It was a beautiful Sunday at Mount Rose Ski Resort, and riders who went up to the mountain today were in for a special treat. Next year's skies and snowboards, not yet available in stores, were available to try all day thanks to Bobo's annual Spring Demo.
"It's once a year so they couldn't have picked a better day," Siani Nau, Community Relations Manager at Mt. Rose, said. "They're out here with their reps demoing next year's skies and snowboarders."
"It's wonderful," Eileen Ryan, skier from Reno, said. "No pressure, just 'here try a ski.' It's a really great thing they do."
All riders had to do was register with Bobo's, then they had their selection of skies and snowboards from all sorts of different brands.
"In all kinds of different lengths," Nau said. "They've got men's specific, women's specific, powder specific, carving specific, all kinds of different types of skies and snowboards."
The best thing about the demo, other than no charge, was the variety to pick, and the ease of switching gear. Riders could switch after every run, and it only took a few minutes to adjust bindings.
"Just like going to an auto show and trying different types of vehicles," Luis Ayala-Zapata, skier from Reno, said.
Like vehicles, there were all sorts of designs for different terrain, and different styles.
"Being able to hug the hill more with the racing skis," Ryan said. "There's probably a little more metal in them. Your ride can be faster and more secure."
"[I tried] K2's that wanted to go really fast" Ayala-Zapata said. "And you just got to stay a little conservative."
Ryan did buy skies at last year's demo so she said this year she's going to try not to buy anything but she didn't make any promises. Still, she took advantage of a rare opportunity to try multiple skies within a few hours.
"Maybe not the ones I tried," Ryan said. "They were more like a racing ski, but it's good to see how different skis perform on the hill."
