The UK snowsports industry were welcomed to Telford in the English Midlands on January 24 & 25 and were once again treated to previews of next season’s line before anyone else in Europe. With the event being sandwiched between on-snow demos and ISPO, it makes it a crucial show for UK retailers.
Slide is a little different from the other shows in the diary, with the vast majority of visitors being retail buyers and not the swathes of bloggers, consumers and industry personnel at other shows. It’s this that makes Slide an extremely productive show, with all brands I spoke to being fully booked for both days.
It’s been a particularly good year for UK retail, with the weakness of the pound making purchasing in the UK attractive to both domestic and international shoppers. This compounded by the extra cold weather and the success of GB Park & Pipe riders on the international scene makes for positive vibrations in the UK snowsports world.
At the end of 2016 many brands were unsure of where to price things for FW17/18 product due to uncertainty caused by Brexit, however after speaking with a number of brands at Slide it seems things aren’t as bad as were first feared. Initial projections of 15-20% hikes across the board have been scaled back to more modest rises somewhere in the 5-10% range. Text & images by Harry Mitchell Thompson.
Slide, Telford 2017All smiles with Subvert's Darren & Lorraine at Sam Nelson's standBrian & Sarah from Boardwise. So good to see these legends soldiering on after their Edinburgh store burned down before the winter even got going. Celtek's Matt Bryer with the Womitten & Bitten By A Trigger Mitten both in National Geographic collabDragon and Sputnik buying meeting going down. Dragon's NFX2 with Lumalens, an engineered tint, which helps riders to "see more, react faster and perform better"Giro's Darius Heristchian with the Ratio helmetGiro's Darius Heristchian with their opening pricepoint goggles, the Roam Moxie for female, and standard Roam for men. Eventhough bottom pricepoint, still comes with 2 lensesGroove Armarda's Rob Glenister showing Mons Royale's Checklist hooded, long sleeve layerGroove Armarda's Rob Glenister showing the newly rebranded Wear Colour Horizon jacket. Groove Armarda's Rob Glenister showing VonZipper's Alt goggle. The lightest frameless goggle on the marketK2's Rich Jonas showing this slick looking Turbo Dream reimagined for 1718Mervin - Bent Metal Binding Work's 1718 rangeMervin - Gnu's women's 1718 lineMervin - Holysport's Lauren stoked on Gnu's line of men's boardsMervin - Lib-Tech men'sMervin - more Gnu men's 1718 sticksMervin producing a colourful line of snowboards for Roxy once moreNoble Custom - Airhole line displaying the array of colours and patterns one has come to expectNoble Custom - Endeavor Color - all Endeavor boards are black once again, and the Color remains the brand's freestyle go to stickNoble Custom - Noble also representing Saxx - who have taken the American market by storm, and are now making a strong push in Europe.Noble Custom - West's Six Carro & Cpt Achab modelsOakley's UK Sales Manager, Andrew Deacon showing their Inferno. Pulses heat for 3 minutes, giving a battery life of 6 hoursOakley's UK Sales Manager, Andrew Deacon showing their Inferno. Pulses heat for 3 minutes, giving a battery life of 6 hours Picture's Neil Thompson as happy as ever and here showing Picture's 20K super tech piece, the Naikoon jacketPrime Agency - Howl's Kuzyk Mitt and Sam's wearing the Burglar face maskPrime Agency - Sam Nelson showing Airblaster's Trenchover jacket and the Airblaster BillyclavaPrime Agency - Sam showing Evoc's 28 litre, Line backpack.Prime Agency - Sam with Pally'Hi's men's long sleeve Daily Survival topPrime Agency's Ollie Plumley showing 32's brand new Team 3 boot. Full of heavily customisable featuresPrime Agency's Ollie Plumley showing 32's Deep Creek jacket while wearing the Myder jacketPrime Agency's Ollie Plumley with Flux's DSW Metallica binding. Prime Agency's Ollie Plumley with Flux's DSW Metallica binding. Coffin ratchets!Prime Agency's Ollie Plumley with Lobster's ParkboardPrime Agency's Ollie Plumley with Switchback's minty green Feeler girls bindingProtest's Fortalbany women's jacketRide HelixRoute One's Nick & K2's Rich JonasSalomon's James Fuller representing the new look VillainSnowtraxx's Rob & Sam NelsonSpy's Rob Coleman & Tony Arthy showing the Marshall goggle in Phunkshun collab and the Doom goggleSquare Melon - Sessions' Metallica collab features all album artwork on interiorSquare Melon launching snowboard wax. Ice lolly shape is functional, as stops user from burning fingers on iron while waxing. Genius!Square Melon's James Mckenzie-Brown with Bonfire's ladies Jade jacket & men's Anchor jacketSquare Melon's James Mckenzie-Brown with Nikita's Aspen jacketSquare Melon's James Mckenzie-Brown with Stinky Socks. Yawgoon collab and Blind collab socksStance's new EMEA Performance Category Marketing Manager, Rich Philip. The brand is seeing goo traction in Europe, and things are ramping up in 2017Stigma Distribution's Hanus Salz showing Atrip's 10K Anchorage 10K jacket. Stigma Distribution's Hanus Salz showing Horsefeathers' 3-layer, 20K Eiger jacketThe Riders Lounge - Sandbox's Kingpin with Shift polarised lensThe Riders Lounge's Lucy showing 686's ladies Ceremony jacket and the jacket in red is the men's Weapon JacketThe Riders Lounge's Will Lenton with Crab Grab's Punch MittThe Riders Lounge's Will Lenton with Deeluxe's Yusaku 4 bootThe Riders Lounge's WIll Radula-Scott with Sandbox's Legend Apex helmet with BoaThe Riders Lounge's Will Radula-Scott with Union's Milan Binding in Boarders 4 Breast Cancer charity collab. Vans' Matt Bryer with Aimee Fuller's Fera pro model and the Hi StandardVolcom's Kris Wooton showing the Pat Moore jacket
