This is Armada: Manifesto

It had been a while, but in October 2017 the entire AR family had the chance to get together. It had been a few years since we’d all had that opportunity, but schedules all matched up to allow us all to spend a full week in Park City, Utah. Some travelled across the country, others had flown half the way around the world. No matter the distance travelled, everyone was ready to talk skiing, the state of the brand, new ideas and just catch up with friends they haven’t seen since the previous winter. Mike Hornbeck said it best when he said it was like the band was back together.

But this wasn’t just a reunion, there was work to do. The whole team had a chance to have their say on new design for products, what new products they need and how to improve the products that they use. Athlete driven product is the name of the game and, when the whole team joins in, sparks fly.

Day one, we headed straight to the local watering hole, Park City Brewery. We weren’t there just to sample the beer though, it was the location for the first photoshoots. Kimbo did get some time off and was stoked to get a behind the scenes tour and see how a small American Brewery actually gets down. The good times were flowing.

Besides the “Hard Work” we put these guys through, there’s a lot of fun to be had outside the office. Park City in October isn’t the best place to ski, but there’s plenty of other fun to be had. We took breaks from the office grind to rip the PC skate park every day. One night we took the whole crew bowling, and on the final night we drove deep into the Uinta Mountains to get away from the city and get down in the wilderness.

Taking all the athletes out to the middle of the woods is always a pretty wild experience in itself, but what made it even better was our very own Utah Rep and dependable fixer of good times, Ryan Moore, bringing out his razor for some rallying. Just be careful letting some of these guys behind the wheel, especially Sammy… not surprisingly he went a little too hard in the paint and flipped it over with Tanner in the passenger seat.

Ultimately we came out of this week with a stronger bond and a renewed, shared vision for the brand and ARfamily. We came out with better ideas for products, content creation, and for Armada as a whole. We are a family and we promise to ensure creativity always has a place in skiing. We base almost everything we do around our Athletes, because they are Armada.

#ThisIsArmada