Helly Hansen

"April 21, 2008 Helly Hansen's 2008 Ride of a Lifetime: Five retail winners from across North America were flown into Vancouver and taken to Whistler, BC for a 'Ride of a Lifetime'. This year's winners were: Kandie Kemp from Ski Tak Hut in Courtenay, BC Samuel Martin from La vie Dehors in Rimouski, QC Justin Richardson from Carling Tommy and Lefevbre in Ottawa, ON Melissa-Lynn Lachance from Sport Experts #529 in Montreal, QC Bart Petryna from Ski Barn in New Jersey. All the winners arrived in Vancouver on Thursday, April 17th and were limo'd up to Whistler in style. A full outerwear outfit and $500 spending money awaited them at the Delta Suites resort in Whistler, BC. A fantastic dinner and VIP entry to the Whistler Telus Ski/Snowboard Festival SBC Party that evening kicked off the weekend with quite a bang...the kind of bang only shooters can give! As much as EVERYONE was feeling the effects of the first evening, Friday was a full guided day on Whistler mountain. Unseasonably cold temperatures and fresh snow gave way to a day much different than April spring skiing could expect. Whistler/Blackcomb guides Nikki and Max led the skiers and snowboarders to the best snow and best runs on the mountain. Helly Hansen Pro riders Shin Campos and James Heim joined for the afternoon to give the winners a sample of local success and skill on their local hill. Friday was topped off by a large group dinner and premium seats at the industry famous WSSF Fashion Exposed fashion show, featuring Helly Hansen and our body painted LIFA models. They even got a chance to get in a picture with Kiss rock legend Gene Simmons. Saturday morning: 10-15cm of fresh, cold, light powder, temperatures as low as -19C in the alpine, spectacular blue, sunny skies and a helicopter...sound like a Ride of a Lifetime??? Everything that could go right did for the lucky, lucky winners. 4-5 runs in Whistler's famous Spearhead range of untouched, fresh, cold POW!! Such an amazing day - permanent smiles on every face throughout dinner and into the night of WSSF DJ Experience party, etc, etc. Sunday AM late breakfast and a limo ride back down the Sea to Sky highway on their way home. "The Ride of a Lifetime contest went over really well in BC. Not only did it create some buzz in store throughout the Winter about HH but it gave me an excuse to be in touch with my retailers more often. When a buyer in my territory actually won the ROAL contest I was so excited to call her and let her know. What a great morale booster! Since the contest was held in Whistler which is part of my territory I was able to go up and spend quite a bit of time with her and the other contest winners, on the hill and off, and it was a great opportunity for me to build on a fairly new relationship with her. On top of that the group got to ride with some of our sponsored athletes which was really cool." Megan Soutar, BC Rep H/H"