We have been through and done a lot this year. Maybe you were here for some of it,  maybe you just read about it on our blog, or heard about it from your friends, but we had a lot of fun!

Here is a look back at some of the highlights from this last year. Take a scroll down “Memory Lane”with us.

In January, evo employee Courtney Gillet qualified at the Freeski World Tour in Revelstoke, BC. She qualified 4th out of 17 top women free skiers in North America. Pretty awesome! Way to hold it down for the Pacific Northwest and evo!

Also in January, evo opened our doors bright and early as a meet-up spot for people looking to carpool to the mountain. Driving up by yourself is never fun and not being able to find a ride is even more of a bummer! Rideshare allowed people to split the cost of gas up to the mountain, meet some new people to ski with, and reduce mileage and wear on their vehicles.

In February, Dale Chihuly, K2 and evo teamed up to benefit the Big Brothers and Big Sisters Organization. Chihuly made a special piece called “Neon Tumbleweed” that is still hanging up in evo Seattle now if you want to come check it out. Look up on the ceiling…can’t miss it.

February also brought the Ride Snowboard Art Contest back to evo. People from all over the world submit art to try to get their graphic on the next year’s board. We celebrated the top 30 in the evo Timesinfinity Gallery and every one looked like it could have been a potential winner. This will be returning to evo again this February so be sure to come check it out.

Near the end of February, Burton and evo teamed up to bring the 3rd annual Women’s Pillowfight Snowboard Camp to Stevens Pass. Women of all ages and abilities joined together for the fun of progression, camaraderie and snowboarding. This is a great event to be a part of and we are excited to partner with it again this winter. So stay tuned for details if you are interested.

In February we made snowboarders ski and skiers snowboard at the evo Switch Day at the Summit at Snoqualmie. We try to do this once a year at least to celebrate our diversity of snow-sports. It wouldn’t be an evo party without some sort of theme, we had “Tall Tees”, “Prom” and “Neon” teams compete in various fun challenges. It’s always good to get out of your comfort zone for a while and try something different!

In April we did a contest where people pleaded their case as to why we should send them to the Orage Masters in Whistler BC. We picked the top 2 people and awarded them with a trip they won’t soon forget. No matter how hard they tried to erase the thought of sake-margaritas from their memories. We wined and dined them in the village and took some laps on the mountain during the Telus Ski and Snowboard Festival. There might have been more partying than skiing, but that’s alright. Start thinking up your reasons why you should get to go on the next Orage Masters trip. Come check up to check out all the crazy antics that went down during the contest. The K2 team won last year dressed up as Ninja Turtles, that’s not something to be missed.

May brought the return of the 3rd evo Fest break-dance festival and all the b-boys and b-girls packed the store for a night of breaking. There was definitely some talent in attendance that night and we were fortunate to bear witness to it. If you haven’t seen this before, make sure you come check it out next year.

Last summer we started hosting a bi-weekly game of S.K.A.T.E. in the store. If you are unaware what that is, it’s just like playing H.O.R.S.E. The kids who came showed some talent that made us older folks feel even older and less-talented at skateboarding than before. The level of skating in these contests was awesome to watch. This is something we’ll be doing again this year so start working on all your flip tricks in the garage this winter to prepare.

One of the best parts about our Seattle store location in Fremont is that it is right on the route for June’s world-famous Fremont Solstice Parade. We have prime position at evo and we take advantage of it, except during the naked bikers…we take a back seat then. (no pun intended) Stop by this year for face painting, food from local vendors, and some of the best seats in the house.

evo was luck to be able to host the first Clark Little Photo Slideshow last June. Clark drew quite a crowd with his amazing angles of surf photography. Never have we seen waves look so delicious.  People lined up an hour before the show started and patiently waited for an autographed copy of Clark Little’s book late into the night. Thanks to everyone who came out, we hope to be able to host another Clark Little slide show in the future.

Last July our fledgling evo Skate Team premiered their first movie “Le Banlieue“ at the Vitamin Water Social Club on Capitol Hill. For the first effort these kids did such a good job and we are excited to see what the future has in store for them. Watch the video in it’s entirety for free here. Post-movie, an impromptu skateboard and double-dutch jump-rope session took place in the street and the Skullcandy Blackulance showed up and gave out tons of free stuff to everyone who was there.

In August we kicked off the snow video-premier season at evo with TGR’s “Deeper: Unplugged”, a behind the scenes look at the making of Jeremy Jones’ two-year project “Deeper”. TGR and Seattle came out in full-force for some beers, prizes, and most importantly raised money for Protect Our Winters foundation. Everyone got a taste for what was to come later at the real premier in September.

September 2010 marked Smith Optics 45th year anniversary and we celebrated in style at evo. Special guest the Hell’s Belles rocked the house, people partied, the photobooth had a ever-growing line, and Smith decorated the gallery with vintage goggles and images from the past. Everyone had a great time and were collectively hungover the next day. We say “success” to that.  Here’s to another 45 years Smith!

In October we pulled out all the stops for our First Annual Fall Fashion Show. Boy did we ever. This was one of the bigger events we have thrown in the store and it turned out great. With a Johnny Cash inspired “Walk the Line” theme we highlighted the best of this years ski and snowboard fashion, ate lots of food, partied, and had a chance to ask questions to some of the industry’s fashion insiders. Hopefully we can go even bigger next year!

In November we took a step back in time when the “Rare and Vintage Snowboard Show” came to evo. The collection presented was a great look back at how far snowboard design has come over the years and also how some things never change. The gallery was packed with people who reminisced about their first snowboards and/or their “glory days”. After the show everyone moved down the street for the premier of Pirate Movie Productions “Hooked” and the party kept raging. Lots of prizes were given out and someone even won a retro snowboard to start their own collection.

Winter began with a bang this December in the Northwest. With the local resorts boasting some impressive early season totals, new terrain, and new lifts, winter has been pretty amazing so far. With a little help from La Nina, this winter is looking to be pretty epic. So get up there soon if you haven’t already.

This year we were very fortunate (thanks to all of you!) to win Evening Magazine’s Best Ski and Snowboard Shop of Western Washington. Pretty awesome! There are a lot of great shops in the area and we feel very thankful to win. Now all we have to do is live up to this award!

Sometimes you have to do something special for the ladies. With the help of Burton Snowboards we put on a “Ladies Night” shopping and mingling event in December. Beverages and food were had, new friends were made and old one’s reunited. The photobooth was very popular that night as well as the wine table. Prizes were raffled off and one lucky lady walked away with a brand new Burton snowboard.

A couple weeks ago, Jib This! returned to the Summit at Snoqualmie and brought it’s friend Jib That! The two-day snowboard and ski jib contest brought out some impressive riding and skiing. It was great to see the kids turn out for both contests.

2010 went by pretty fast and was packed full of events and activities for everyone.  If you have any photos or stories from your year feel free to post them up to our Facebook wall. Here’s to a great 2011! Happy New Year!