The FJ Layering System was developed to meet specific needs of golferswho desire clothing that regulates body temperature and adapts to changingweather conditions. The new system includes thinner, stretchable, breathablematerials that allow for full range of motion throughout the golf swing. Enter for a chance to win and be one of the first to experience th […]
well, here we are. or at least, here i am. and if you are here, then welcome. to the inaugural edition of surly saturdays. as i sit to write this, i am struck at how today is really anything but surly. like my friend ice cube once said, “today was a good day”. so it [...] […]
Corrugated Ten years ago, during a recon flight to map out the mountains around Haines, AK, this face captured my imagination and never let go of it. The more I searched the world’s mountains the more I realized how unique and special this face was. Because the peak was located just over the US boarder into Canada [...] […]
Boa Technology, maker of the award-winning, patented Boa Lacing System, is proud to announce the launch of project ‘Reel Pink’, a national campaign aimed to raise awareness for breast cancer through the sale of limited edition pink Boa reels. One hundred percent of all proceeds from the purchase of the pink reels will be donated to Breast Cancer Network of Strength, a trusted resource providing immediate emotional relief through the YourShoes® 24/7 Breast Cancer Support Center.
“We are grateful for Boa Technology’s support,” said Christina Koenig, Network of Strength Director of Communications and Media Relations. “ The partnership helps Breast Cancer Network of Strength provide immediate emotional relief to anyone affected by breast cancer through our core program, YourShoes®, the country’s only 24/7 breast cancer support center staffed by peer counselors who are breast cancer survivors.”
“The generous donation from the pink reels sales helps us touch lives in the future and helps us fulfill our mission to ensure, through information, empowerment and peer support, that no one faces breast cancer alone,” she added.
“Teaming up with Network of Strength to release a limited addition pink Boa reel has been an idea in the making for some time,” says Boa President Mark Soderberg. “Adding a pink reel to your Boa cycling, golf, hiking or running shoe will show you have joined in the fight against breast cancer.”
Reel Pink product will be available from September 3rd through November 15th, for a minimum $10 donation at www.Boatechnology.com. All donors will be invited to post a dedication to a loved one via the Reel Pink microsite to share on Facebook and Twitter.
Pink product will be limited to Low Power Boa reels, covering any footwear with S1, L3, or L4 configurations. Boa partner product includes, but is not limited to the following: cycling shoes from Specialized or Lake Cycling, golf shoes from Footjoy, The North Face trail running shoes (Sentinel Boa or older models), The North Face Hedgehog, TrekSta Sidewinder and Kobra, and the Radikal Speed from Millet.
Boa will ship tools and instructions with each purchase and will provide video tutorials and product information on the website for making the incredibly easy Reel Pink transition.
About Breast Cancer Network of Strength
Breast Cancer Network of Strength® provides immediate emotional relief through the YourShoes™ 24/7 Breast Cancer Support Center staffed by breast cancer survivors, with interpreters in 150 languages. Call 1-800-221-2141 or visit www.networkofstrength.org.
February Follies Boa Shoe Giveaway! Want to win these New Belgium Brewing inspired Vans with Boa? Starting today, post your favorite human-powered commuting experience/story (cycling, running, walking…to work, the bar, soccer practice, etc.) or photo on the Boa Facebook page to enter. The five entries with the most “likes” by fans on the Boa Lacing System FB page will be posted on Feb 26th to www.theboablog.net. Boa judges will then choose from the five finalists, three winners to receive custom New Belgium Brewing VANS with Boa. Winners will be announced here on The Boa Blog March 1st.
Walking around the SIA Snow Show this week, I made a project for myself to see if I could come up with head-to-toe snowboarding gear sourced solely from companies based here in Colorado.
Although I came up short on boots, I did discover one cool local company working behind the scenes with most of the major boot brands: Denver-based Boa Technology provides customizable steel lacing systems for snowboard boots from Vans, K2, DC, Ride, Flow, Nidecker, Rome, Thirty Two, Salomon, and several other brands (as well as a handful of ski boots, and closure systems in outerwear, helmets, hats, and other gear).
Photo: Colin Bane @ SIA Snow Show Cirro by Vans x Protect Our Winters, with Boa Focus System
My pick? The Vans Cirro x POW Boot, constructed of sustainable materials (recycled PET textiles and solvents, recycled cork footbed), features three adjustable closure zones using the Vans Boa Focus System for support and custom fit. A percentage of sales of the Cirro (and the women’s Veil boots) benefit Protect Our Winters, a Boulder-based non-profit “dedicated to reversing the global warming crisis by uniting the winter sports community and focusing our collective efforts towards a common goal.”
I caught up with Garett Graubins, marketing manager for Boa Technology, to learn more about the company and its lacing systems:
My current boots have good old-fashioned laces on them and I’ve always made do, but obviously boot fit is critical in snowboarding. Is lacing up in the parking lot becoming a thing of the past?
I think if you want a custom fit and proper support for the activity, it really is. We’ve been at it since 2001. K2 and Vans were our first two partners, and since then snowboarding has really become our core category, although we’re in at least 12 other categories. Our founder Gary Hammerslag, he came from a medical catheter background, so envision, if you will, that same kind of stainless steel wiring that they use for various surgeries. Gary was originally a California guy but he moved his family to Steamboat Springs and took up snowboarding, and he pretty quickly got tired of lacing up his boots and getting a bad fit every time. He said, “There’s got to be a better way of doing this.” So he combined his love of snowboarding with his medical background and tinkering passion, and it all came together to create the Boa Lacing System. (more…)
Monday February 01st 2010, 8:05 am
Filed under: Boa Company News
Boa President Mark Soderberg took the mic and participated in the first annual Something Independent panel discussion in Denver, Colorado during the SIA trade show this week. Topics included Colorado commerce, culture and snow. It was a gathering of company founders, industry visionaries, economic leaders and politicians exploring the collective impact they have in shaping our communities and economies in Colorado and beyond. Participating panelist included: Bart Taylor of ColoradoBiz Magazine, Ben Anderson of Icelantic Skis, Greg Ralph of Monarch Mountain and Colorado Senator Mark Udall.
Boa President Mark Soderberg along with fellow SI Panelist Colorado Senator Mark Udall
What is cycling to you? Do you live it? Do you love it? Post a photo on Boa Lacing System Facebook wall and show the Boa world how you ride your bike. Winner will receive an unbelievable cycling package: a one-year subscription to VeloNews, a limited edition Boa cycling jersey, a Hydrapak Big Sur, and a pair of Lake MX 170 cycling shoes featuring the Boa Lacing System. Contest runs 12/1 -12/11.
Boa Sales Manager Ilya Minkin, at his first 24 Hours of Moab (but not his last), rattled off three impressive lap times
Boa Technology journeyed to the forbidding, unforgiving deserts of Moab, Utah, over the weekend of October 9 for the 15th annual 24 Hours of Moab mountain bike race. A total of 14 Boa employees and interns – plus three members of the Boa Technology/Honey Stinger cycling team – joined forces to create four teams ranging from professional level to just-for-fun.
After the dust settled (and there was LOTS of it … just check out the video from the start), the numbers were quite impressive:
• Boa teams tallied an astounding total of 804 miles over steep, sandy, rocky, technical, and rolling trail.
• The Boa Technology/HoneyStinger Team took the silver medal in the ultra-competitive Men’s Expert Class, registering 253.47 miles and 23,120 feet of elevation gain.
• The See Boa Race Team snagged seventh in the 5-person Co-ed division by riding 223.65 miles. They were led by Boa President Mark Soderberg, who hammered out the team’s fastest lap of the race: 1:13:11.
• The See Boa Ride Team rallied to take 34th in the Men’s Sport Division, piling on 193.83 miles. Boa Engineer Sean Cavanaugh contributed 60 miles to the team’s effort by completing four full laps.
• See Boa Crawl, a team of beginner- and novice-level mountain bikers, pulled together a Day Two push to climb several spots in the Just For Fun Division standings, placing 59th. Most importantly, everybody came back in one piece, wearing smiles and only a few band-aids.
In addition, countless other riders—including several pros—were sighted tearing up the trail wearing the Boa Lacing System on their Specialized and Lake Cycling shoes.
For complete results of the 2009 24 Hours of Moab extravaganza, visit Grannygear.com.
Boa Sales Manager Ilya Minkin, at his first 24 Hours of Moab (but not his last), rattled off three impressive lap times
Pre-riding the course on Friday revealed some devilish sections of the course
Boa Prez Mark Soderberg hammered one of the team’s fastest times on Day One
After a summer-long circuit of mountain bike races that took him from high desert singletrack to alpine vistas, Boa President Mark Soderberg faced one more difficult test: the Fall Classic. The eighth and final stop on the Mountain States Cup tour, the Fall Classic would not coddle mountain bike riders. On the contrary, this ultimate weekend would test them unlike any of the previous tour stops; for this weekend would include not one gut-churning race, not two quad-melting contests, but three separate races that would have exhausted riders shuttling from one starting line to the next around Breckenridge, Colorado — no doubt applying muscle balm while in the car in between. The fastest cumulative time would win the weekend.
Boa Prez Mark Soderberg leading the pack and taking the crown at the 2009 Mountain States Cup
And Soderberg loved every punishing second of it.
“It was SO spectacular,” says Soderberg. “It snowed overnight, so we were staring up at white-capped mountains all day.”
The Fall Classic began on Saturday with a circuit race at the Breckenridge Nordic Center on Saturday. Here, Soderberg outpaced his closest competition, Dawes Wilson from Pedal Power Vail, by 3:29:32. But there was little time to celebrate, as he had to quickly get to the starting line of the Hill Climb Time Trial at Carter Park. “This was a killer cllimb,” says Soderberg, who still managed to win the race, putting another 2 1/2 minutes on Wilson.
With a nearly six-minute lead heading into the weekend’s final race the next day, it would have seemed Soderberg could cruise to victory, much like Tour de France riders take a more leisurely pace on the Tour’s final stage on the Champs Elysees. But that was not to be.
Mountain biking rarely allows riders to shift into cruise control. And, during the race—a beastly course that was the longest one of the year—Soderberg was rudely reminded of that very fact. “I was taking a gel and missed a turn,” says Soderberg, who was leading his competitor. He headed downhill with a head of steam, slowly beginning to wonder why he wasn’t seeing any markings or other riders.
A dismount and backtrack returned him to the course, but not without some concern over whether his main competition had passed him by.
“The other guy got lost … twice,” says Soderberg, laughing only in retrospect.
Soderberg’s cumulative time placed him atop the weekend’s standings for the 50+ Cat I grouping, besting Wilson’s overall time by 30:08. Best yet, it garnered him enough points to clinch the Mountain States Cup.
A few days later, in the calm of a Monday morning, Soderberg savored a cup of Joe and waxed nostalgic about a memorable season — one that also saw him win the National Championship. “I definitely had a lot of fun this year,” he says. “And that was the goal.”
For complete results from the Fall Classic and Mountain States Cup, visit www.racemsc.com.
DENVER – It began with a simple frustration from a snowboarder who didn’t like the laces in his bindings but now the resulting invention is being used by more than 5 million athletes.
In 2001, Gary Hammerslag founded Boa Technology with a mission: to replace shoe laces. The entrepreneur was frustrated with the poor fit of his snowboarding boots and formed a team to find a replacement.
“When we started the project, we decided that we had to have a system that was better than shoe laces in all ways or else we weren’t going to go forward with the business,” Hammerslag said.
Eventually they determined that a three part system consisting of slim stainless steel cables, lace guides and a circular reel were the answer, because of the suspension system they could create together.
“The way it works is you tighten the reel and it winds in the lace,” explained Gary Hammerslag, the founder and CEO.
He says their product is better than shoe laces, because the slick steel cable easily tightens.
“You get a glove-like fit,” Hammerslag said. “Because of the low friction, it tightens really easily and evenly. You actually wear your shoes tighter, but you eliminate the pressure points.”
Hammerslag says replacing the shoe lace altogether is their ultimate goal. He estimates that about 5 million pairs of shoes have been sold around the world using the technology. They range from snowboarding boots to rock climbing shoes; just about anywhere athletes wear shoes.
“This year we had 35 riders in the Tour de France,” Hammerslag said.
The system has even been used on a shoe designed for horses.
The EasyCare Boa Horse Boot
“It’s an example of how durable our system is. It can be worn by a horse that weighs 1,200 pounds and that doesn’t care about taking care of its shoes. We’ve yet to find a person that can beat it up better,” Hammerslag said.
When Boa Technology President Mark Soderberg raced in last year’s U.S. National Mountain Biking Championship in Mt. Snow, Vermont, he had a stellar race. In fact, if the course had been one mile shorter, he would have won. Instead, he was passed during the race’s final descent by eventual champion Doug Long.
But from every defeat comes a victory. And the heart-wrenching finish to the 2008 race stoked Soderberg’s determination to make amends at the 2009 national championship. Through the winter and spring, Soderberg awoke to train in the pre-dawn hours, motivated by the ghosts of the previous summer. His mantra became: “Do the work, get the results.”
With 2500 feet of high-altitude climbing over 15.3 miles, the 2009 championship course at Sol Vista would test the mettle of the continent’s most hardened athletes. And, on race morning, Soderberg stood poised for and hopeful for redemption. Doug Long (Chillicothe, Missouri) was back. And Gary Shuey from Lake Arrowhead, California, “looked as fit as ever,” according to Soderberg.
Boa President and National Champion Mark Soderberg rocking the Boa Lacing System through the trees at the U.S. MTB National Championships. Photo by VAST::vastaction.com
Soderberg seemingly didn’t want to leave anything to chance, and bolted to the lead immediately. Another rider (Shuey) stayed close, and even traded positions with Soderberg. Then, as the two riders crossed a wood bridge, he bobbled. Soderberg recognized it as an opportunity and put on a charge.
By the second and final lap of the race, Soderberg enjoyed a comfortable lead. “Everything was the way I wanted it,” he said. But the sport of mountain biking has a way of humbling every rider, and Soderberg experienced that version of Murphy’s Law soon enough. As he huffed down a trail, it occurred to him that he was probably off-course. Soon enough, he confirmed that suspicion, and frantically returned to the main trail. Desperation knocked at the door, and he fought to stay composed. “Don’t rush it,” he recalls saying to himself. “Make a good decision.”
Still, “I returned to the intersection not knowing if I’d been passed,” says Soderberg.
In the end, Soderberg’s wrong turn only tightened the gap between himself and the second-place rider. This year, nobody would pass him in the race’s final pedal strokes. In fact, 2008 champion Doug Long finished over 10 minutes back. Soderberg’s closest competitor, Shuey, hit the finish line nearly a minute back.
Soderberg’s finishing time of 1:42:46 gave him the redemption he’d envisioned—and worked toward—for a full year. It also gave him a very nice title to go along with “President, Boa Technology”: “2009 National Champion”
When two continental plates collide, one rises to the top, soaring to great heights (case in point: the Himalayas or, in this case, the Rocky Mountains). The other plate dives down into the depths of the Earth’s crust, seemingly in shame. So it stands to reason that when Boa’s trail runners and mountain bikers met for the first-ever Smackdown, head-to-head race, somebody would go home the winner.
The event took place on the unforgiving, technical trails of Mount Falcon, 10 miles west of Boa Headquarters in downtown Denver. The format was straight-forward: runners and bikers would start together at the bottom and, after ¼ mile of rolling trail in and out a few washes, the climb would begin. In all, the course would cover 2.5 miles and climb a total of almost 2,000 vertical feet.
In the weeks leading up to the event, there was no shortage of good-natured smacktalk around the Boa offices, as each side set its lineup. In the end, Boa President and Cat 1 rider Mark Soderberg, Lab Technician and prolific endurance fiend Adam Auell, and Product Development Manager Mark Kerns would make up one side. Inventory Coordinator Jason Deugan and Marketing Manager Garett Graubins – both trail ultrarunners – would make up the other. The race would crown one overall winner and the fastest combined time would go home with bragging rights as well (two trail runners versus the top two mountain bike times)
On the higher slopes of the mountain – about ¼ miles from the finish — Sales Manager Ilya Minkin waited patiently, trying to catch a glimpse of the first competitor.
At the start, the mountain bikers bolted to a large lead as Deugan and Graubins couldn’t match their pace on the flatter sections leading to the beginning of the first climb. By the time the trail turned uphill, the lead mountain biker (Soderberg) enjoyed a 1/8 mile lead on Graubins, while Deugan concentrated his efforts on catching Auell.
As all athletes quickly went anaerobic, Graubins caught up to Soderberg on a steep, rocky section near the end of the first pitch, 1.2 miles into the race. The two exchanged encouraging words before Graubins passed at the halfway point and shifted his focus to the second pitch of the run, a mile-long south-facing section which would decide the race. Soderberg, a seasoned competitor known to come on strong late, would no doubt be pushing the pace.
Not far back, Deugan also caught Auell near the top of the first pitch. As Deugan passed him, he recalls hearing some clunking …
Auell’s race had taken a sudden turn for the worse. As he shifted gears, his chain split. He would need to wait for another day. Afterward, everybody would joke that Deugan quite literally “broke” Auell.
Now on the higher reaches of the course, Graubins focused on running the trail ten feet at a time. “I didn’t want to look back,” he says. “I knew Soderberg would be right there.” The temperature – recorded at 90 degrees in Denver – was relentless and seemed to slow everybody’s pace.
Graubins was the first to pass Minkin and click off the final uphill to cross the finish line first, with a time of 27:16. Soderberg put on a push and charged to a finishing time of 28:46. As the two of them high-fived and fought to catch their breath, they waited to see who would come into view next. If it was Deugan, the runners would claim the day. Auell or Kerns would need to beat Deugan by at least 1:30 to get their team the win.
“THERE HE IS!” shouted Graubins and Deugan’s white-and-green jersey emerged from the forest. “GO JASON!” Deugan had run steadily on the race’s second pitch and managed to hold off Mark Kerns. The trail runners had taken the day.
Meanwhile – while Auell coasted back down the mountain without a bike chain – Kerns huffed past Minkin – and shared with him his true feelings about the difficulty of the climb. (Parental Advisory Recommended)
At the top, the competitors shared their play-by-play accounts of the climb, parched but happy to be finished. Minkin soon appeared, surprising the group with some liquid refreshment, as the recaps continued.
The next Smackdown will take place in October, at the venue of the mountain biker’s choosing. The action will no doubt be fast and furious again, as the victors will claim boasting rights throughout the winter. Stay tuned …
Boa Technology, maker of the award-winning, patented Boa Lacing System, is proud to announce the launch of project ‘Reel Pink’, a national campaign aimed to raise awareness for breast cancer through the sale of limited edition pink Boa reels. One hundred percent of all proceeds from the purchase of the pink reels will be donated to Breast Cancer Network of Strength, a trusted resource providing immediate emotional relief through the YourShoes® 24/7 Breast Cancer Support Center. 
