27 Jul OUTDOOR

It’s not often that a trade fair becomes an enjoyable and not-to-be-missed occasion, not least for the presence of keen sports people, but this is what happens at Friedrichshafen, at OUTDOOR, the sector’s most important trade fair, which finished last week.

Probably thanks also to this fact, OUTDOOR is a big success, with numbers of both visitors and exhibitors growing from one year to the next:
810 exhibitors from 38 countries, and almost 20,000 visitors.
Among the exhibitors all the leading summer Outdoor companies, including those specialised in equipment for alpinism. Many technological innovations presented for the first time, as testified by the Industry Award, which selected for prizes fully 63 technologically-innovative products from among more than 200 entries.
The media presence was also impressive: 937 journalists (daily newspapers and specialist magazines), TV crews and radio journalists from 26 countries came to Friedrichshafen to discover the new products for the next outdoor sports season.
Many champions of the mountains and living legends were present, some to promote a product, some with a sponsor, some to find out for themselves about the innovations. From one stand to the next it wasn’t difficult to catch a glimpse of Ben Moon, Chris Sharma, Patrick Edlinger and many other big names who you could ask for an autograph or get your photo taken alongside.

But work’s not everything, and to unleash the adrenaline remaining after all the business stuff were competitions such as the Fastest Trail Runner, the jump Boulder Contest and the speed climbing contest.
You still had some energy left? Saturday night’s party, the Outdoor Party, was the ideal occasion to use it up.