STYLE of SPORT | Gear & Apparel Curated for the Stylish Sports Enthusiast

When I headed out to Bozeman, Montana last week for a quick 3-day ski trip, I assumed those 3 days would be spent at Big Sky. It was one of the few ski resorts out west I hadn’t skied and been at the top of my list. As the name implies, Big Sky encompasses a sprawling 5850 acres of Rocky Mountain skiing terrain, ranging from wide-open groomers to dynamic glades to challenging steeps, with more runs to ski than I’d ever jam into 3 days. Little did I know there are two other mountains to ski in the vicinity: Bridger Bowl, the community run mountain where the locals ski, and at the other end of the spectrum, the ultra-exclusive Yellowstone Club.

A few years ago a good friend of mine, Lynn Shanahan, moved out to Bozeman. We met on a press trip about 20 years ago when she was a Group President at Tommy Hilfiger and I was the Visual Editor at Self magazine. Tommy Hilfiger was sponsoring the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team at the time and had invited a handful of editors to Deer Valley, Utah to watch an Olympic lead-up competition. In the good old days of the print magazine business, our accommodations were at the world-famous Stein Erikson Lodge and the rest of the weekend followed suit in alpine luxury.

Lynn has quite the different life now, having opened up a bar and café in Gallatin Gateway, just southwest of Bozeman, called The Jump. Once a strip club, The Jump still has dancing but not on poles. She herself is a competitive ballroom dancer. With regular live music, locals and tourists alike, along with students from Montana State University in Bozeman, can be found on the dance floor nightly for some country western two-step and line dancing. They offer dance lessons too. Read More

PADEL HAUS

It’s hard to miss the pickleball craze that has swept the country in the last few years. Nearly everywhere you look, courts have popped up in parks, schoolyards, driveways, and other open spaces. CityPickle took over Wollman Rink in New York City’s Central Park this summer with 14 courts.

But a few weeks ago I was strolling along the waterfront in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and I saw four packed padel courts in Domino Park at a place called Padel Haus. While pickleball may be the fastest growing sport in America with over 36 million participants (Association of Pickleball Professionals), padel is actually the fastest growing sport in the world with over 25 million players (International Federation of Padel).

Padel is like a hybrid of tennis and squash. The sport originated in 1969 in Acapulco, Mexico. Like pickleball, it is played with a paddle, but one that is thicker, perforated, and with a slightly different shape. Unlike pickleball, the ball is not plastic, but a tennis ball. The court is bigger, roughly half the size of a tennis court, and enclosed with glass walls. What makes the sport really fun is you can play the ball off the back wall, adding a new and challenging element to the game. Like pickleball, padel is quick and easy to learn, making it as fun and addictive of a sport to play. Read More

Photographs by Evan Kay

Some people go to the mall to shop, others to eat, some go the movies, or to hang out with their friends. At the American Dream mall in East Rutherford, New Jersey you can ski and snowboard too at Big Snow, North America’s only indoor, year-round, real-snow ski and snowboard facility.

About 20 minutes from Penn Station without traffic, Big Snow is situated across from Met Life stadium, home of the New York Giants and New York Jets, in the middle of the mall. Just get off the escalator and there it is, alongside other stores and attractions. They make fresh snow and groom the hill every day, where the slogan goes “Every day is a Snow Day”.
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FIELD STATION

AutoCamp has just introduced Field Station, their latest foray into revolutionizing the camping experience. AutoCamp was founded in 2013 and has redefined outdoor lodging by bringing uniquely modern hospitality to some of America’s most beautiful locations. Accommodations include Airstream suites and luxury tents in such destinations as Yosemite National Park, the Russian River Valley, Cape Cod, the Catskills, and Joshua Tree National Park.

With boutique-style amenities and mid-century modern design, AutoCamp invites people to experience nature and camping in a whole new way. Launching early 2023 in Moab, Utah, Field Station offers a more affordable option with the same modern design and outdoor spirit, in a traditional hotel footprint. Field Station is upcycling and renovating existing lodging and motels in prime outdoor destinations to provide inclusive, supportive, and sustainable basecamps for exploring nearby natural areas. Read More

There are few images more evocative of summer than that of a Sunfish sailboat lazily cruising around a lake or bay — with its cheerfully striped triangle sail, topped off with the black silhouette of its namesake fish. If you went to summer camp or grew up near a flat body of water, chances are you learned how to sail on a Sunfish or at least were along for the ride. The Sunfish has been around since 1952 and continues to be one the most popular sailboats for both beginners and experienced sailers alike.

The Sunfish is distinguished by its simplicity, which makes it one of the easiest boats on which to learn how to sail, for both kids and adults alike. Its small size and single “lateen” sail (a triangular sail mounted at an angle on the mast), with its basic two line rigging, make it an easy boat to set up and set sail. Upgrades can be added for competitive sailing, of which the Sunfish is in fact a popular class of racing.

Sailing basics, like learning how to tack and jibe and use the wind, are easy to teach on a small boat. Being so low on the water, its size makes it very responsive too. Says Susan Koehler, one of the founders and owners of The Dinghy Shop in Amityville, Long Island in New York, and one of the largest Sunfish dealers on the East Coast, “With the Sunfish you can feel the water, feel the wind, and feel the response of the boat.”

Part of the fun of being so low in the water is on a hot summer day you’re sure to get wet — be it a refreshing splash or a likely dunk, if like this editor you decide to take one out for a sail for the first time since summer camp. Yes, the Sunfish can be easy to tip as we did, but they are easy to right as well and a good laugh usually ensues. Though I was acting as first mate, after 30 plus years my skipper’s sailing basics returned quickly as we jibed, tacked and sailed our way home — with me gleefully leaning off the side of the keeling boat, laughing and smiling just as I’d done as a kid.

A Sunfish is still what summer memories are made of.

 
It was very windy last Sunday afternoon on The Great South Bay in Bellport, Long Island, and out in full force were the fleet of  “Opti” sailboats, or “Optimists” as they are formally called. Optis are the most sailed single class boat. They are used to teach kids to sail and thus are also the biggest youth racing class of sailboat. While younger sailors begin in Optimists, competitive sailors usually continue to race them up to 14 or 15 years of age. Due to their inherent stability, robust construction and relatively small sails, these little boats can handle winds of up to 30 knots and so seemingly can these impressive young sailors!

Formed in 1999, the Bellport Bay Sailing Foundation teaches the sport of sailing to children and adults; promotes an awareness of the long and rich tradition of sailing on Bellport Bay; and supports the preservation of the environment and nautical heritage of the community.

   YOUR EDITOR VENTURING OUT ON A BARK COMMANDER AST PRONE PADDLEBOARD

 
While the popularity of stand up paddleboarding has exploded, a new offshoot of the sport has arrived, which is actually where SUP got its start. Prone paddleboards are now what many of the pros use on the SUP race circuit, and this trend has begun to trickle down to the recreational paddler. Designed to be paddled while lying flat or sitting on your knees, prone paddleboards are like bullets — sexy and fast! No paddle is required, nor is there standing involved. Typically 12 or 14ft, these boards slice through the water with ease and make chop feel like glass. Prone paddleboarding delivers a great endurance workout and can also improve your surfing by strengthening those paddling muscles needed to catch waves.
 

BARK COMMANDER PRO ELITE

One of the biggest names in SUP, Bark Paddleboards and namesake surfboard shaper Joe Bark, manufactures some of the top prone boards as well.  Shown above is the Bark Commander Pro Elite ($1999/2249), the carbon fiber production model of the winning board for the last seven years of Molokai-2-Oahu — the 32-mile island-to-island World Championship race in Hawaii. Up top, and what I demoed at Island Surf in Westhampton Beach, is the less expensive and more durable Bark Commander AST ($1499/$1699) — ready for those who want to go out and have some fun trying a new summer sport. Ideal for both fitness and racing, the AST features comfortable knee wells and a built in chest rise, so you can max out every stroke. It has a sleek matte finish too, for a cool look both in and out of the water.

Top photo by Ally Greenberg / Swimsuit by Milly Cabana