Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2013, Day 02

I just want to see shoes. And ski boots. Shoes and ski boots. There's nothing else to see. Shoes, boots. Nothing else. I've already got way too much gear.  Oh yeah, and I've got to go by the ClifBar booth and sample one of every thing.   CiloGear makes the most versatile and lightweight packs. Ever! Do they have a new one? Yep. Gotta geek out on that for 10 minutes.  Then there's the Terramar booth, technical baselayers, gotta touch those.  Then I need to sample some GU drops, as many as I can fit on a toothpick... twice. No, maybe three times.   Whoa... wait, fully carbon ski boots at La Sportiva?! They weigh fractions more than my trail shoes! And what's that new toe-crampon thing at Dynafit that those guys were cowering over and trying to hide from me?   Gaaaah!   Arcteryx is making down jackets?! And their new shells are unreal! Okay, lets look at their gloves. - Visualizing my bank account going into the red.  "Focus on shoes. Shoes, and that's it."

This tiny and overall horrendous review entails my short time (1.5 hours) of visiting Day 2 of the Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake City. I live in SLC and work in the ski industry, so it can be relatively easy for myself to get an entry badge. This show, and any other retail show for that matter, gives me a bit of anxiety that I try to ignore. There's just far too much awesome gear located under one roof to pay full attention too. Some brands are inviting and they love for everybody to look at their products, others seem inviting and then point you away if you even try to reach for a zipper pulley after seeing that you're not a buyer. Problem is, I like to look at gear. A lot! Ski touring gear has got to be the best eye candy ever. I like the technical, light weight, CNC'd carbon molded, molecular-poly-carbon-pasta-flax-seed infused gear. Basically all the shit I can't afford looks amazing. I saw some stuff that looks like it fell off the space shuttle, and I wanted it.

Going from booth to booth. Sales reps were too busy to talk, however the "badge glance" was in full effect. I'm dubbing "badge glance" as reps paying more attention to your badge than to your face; hardly eye contact whatsoever when you're in their booth as they're trying to figure out who you are. Until you're greeted and have shaken hands does the badge glance then dissipate.  So, I helped myself to looking at shoes and taking some shots on my phone. I touched 2 pairs of skis. Unbuckled and re buckled 2 different ski boots. I held a LOT of shoes that had laces. Some shoes that really stood out are in the photos below.

I didn't have a scale, so don't expect weights. I did a real quick, and "how I see it" review. Hoping to go back tomorrow to look at some more kicks and grab some more pics.

New Balance, 1010 V2. More aggressive tread pattern. I dig the changes made to the upper.  Has Laces. I'd like to try these.

New Balance, Leadville 1210. Thick, padded soles for running real far on rough terrain. Tread looks nice. Has laces.

Altra, Lone Peak. Local SLC brand. Zero Drop. Has laces. I'd probably cut off that little tab thingy on the heel as soon as I got them. I really like the looks of this shoe. Tread looks sweet and feels grippy enough for scrunbling. Has outline of a barefoot on the bottom. Dig the red. 

Pearl Izumi, something something or other. Has laces. Rubber tread. I liked how basic the uppers looked. Plus I'm a sucker for the blue/yellow combo.

Salomon, sLAB sense. Had a lace-lock pulley thing. Judging by how Kilian runs I think the tread is infused with nitrous and jet fuel. I like the uppers. They're light. I like the updated black on the heels rather than the white they used last year. Uppers still look sweet.