Burton today announced that it will once again provide the official snowboard outerwear for the U.S. Snowboarding Team at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics as it did for the Torino 2006 Olympics. In addition, Burton will build on its long-standing relationship with W. L. Gore & Associates by partnering with the company and leveraging the performance benefits of GORE-TEX® fabric, the official fabric of the 2010 U.S. Snowboarding Team’s Olympic outerwear.
“I’ve never been a fan of uniforms, but if anyone is going to outfit the U.S. Olympic Snowboarding Team, we’re the company that should step up and do it right,” said Jake Burton, Founder and Chairman of Burton Snowboards. “As with everything we design and manufacture, we have already brought together our creative people with some of our country’s best snowboarders to ensure that the final product will represent the riders, the sport and the U.S.A. in an authentic way. Our partnership with GORE-TEX enables the riders to rest assured that regardless of the weather in Vancouver, they will be warm, dry and free to do their best.”
“The crew at Gore is truly stoked to be partnering with Burton Snowboards to outfit the U.S. Snowboarding Team for the upcoming Winter Olympics,” says John Reaney, NA snowsports category leader. “The Burton/GORE-TEX® product and design teams are working side by side in the development of the most progressively styled and technically functional garments for our Olympic Team. With the Olympic snowboarding events taking place in Vancouver, where history shows weather can be a potential distraction, we’re confident our products will enable the riders to stay focused on the challenges of the event itself and not on the discomforts that bad weather can potentially bring.”
Burton has already held a roundtable with top pro snowboarders to review design concepts for the outerwear. Just like with all product development at Burton, riders will drive the design process of the Olympic outerwear from start to finish.
Greg Dacyshyn, Senior Vice President of Creative at Burton, gives a preview of the outerwear design, which will be revealed once the 2010 Olympic U.S. Snowboarding Team is officially announced. “The inspiration behind the U.S. Snowboarding Team outerwear for the 2010 Olympics is classic Americana,” says Dacyshyn. “Although we are creating a uniform, our first objective is to express the individuality of snowboarding. As such, we are taking vintage American looks and interpreting them in a very unique and unexpected fashion. Finally, we will ensure that all of the highest technical attributes are maintained in the pieces, so that performance and function are not jeopardized. The result will be a progressive and fresh look that challenges the former conservatism of the Olympics.”
Stay tuned for additional details about the U.S. Snowboarding Team Olympic outerwear as the Winter Games draw closer.
