February 1, 2008 (Las Vegas, Nevada) – Perhaps the only sure bet in Las Vegas this year at the annual Snowsports Industries of America (SIA) show in “Sin City” in late Jan. 29-Feb. 1 was that every cross-country ski gear and apparel supplier and retailer was grinning from ear-to-ear after the best ski season in years.

And coming off a great season in almost every region of North America, meant that some interesting stories unfolded on the floor of the convention center at the Mandalay Bay Hotel at the end of Las Vegas’ famous strip.

Stories like all the cool new high-end race boots. Trust me, if you’re a nut about new boot technology that makes skate and classic boots lighter, better fitting and better performing, you’re going to love what you’re going to see at your favorite ski shop next season.

I won’t reveal all the technical details (look for them in Don Portman’s new gear roundup in the Spring edition of Trax), but here’s the broad overview.

Fischer, Alpina and Atomic have really upped the ante when it comes to lightweight race boots. And talk about fit and comfort, all three companies have really nailed it.

While Fischer and Alpina have new lasts that have been tweaked to better fit the North American (if there really is such a thing and footwear people tell me there is) foot shape better, Atomic goes a step further offering two distinct (narrow and wide) options in their top –end skate and classic race boots. Very cool indeed.

One show trolling wag called Alpina’s boot fit “condom-like” , which was very apt given the the “what goes on in Vegas, stays in Vegas” reputation of Sin City. Back home, that description will probably be changed to something like a “sock-like” fit.

Oh and before we move on from boots, the light finally went on in the designer’s heads at several boot suppliers who are offering women skiers what they really want – basic black boots. That’s right, the days of the pastel cosmetics for women are numbered. What a relief this news must be for the countless number of women skiers who really never bought into the “cute”cosmetics.

Apart from boots, another aspect of next year’s gear I liked is the renewed push for traditional looking off-track touring gear. From Madshus with their Norge collection to Salomon with two neat new backcountry skis with cool graphics and both with positive waxless bases, Atomic with a new version of their Rainier ski, to Alpina’s new “Woody” ski, boot and pole package, things are looking up for the avid off-track/casual backcountry ski tourer-currently the sport’s most underserved population

And while there was plenty of new gear, I have to give Rossignol and Karhu kudos for keeping their ski and boot offerings much the same as this season. Yes, both companies made changes in their telemark ski collections, but showed wisdom in taking a few years off between major race and touring line changes,

One added note re: Rossignol, is that while the 2008-09 line will look much the same, the company now offers the entire line of One-Way poles.

And look for some familiar brand names now being handled by new distributors. For example Peltonen, Bjorn Daehlie apparel and Exel poles are now in the Alpina camp.

“Some of the lines like Bjorn Dahlie were referred to us, “said Alpina president Frank Thibodeau, ”and others, like Exel, we went after.”

Speaking of the Peltonen addition, “Alpina VP of sales, Steve Kvinlaug, noted, “It rounded our offerings out at the high end.”

And as Leki’s Greg Wozer indicated, “more and more of the cross-country business is in the high end product.”

True but perhaps the new general touring and backcountry touring ski category offerings will entice more folks to get back to, as several people put it in Las Vegas, “roots skiing.”

Bob Woodward from the SIA press room at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.