Guide's Choice at Outdoor Retailer

American Alpine Institute Director Dunham Gooding, AAI Shop Manager Richard Riquelme, and AAI Guide Mary Harlan attended that annual Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City last week to present the AAI Guide's Choice Award. Following is a short photo essay of the trip and the presentation of the awards.

The Summer Outdoor Retailer Show
Salt Lake City

There's a lot going on at this trade show! It is the biggest event of the year for the outdoor industry.

The Patagonia booth. Most exhibitors build fairly elaborate booths for the show, truck them to Salt Lake City in pieces, and assemble them there.

Not everyone at the show was of the same species. These two handsome dogs were fully credentialed. It was a busy show with many hundreds of exhibitors and between ten and twenty-thousand credentialed buyers (including about forty dogs).

Activites and demos abound. Show participants got to try on Five Ten shoes and boulder up and around these freestanding walls.

There were bouldering contests in which the contestants wore a crash-pad on their back to make balance more tricky and the lap around the wall harder to complete. In addition to this open competition, Mammut sponsored a massive bouldering competition at the trade show.

There were also insects on the floor. Exofficio was promoting their use of fabrics with FDA approved insect repellent qualities built in. Buff is doing the same thing, but without the direct help of bugs.

Mary and Richard model a couple of new Buff designs with Shirley Choi Brunetti (Buff Director of Sales and Marketing). Buff is a Spanish company, and all of the manufacturing is done there.

Mont Bell: Yuji Kikuchi (Director of Sales and Scott Guenther (Director of Operations) accept the Guides Choice award for the Thermo Wrap Parka from AAI Director Dunham Gooding.

AAI Guide Mary Harlan shows off the Black Diamond Quantum pack with Richard Riquelme, Nathan Kuder (BD Softgoods Category Manager), and Roger Strong (BD Regional Sales Rep).

Black Diamond award: BD President Peter Metcalf accepts Guides Choice awards for the Quantum and the Anarchist packs from AAI’s Dunham Gooding. Looking on AAI’s Mary Harlan and Richard Riquelme and BD’s Roger Strong (Regional Sales Rep.) and Chris Grover (BD National Sales Manager).

The formal pose for the two Patagonia awards: Left to right: Richard Riquelme (AAI Equipment Division Manager), Tim Rhone of Patagonia , Dunham Gooding (AAI President), Rob Bon Durant of Patagonia, and Mary Harlan (AAI Guide).