Spyder wins U.S. Ski Team supplier award

LAS VEGAS — SnowSports Industries America (SIA) and the U.S. Ski Team recognized Spyder Active Sports as recipient Tuesday of the fourth Doc DesRoches Award, recognizing an SIA member and U.S. Ski Team supplier for its integration of Team athletes into its marketing campaigns.

LAS VEGAS — SnowSports Industries America (SIA) and the U.S. Ski Team recognized Spyder Active Sports as recipient Tuesday of the fourth Doc DesRoches Award, recognizing an SIA member and U.S. Ski Team supplier for its integration of Team athletes into its marketing campaigns.
    USSA President and CEO Bill Marolt presented the award to Spyder founder David Jacobs and his son Jake, the company president, at the SIA.07 SnowSports Trade Show, the largest ski and snowboard industry gathering in North America, at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.
    “The athletes and staff of the U.S. Ski Team have had some incredible success in recent years,” Marolt said, “but we haven’t done it alone. Our partners have helped us continually tell our story…and Spyder has been a major part of that telling. Our athletes have been a great billboard around the world for Spyder, but Dave and Jake and the company have been right behind us all the way with full support for what we've tried to accomplish.”
    He added, “Spyder is meticulous in soliciting athlete input in its fabrics and designs, so they have not only great fashion appeal but are the most functional uniforms on the World Cup. They took to heart a comment from Daron Rahlves that ‘Hundies matter,’ meaning hundredths of a second matter in ski racing, and Spyder is doing everything to shave those previous split-seconds for us.” U.S. Ski Team athletes participate in special wind tunnel testing for Spyder.
    Marolt cited Spyder’s d3o technology, the revolutionary material made of “intelligent molecules” that stiffen on impact to provide protection for forearm and elbow areas as they graze race gates or in other collision situations. They create a buffer to absorb and distribute impact energy until pressure is lifted, which transforms the material back to pliable.
    SIA President David Ingemie said, “It’s interesting how Dave Jacobs went from being a Canadian national team athlete to starting in the industry and eventually running such a successful operation with Spyder. His background helps bring the authenticity to his product — not just the one-piece racing suit but the entire line … and with his win-win relationship with the U.S. Ski Team. He’s such a staunch supporter of the ski team and the idea of ski racing; that total commitment helps set Spyder apart from other companies.”
    He said DesRoches — who died in 2003 after an illustrious career as a pioneer in forming SIA and leading it for nearly two decades — played a continuing role in developing the U.S. Ski Team's early fund raising efforts and was a relentlessly strong supporter of the team. He would be proud to have such an award, recognizing an SIA member for its support of the U.S. Ski Team.

Previous winners of the Doc DesRoches Award
2004 — Rossignol
2005 — Atomic
2006 — All U.S. Ski Team suppliers