Despite a last minute change in venue, from the original Willard Bay site, because of low water conditions, the Open Air Demo at the Pinewa Reservoir near Odgen, UT went off without a hitch as both paddlers hit the water and hikers and runners hit the trails. Not without first stopping by to check out the vendors on hand to give practical demonstrations of the latest and greatest.
While the OR Summer Market Open Air Demo has traditionally been a predominantly paddlesports oriented event, more land-based brands are showing up every year. Several GPS companies, like Magellan, and Garmin have been attending the outdoor event for years, but this year, many of the family camping brands and core backpacking companies showed up this year with a larger presence.
The vast majority of the land-based brands were quite happy with attendance at the OAD. Teva hosted their annual trail run in conjunction with Garmin and Injinji. A company spokesperson said that participation was up compared to last year on day two.
Other electronics companies were also seeing some success. Polar chose the OAD to launch their first GPS enabled training system that will work for any sport hiking, biking, running and even swimming or paddling.
Perhaps the biggest attraction was Sylvan Sports new translation of the traditional pop-up camper. Built in conjunction with Kelty, the camper is designed to appeal to the human powered outdoor recreation crowd as opposed to the hunt-fish market. The tow-behind camper is also quite appealing to sales reps in the industry who were all looking for employee purchase forms.
New Balance was also in attendance with their new water/run footwear and Kristin Sullivan, the companys PR manager, said that she was very pleased with the outcome.
The water itself at Pinewa Reservoir was filled with a colorful variety of kayaks, canoes and sit-on tops launching from shore. After a slow start, retailers and buyers disembarked from shuttle buses and moved between more than 20 boat companies at the shores edge. Confluences new CEO Tom Nathanson moved from visitor to visitor introducing boats and listening to feedback. Confluence and Johnson Outdoors were joined by smaller boat brands like Bell, Delta, Emotion, Feelfree, Innova, Valley and Pelican International.
At the far end of the demo, Legacy Paddlesports drew attention with Native Watercraft, Heritage and Liquidlogic brands. A new model using Milikens MFT (Moldable Fabric Techology) stayed on the water as the line of retailers and buyers handed off PFDs and paddlers to the next in line.
