's Bryan Iguchi and Gigi Ruf gogglesDupraz - Serge & Jean-Marc Tissot from eliquid.chHeimplanet boys - Moritz Grebe & Stefan ClausAll Conditions Media agencyHorsefeathers rolling deep with their athlete lines - ATP for Tyler ChorltonHorsefeathers - Eiki HelgasonHorsefeathers welcome Halldor Helgason to the team with his atrip lineKorua's Stephan Maurer with their Dart (inspired by the tugboat) and the Otto - their most normal looking board yet!Korua - Artist Aaron Schwartz creating a masterpiece to go on display at the TIDAL art show in Laax next month.Nicholas Muller joins 32!Nidecker boys - David, Henry and ThierryNidecker's asym Tracer board - one for regular and one for goofy.Nidecker's stunning resin tint snowboard. The guys at Nidecker have been experimenting with surfboard tints and after lots of playing, having come up with this beauty.Flow's NX2-CX binding. Nidecker's Hylite Asym boot with BOA LacingYES.'s JP Solberg with their 10 year anniversary board the Basic Decade, their 2020 and in background the limited edition GREATSNOW's YES. collab and Jeremy Jones modelsNikwax's Tom stoked on their Hydrophobic down and Sweat proofing systemsNikwax sent to people out onto a frozen lake in a sleeping bag. They lasted 20 & 30 minutes. Their Hydrophobic down is 50 times more water repellant than conventional downNitro's Tommy Delago and Andi AurhammerNitro quiveringNitro's Team bindingNitro's Venture Pro TLS bootL1 one-pieceL1's over the head annorackNorthwave's Davide with their Domain CR and DecadeNorthwave/Drake's Davide showing Drake's Podium & Super Sport bindingsOn-Snow demoman - Muck MullerPacsafe's MD Thomas Ryll & UK Agent Brad HockridgePacsafe's 40L piece - safe as housesPacsafe's Quiksilver collabPatagonia's Jelle Mul & UK PR Agency's Lyndsey McLarenPatagonia's Jelle with their Capilene Air merio, seamless single knit topPatagonia's Mirco Puff - their lightest, most packable piece and the closest to down possible with a syntheticPolartec's Powerfill - Power Fill™ – an ingenious discovery that’s resulted in an incredibly warm, one-of- a-kind, fill insulation, made using 80% PCRPow's European territory Manager Michi with his fair lady.POW's leather line has a softer feel for 1819POW's non leather lineup looking tightPOW'S women's linePro snowboarder Anne-Flore Marxer and ACM & Looking Sideways' Matt Barr post-podcast interviewK2's Overboard, Taro Tamai Snowsurfer boot and Line Up bindingRide's LTD binding, Mountain Pig and Deadbolt bootShiner's Charlie Allen with the D-Street Swell Surfskate and longboardShiner - Alien Workshop's new Clone wheels come in interesting packagingShiner - Birdhouse 2 boards on the left are their new Vice Pro sereisShiner - Pro-tec's Gonz and Volcom collab helmetsShiner - State footwear line looks fantasticSkateWarehouse.co.uk's Joe Gurney & Will Harrison sandwiching Stateside's Rudee RolstenSnow & Rock's Sam Clark & The Riders Lounge's Jonathan both mid-sentence!Soöruz's Founder Yann Dalibot with their Guru Pro, women's Divine and Big Means Black Is Green wetsuitsSP's Brotherhood bindingSP's Slab One binderSpark R&D's Marketing Manager, Dan Ventura with their Arc binding. The lightest splitboard binder on the market and super nimble.Spark R&D's Arge splitboard binderStateside - Enuff's lineupStateside - Enuff's hollow kingpin Stateside - MindlessStateside - REKD's new in-mould helmetThe North Face's Mark Maffe sure knows his products. TNF have some incredible product innovations to talk ofThe North Face supplying the USA Freeski team with their Olympic riding kit - all hand made in the States, and with incredible attention to detail.The North Face's line designed to match the needs of their pro athletes, no matter whether they come from freestyle, backcountry or climbing backgroundsUnion's Joni MäkinenUnion's Contact ProUnion's Scott Stevens pro modelYow's Pukas collab going great guns with retail. The La Loca surfboard and surf skate. Welcome to Snowsports in hall B4Welcome to Snowsports - highlighting hot trends - noboardingZero G's Martin & TomWelcome to Snowsports - Snowboard Retailer updates from Zero G and BurnsideWelcome to Snowsports - ElooaWelcome to Snowsports - Retailer updatesWelcome to Snowsports - State of Trade SkiingWelcome to Snowsports
