Winter has begun and to kick off the season, several vendors from the Sacramento area brought last year’s winter merchandise to the annual SWAP hosted by the ski club at Sacramento State.

“It’s a great event, first to raise money for the ski club and second, to kick off the season,” said Steve Nutter, manager of Togo’s, who helped out the event by feeding volunteers and vendors.

98 Rock helped to promote the event to its Sacramento audience.

“98 Rock scratches the ski club’s back and the ski club scratches 98 Rock’s back. We get exposure by promoting the event on the air,” said Haitham Bisharat, intern at 98 Rock and a communication studies major.

The doors opened at 11:00 a.m., but some people were in line for an hour before going in. “We need stuff,” said Ted Goodman, a community member. “We were here last year and you get pretty much anything you need. The good stuff goes first. You’ve got to make good use of the first hour and then it’s slim pickings.”

The gym was filled with snowboards, skis, pants, jackets, gloves, boots; all the equipment you would want to start your winter sports.

Eric Ratinoff, a student at Sac State, said he was here to look for a jacket.

“A really sexy, colorful jacket. I want this jacket for my girlfriend,” Ratinoff said.

Dave Sher, owner of Mount & Surf, helped many buyers get a good snowboard and boots. “The boots are the most important because if your feet are uncomfortable, then you will be miserable all day,” Sher said.

Besides the great equipment and excellent help, resorts from Tahoe put up their booths and gave away weekend packages to their resorts.

“This is one of the only shows in Sac,” said Emily Bacher of Diamond Peak. “We are here to promote our great snow and lowest ticket prices.”

“The value is that there are limited shows putting together promotional value. The resorts handing out tickets is a good formula for success,” said Mike Delact of Kirkwood.