Snow show does Denver.

• Author: Peterson, Eric
• Position: [TOURISM] - Brief article

Snow-sports gear is selling like hotcakes after a down year, and manufacturers massed in Denver in late January to strut their latest stuff.

"For the first time ever, the U.S. snow-sports industry did $1 billion in the month of December," said David Ingemie, president of Washington, D.C.-based SnowSports Industries America (SIA) after the first day of the SIA Snow Show at the Colorado Convention Center in downtown Denver. "It's up about 14 to 16 percent over the 2009-10 season."

The event, held from Jan. 27 to Jan. 30 and then at Winter Park and Devil's Thumb Ranch in Grand County Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 for on-snow demos, moved to Denver last year after a long run in Las Vegas.

The double-digit uptick in sales translated to a sold-out show with more than 110 new exhibitors and a 5 percent to 8 percent increase in attendance, skewing toward out-of-staters, Ingemie added.

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