Second Annual Northwave Team Focus Group at Mt Hood

For the second year in a row, the Northwave crew met up two weeks ago at Mt. Hood to check out the product design ideas for winter 2009. Team riders: Alexis Waite, Patrick McCarthy, Matt Beardmore, Matty Ryan, and even Marius Otterstad joined the meeting with reps, Italian designers, in house staff, and the boys from MiloSports to review new product and film for the new Northwave Team DVD.

The week started off atypical, with so much rain that Mt Hood actually closed for the day. Bummed on the wet weather, we hit up a matinee in Sandy, OR only to find all the summer campers and counselors doing the same thing.

The next morning it was pouring again, but with the ski report saying Hood was open for business, we optimistically suited up and rolled out to see how it really was on the mountain. Getting there our hopes started to fade as the sun and peak was no where to be seen. Clouds, frowns, and lots of rain were pretty much the all around motif.

As we sat in the lodge with restless campers to discuss the plan of action for the day, we decided to throw in the towel and call it another lost day. But, on the way out we discovered a patch of sun poking through to tell us it wasn’t quite over yet. The rest of the day turned out to be still a little socked in, but fairly decent and pretty soft.

That night we decided to hit up Jesse Burtner’s new ThinkThank film at the HCSC bowls. After checking that out we stopped off into Charley’s where we joined the rest of Govy Camp… minus young campers and devoted counselors. Matty must have gotten lost amongst the crowd, because he got stranded in Govy, but somehow managed to get back to the cabin with time for coffee just before we headed back to shred.

Every night was BBQ’s and hot tubs, but we also dedicated time to meet after riding to review the new product ideas for the 2009 season. Team rider, rep, and dealer feedback was given and laid out on the table for discussion after reviewing samples and graphics.

“It is always great to meet-up with people in the Northwave and Drake family to see the newest product because I get so excited to use it all next year. Everything is soooo SOLID, they listen to what we have to say and apply it... It is really satisfying!” says Alexis Waite whose feedback will definitely be used in designing the women’s line.

The rest of the week went well, with only clouds and not a lot of rain. At the end of the trip the sun came out to greet us good bye. Patrick McCarthy says, “Although the weather was horrible we made the best out of it. A little shredding, BBQ's every night followed by some serious bar bonding which sounds like a good summer time to me”.

So, we wrapped up our second Annual Northwave Focus Group, as happy campers with overall good success. Look for clips of our Mt Hood trip on our website this fall and our new Team DVD, free in stores and on the web! www.northwave.com. Photos can also be seen our Myspace page: www.myspace.com/northwaveboots.