"What do you mean I can't drink my 40oz. in the taxi? The bars close at 2 a.m.?! Dude, did you know there are marijuana dispensaries all over this town?"

The SIA tradeshow in Denver was full of surprises. A slew of snowboard brands took over the Convention Center from January 28-31 (ok, there were some ski brands and accessory companies kicking around too). The vibe was seemingly more mellow than Vegas, and as always, "snowboard land" was the place to be throughout the show. Unless you're into helmets with beaver tails attached to them, or reindeer sweaters from Norway. Here are some product highlights from our wanderings through the halls, or as the Mervyn crew called it: The Maze of Doom.



Burton Fortress

2010 Olympic halfpipe rider Kelly Clark is going to be ripping Burton's new Fortress in Vancouver. This is a cambered board--yes, camber lives--and Burton has a slew of both rockered and traditional camber profiles in their new line. The Fortress has a directional twin shape, and features "The Channel" for compatibility with Burton's EST binding line, and the company says this is the lightest, highest performance women's board they've ever built. Let's see if it propels Kelly Clark to the top of the podium at the '10 Games.



Forum Holy Moly

As it was explained to me at SIA, Forum is a freestyle brand--straight up. That's where their R&D is directed, which allows them to fine tune new freestyle technologies while the rest of the market focuses energies on everything from freeride to kids' sticks. With the new Holy Moly, Forum introduced Combo Platter technology. And, no, you can't get the Combo Platter at your local Chinese food restaurant or breakfast joint. Forum lifts the edges up off the snow beneath your feet, which they say gives the board a less catchy feel, thus featuring the benefits of both camber and rocker. Holy Moly.



Rome 390 Boss

When they're not blowing up dumpsters in Vermont, the crew at Rome stays busy designing and refining products like the 390 Boss binding. On display, the 390's colorways looked sharp as hell, but looks aren't everything, right?! Rome introduced its new VROD technology in this model, which plants a "V" shaped bottom into the binding that runs perpendicular to the board, adding control and flex feel while reducing weight. Rome also introduced interchangeable "cants" in their bindings, so each rider can fine tune their bio-mechanical stance. Sounds high-tech, doesn't it...



Celtek Tweakers

I'm not sure what was cooler: sitting down with Bjorn Leines or checking out Celtek's highly-creative and functional line. Celtek was started by brothers Bjorn and Erik Leines in 2003; since then they've brought on a variety of innovative and art-inspired gloves and accessories to market. These aren't the most tech gloves but I dig the "handy" guide to remembering what grabs you can do with each hand. On the flip side of the Celtek tag reads "Regular" and "Goofy." This is definitely a street glove or for sweet spring days.



Ride Strapper Keeper AC

Harkening back to the days of high-top sneakers and Trapper Keeper's emblazoned with horse-and-rainbow images, Ride's new Strapper AC boot is both old and new school. Ride says their new Phy-Top tech requires 40 percent less parts and 50 percent less glue--resulting in a 15 percent weight reduction. These freestyle boots looked pretty swank in black, wrapped in fat retro laces and strapped with two Velcro closures up high.

Check back throughout the week. We'll be posting five new products a day- all of it. (The good, the bad, the ugly)