CHECK OUT PICTURES FROM THE EVENT HERE

I – like many of you who are reading this – am THAT girl that could spend hours in an outdoor sporting goods store. Whether it’s Teton Mountaineering’s quaint location in downtown Jackson or the giant LL Bean back in Maine, the choices always take me aback. I could spend just as much time looking at a huge two-seater sea kayak as the miniature parts for a camping stove.  And when it comes to ski shops – lets just say that all the buckles are “sooo shiny” and the skis are “sooo pretty.”

That’s part of the reason I was so excited to attend Outdoor Retailer as a part of the SheJumps team this winter. I had heard of the show for a few years, and from everything I understood, it was like REI on super steroids with an extra dose of testosterone.  I wasn’t disappointed.

And when I found out OR had a demo day too? Oh man. Talk about the world’s best toy store.

That Wednesday, I hightailed it up Big Cottonwood to Solitude, where the demo day was taking place. Walking into the demo area was like walking into a daydream from senior year calculus.  So many skis, goggles, hell, even socks. I did the rounds and collected as much free stuff as I could before even checking out the skis.

Throughout the course of the day, I managed to demo 11 pairs of skis – and managed to meet about a million really awesome people.  I was actually happy to be there by myself  - I loved riding up the lift with various owners of small ski shops as well as representatives from giant companies and organizations in the industry. We would talk about their purpose at OR, and I would tell them my story as well. Most reactions included: “Maine is like…. So far, dude.”

Flash forward to Friday. I woke up super early to hitch a ride from Hannah, so early in fact that when we got to the Salt Palace, I wasn’t even allowed in yet. This was fine with me, seeing as next to skiing and eating, people watching is one of my favorite activities.

Claire warned me earlier that micro puffs were like a dress code at OR. I plopped myself on the ground and as people began to filter in, counted the amount of people wearing micro puffs. I swear – there was enough puff within those 25 minutes to fill the pillows of all the residents of a small African country. All I kept thinking about was the lunch scene from Mean Girls: “On Wednesdays, we wear Micro Puffs.”

Despite the short wait, I was eventually let into the show. I was immediately astounded by the amount of cool stuff that was packed into the Salt Palace - and so impressed by the architecture of some of these booths! I mean, Mountain Hardwear had a freaking tent light thingamajig - hanging from the ceiling.  I must have walked up and down the Salt Palace four or five times just looking at everything. I was in a dreamworld.

BUT DREAMWORLD ASIDE, I was there because SheJumps partnered up with FlyLow gear to throw a happy hour! I was in charge of buying supplies, promoting the party, and setting it up (with some help, of course - thank you to everyone who lent a hand!) Handing out invites was easy – all you need to say to a bunch of outdoor reps is “free beer” and they’re in. Unless of course they have something better planned – when I asked the guys from Mountain Khakis if they wanted in, they explained that they, too, were having a happy hour, except with free shots of whiskey and falcons. Yes, falcons. Real falcons.

We may not have had any live birds at our party, but it was complete with pogo sticks, hula hoops, girafficorn hats, and tons of pirate gear, which was the theme of the happy hour. It was a huge success, and it seemed like everyone had a genuinely good time too. Seeing so many people stop by the booth – both people I recognized and people I didn’t – gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling in a way. To know that a portion of the party was because of me was definitely led to feelings of great accomplishment. And in addition, I had so much fun bopping around (on pogo sticks AND on my feet), meeting people, mingling, and of course, sporting an eye patch.

Thank you to everyone who made the party a huge success, hope you all had fun!

-Jenna