By Jerd Smith, Daily Camera, Boulder, Colo.  Knight-Ridder/Tribune 
Business News  

Aug. 1--Raising $200,000 was easy once Brett Conrad and Dave 
Alden got  investors out on ski slopes, riding snowboards using their 
new binding. Conrad and Alden, thirtysomething guys who've spent 
more than a decade riding snowboards, have developed a "no pain" 
soft boot and binding system they believe will bring snowboarding 
into the mainstream.  

Current snowboard bindings use buckles and ratchets to secure boots 
to the board. Conrad and Alden's company, Device Inc., based in 
Boulder, has taken another tack, creating a step-in binding similar to 
those used on downhill skis, in conjunction with the traditional soft 
boot now used by most  snowboarders.  

But like any good downhill race, Conrad and Alden are up against 
stiff  competition. This fall, two other companies will also introduce 
radical new  binding systems, systems the board industry claims will 
make snowboarding  equipment as easy to use and as performance 
conscious as the best downhill ski equipment.  

Well aware of the need for speed, Conrad and Alden have, since the 
first of the year, built Device into a functioning company.  

Operating out of an aging apartment house on Mapleton Street, the 
two have completed the design of the system, lined up 
manufacturing agreements here and abroad, set up a warehouse 
distribution system and launched an aggressive marketing campaign 
that has snagged enough pre-orders to sell out the first batch.  

Backed with money gleaned largely from other Boulder business 
people, the  Device duo plans to spend another $200,000 or so during 
the next 12 months,  

money that will go toward further refining the design and paying for 
the first year's inventory.  

Just as important as building Device's first inventory, however, is 
keeping an eye on the competition. The two companies making the 
race interesting are Switch, a San Francisco-based company, and a 
joint venture between K2, a ski maker, and Shimano, which 
manufacturers mountain bike equipment. Both firms have more 
resources to throw at the binding race than Device does. But Conrad 
and Alden believe their system is the one the nation's 2 million 
snowboarders are most likely to embrace.  

Device, if it doesn't have Fortune 500 clout, does have deeply 
experienced business people backing it, including a cadre of 
snowboarders who owned their own companies before lining up 
behind Device.  

Conrad formerly was a co-owner in Wave Rave Inc., a Boulder-based 
company that manufacturers snowboard clothing and runs retail 
clothing stores.  

Dave Alden, whose brother Rick designed the prototype for the 
Device binding, is a former professional snowboarder who has sold 
boards here and abroad.  

Device's investors bring more than just cash to the table. Barnie 
Feinblum, former chief executive of Celestial Seasonings Inc., has 
signed onto the project, as has Jim Gardner, a co-owner in Xpresso, a 
drive-through espresso shop that has three stores in the metro area. 

"I'm very conservative with my money," Gardner said. "But I've 
ridden this binding. It allows faster, more-precise turns. There's no 
pain and you can get in and out of it quickly. I think it's going to 
walk off the shelves," said Gardner, who formerly owned a small 
company that did snowboard demonstrations around the country. 

"Their challenge is going to be distribution, getting production set up 
and making sure the product ships on time," Gardner said.  

Still another hurdle will be to win the hearts and minds of dyed-in-
the- wool snowboarders, people who've been involved in the sport 
for the 15 years or so it's been hot in the states.  

Though the sport attracts a lot more people now, it is still dominated 
by  youngsters who believe downhill skiing is way too establishment, 
and who shun  the traditional ski world. Jared Roy, an avid back-
country snowboarder who  sells and rents boards during the winter, 
said he sees little need for the new soft boot and binding system. 

"I can't ever see myself using something like that," he said. "I'm 
perfectly happy with what I've got and I know plenty of pros who 
feel the same way."  

But Conrad believes the die-hards will convert once the Device 
system starts showing up on ski slopes.  

Fortunately for Device, more slopes are open to snowboards now 
than ever  before. The snowboard scene is much different than a 
decade ago when Alden and Conrad were new to the industry. 

"It used to be the only places we could ride were the small resorts, 
who would take any dollar they could get," said Dave Alden. Now 
there are only a small number of resorts that still ban the boards and 
their baggy-pants owners.  

Most ski areas, aware of the drop in downhill skier numbers, are 
watching the growth of snowboarding closely. Analysts estimate the 
number of "riders" has grown 15 percent to 20 percent in each of the 
past three years.  

Few analysts are watching the business as closely as RRC Associates 
in Boulder, a ski industry research and consulting firm that has 
invested in Device. 

"We see (snowboarding) as a growing part of the ski industry," said 
Chris  Cares, a principal with RRC Associates. "It's where the energy 
and excitement  are right now. And as it becomes easier to handle 
the equipment, more skiers  are likely to try it."  

Cares estimates that of the 11 million or so skier visits in Colorado 
last year, about 1 million were snowboarders. Cares, who invested in 
Device about a month ago, said that once he and his partner saw the 
soft boot and binding system, the decision to put cash on the table 
came easily. 

"We're always very cautious. But we made that decision pretty 
quickly," he said.  

Now, is of the essence at Device. Conrad and Alden are pushing hard 
to ensure they make their Sept. 1 product ship date.  

But they're not planning to saturate stores this year. They're taking a 
more measured approach. 

"We're priming the pump," Conrad said. "We don't want to try 
financing a huge inventory this first season."  

Not until the fall of 1996, when the company plans to offer about 
12,000 units to the buying public, will Device's device be widely 
available. The company already has an agreement with a major 
snowboard maker, San Diego- based Lamar Corp., to provide Device 
systems for sale with the company's boards.  

END!I7?BO-SNOWBOARD