After a 12 year absence from the Olympics the now famous Jamaican Bobsleigh Team has qualified for the Sochi Winter Olympics. The team is looking to head to Russia next month and recently launched an Indiegogo project to help get it there! The team is looking to raise $80,000 to help cover travel expenses. The Indiegogo crowd funding efforts ends later today.
Category: Snow Sports
Winter Olympic Games: Rule Columbia
This wouldn’t have happened during the Cold War. American athletes are about to head to Sochi, Russia for the 2014 Winter Olympics and they’ll be heading in style in uniforms made by Columbia Sportswear. What is unique about this is that earlier this month Columbia unveiled the Ski Team uniforms for the U.S. as well as Canadian and Russian teams!
Columbia showed these off to the press in Utah, and the uniform collection included those for moguls, aerials, half-pipe, skicross and slopestyle events. Many of these uniforms will feature the compnay’s Omni-Heat Thermal Reflective technology as a base layer to help keep the athletes warm. Many across America who have been digging out in recent weeks likely wish they had such technology.
Other features reportedly include a new waterproof zipper that is bonded to the laser-cut fabric, removable pockets and even special patterns that have been dubbed “snow camouflage.” We’ll be watching for these uniforms in next month’s games.
[Via GearJunkie: U.S., Russian, Canadian Ski Team Uniforms Manufactured By Columbia Sportswear Unveiled]
SIA Preview: Ski Sochi
If you can’t make it to the Olympic Games next month as even a tourist and spectator you could try to “Ski Sochi” at the upcoming SIA Snow Show. SkyTechSport’s line of Ski and Snowboard Simulators will give attendees the chance to head to Russia without leaving Denver! The company reportedly GPS-scanned the entire mountain, and rendered it in meticulous detail – foot by foot! As a result when using the simulator you’ll take feel every turn, jump and side-hill. Best part is there will be no jetlag!
Weekend Reading List (01.19.2014): Grab On, Hub Bub, Mill Run
Grab On
From GearJunkie:’Slob’ To Chicken Salad… Snowboarding Grab Terms (on one handy chart)
Oh the colorful dialect of the park and pipe world! Thankfully, we have diagrams to help. I suppose some of these are dated as the language evolves as fast as the sport of snowboarding itself, but this gem of a diagram from Wikipedia might help those watching the Olympic pipe competition understand the terminology…a bit. Continue reading Weekend Reading List (01.19.2014): Grab On, Hub Bub, Mill Run
Nike Looks to the Summit
Last week we reported on Nike’s new winter boots, and it seems that the company has just the jacket to go with it. The Nike Aeroloft 800 Summit Jacket features a pioneering combination of ripstop nylon and 800-fill down baffles for breathability and lightweight, unencumbered warmth. It also utilizes movement-activated ventilation, which allows trapped air and body heat to escape through laser-cut perforations as the wearer’s activity level increases, but without letting cold air in.
Nike Press Release: Urban Utility: The Nike Aeroloft 800 Summit Jacket and Nike LunarTerra Arktos
Nike’s Winter Lunar Landing
Winter doesn’t look close to over and whether heading to winding down any time soon, and regardless of your activity having the right boots will help you not only endure it but you might even enjoy it. The modular Nike LunarTerra Arktos delivers a wholly invincible approach to winter according to the company. It provides the lightweight comfort of a sneaker and the durable, insulated protection of a boot, and features dynamic Nike Flywire and Hyperfuse construction, which makes for an adaptive fit.
The Nike Vac Tech molding reduces seams and, therefore, potential leaks so your feet will stay warm and dry. The midsole features Nike Lunarlon technology, which minimizes weight and maximizes comfort and mobility, whereas the outsole is crafted from a zoned sticky and hard rubber that enhances stability and agility on varied terrain/
Since getting out of the boots could become necessary when heading indoors, these feature a nickel-plated zipper with an easy-to-grab leather pull guarantees effortless release while a removable bootie helps keep the foot warm and dry—and serves as a satellite slipper.
Nike Press Release: Urban Utilitiy: The Nike Aeroloft 800 Summit Jacket and Nike LunarTerra Arktos
Fold in the Snow
We saw a number of innovative designs in foldable helmets for cycling, and Carrera is looking to take the concept of compactable headgear to the slopes with its Foldable Snow Helmet. It features a patented flexible frame, elastic fitting system and passive ventilation system – but most importantly all this means it can get small to fit in a bag and take less room when you’re heading to the mountains.
The new Snow Foldable Helmet comes in four exclusive colors including Hot Red, Metal Black, Alpine Blue and Alpine White. It is made of leather and carbon fiber and can be fitted with most traditional winter sport goggles.
Peekaboos Donates Proceeds in Hats for Hope Program
Peekaboos, the maker of fitness hats for women that allows a ponytail to poke through the hat, has partnered with MS Run the US. A special knit orange cabled hat is being offered under the Hats for HOPE line, and 50 percent of all sales of Peekaboos orange HOPE hats will be donated to help improve lives and find the cure of those living with multiple sclerosis. Continue reading Peekaboos Donates Proceeds in Hats for Hope Program
January: The Month of Trade Shows
The holidays are over and it is time to get back to work! Whether you like it or not now ‘tis the season of trade shows and for KineticShift that means CES, SHOT Show, North American International Auto Show and SIA Snow Show, where we’ll be seeing all the products that will help you keep those resolutions this year.
Check back all month for our reports from these shows!
CES Official Website
NSSF SHOT Show Official Website
North American International Auto Show Official Website
SIA Snow Show Official Website
Show Your Compatriotism
California snowboarder Rick Hansen is the man behind Compatroit snowboards, and he’s now looking to Kickstarter to get the next line of boards off the ground. Designed for the core rider and mountain enthusiast, the new boards feature new graphics that will help this indie start-up standout on the slopes. Video after the jump
Weekend Reading List (12.21.2013): A Walk in the Snow, Daily Vitamin?
A Walk in the Snow
From Gear Junkie: Artist Walks For Hours To Create Snow Art
With an orienteering compass in hand and TSL snowshoes on his feet, Simon Beck creates amazingly intricate but enormous designs in fresh snow, one step at a time. Continue reading Weekend Reading List (12.21.2013): A Walk in the Snow, Daily Vitamin?
Every Third Thursday: Totally Modular Snowboard
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwcG5uyFeN0&feature=share&list=PL34695342B698FC80
The world is becoming more modular, so why not a snowboard as Every Third Thursday shows in the video above.
Holiday Gift Guide: Blast Away
Winter is a time of snowball fights, but if you can’t throw then you’re often the one getting pummeled. The Arctic Force Snowball Blaster can help level the playing field. It can launch a snowball up to 80 feet – so we certainly wouldn’t want to get hit with one launched from this thing – and for those who can’t quite make the perfect ball it includes a reversible built-in snowball maker.
Lock and load.