Greenville, SC – For 2013 Wave Sport’s whitewater kayaker roster welcomes new athletes, Max Ovett, Sam Ovett, Shane Groves and Chris Bear. Returners include Tyler Curtis, Tanya Faux and Haley Mills. Athletes from Team Wave Sport will be competing in a number of competitions across the nation, including the GoPro Mountain Games and the 2013 World Championships, among others.

Greenville, SC – Growth in kayak angling and related boat sales have prompted Wilderness Systems to more than double its fishing pro staff from 15 to 33 professional anglers. The pro staff contribute to boat design, represent the brand at tournaments, assist in retail trainings and help with marketing efforts. Pro staff bios can be found at wildernesssystems.com.

Ogden, UT – Mark McCambridge has been appointed USA outdoor brand manager for Amer Sports Winter and Outdoor Americas. His responsibilities will include adapting global brand strategies to the U.S. market, as well as strengthening alignment with product, digital, community marketing, in-store excellence and public relations teams. With more than eight years of international experience in the outdoor industry, McCambridge most recently coordinated public relations for Scott Sports.

Boulder, CO – Effective immediately, Craig Heisner has been appointed President of Newton Running. He will be responsible for overseeing the marketing, branding and sales for all current product lines. The sales and marketing departments at the brand will come under his management. He will report directly to Cofounder and CEO Jerry Lee.

Heisner comes to the position with over two decades of marketing and sales experience for leading athletic footwear and apparel brands such as New Balance, Reebok and Brooks Sports. Most recently he was Vice President of Marketing, Sales and Product Merchandising at Li-Ning and led the Chinese company’s introduction into the U.S. market.

Fresno, CA – The non-profit trade association American Pistachio Growers now has professional snowboarder Jeremy Jones on its athlete ambassador team. The APG’s ambassador team includes the U.S.A. Men’s and Women’s Water Polo teams and Miss California.

Boulder, CO – Spyder Active Sports, Inc. has renewed its three-year deal with professional skier and ski mountaineer Chris Davenport and has also signed a three-year deal with skier and model Sierra Quitiquit as part of its athlete team.

Davenport has endorsed Spyder since 2010, while Quitiquit has been recognized as a global fashion model and leads an ad campaign for American Eagle Outfitters.

Racine, WI – Key executive appointments have been made within Johnson Outdoors Gear (JOG) and Watercraft divisions to expand its presence with specialty retail. Paul Johnson has been with Johnson Outdoors for twelve years and is the new senior director of sales, JOG and Watercraft. Chris Lussier moves into the position of senior regional/international sales manager for JOG/Jetboil. Gregg Gunderman is now the Eastern regional sales manager for Watercraft, and Jeff Cunningham the Western regional sales manager for Watercraft and JOG/Jetboil key accounts.

Industry veteran, Bob Rief—formerly the COO of Boardworks, the SUP brand—returns from retirement to take the reigns as CEO of OTZshoes. In his retirement, Rief missed the pace of business and was drawn to the creative accomplishments of OTZshoes product designer, Ludavic Malmoux, whose expertise includes helping launch Salomon's running shoe category.

The OTZshoes brand owes its roots to a 3,300 year-old naturally preserved mummy, commonly referred to as Otzi, that was discovered on a glacier in the Tyolean Alps. The man's footwear survived, and fashion designer Ludavic Malmoux was inspired by what he thought was an amazingly functional piece of gear. He combined the 3,300 year-old footwear concept with a modern, cork foot bed tech story, and OTZshoes was bron.

Since its inception in 2009, OTZshoes' retail base spans across the outdoor, comfort and boutique channels, representing over 500 US doors.