The Shirt Off Her Back

It all started, in rather straightforward fashion, as a promotion gimmick based on a promotion gimmick. The K2 Corporation of Vashon Island, Washington, manufactures fiberglass skis, which it prides itself on advertising in offbeat style: G. Washington advises from a dollar bill, "Don't take any wooden skis." Another company brain storm is a T-shirt emblazoned with the K2 logo, available by mail for four dollars. When Sun Valley sponsored an Airline Interline Week last season, somebody dreamed up the idea of a contest wherein girls would dance, sing or generally gyrate for the title of "best-looking matched set in a K2 T-shirt." Trouble was, to the promoters' dismay and the spectators' delight, the first contestant chose to reveal her qualifications for best matched set sans a K2 T-shirt. From then on, through later contests at Aspen and Mammoth Mountain, things got even less inhibited--as is obvious on the next two pages. K2 is cooling it this winter--tooling up to make a new line of camping gear. We'll predict, however, there'll be no contest to uncover the best matched pair in a K2 sleeping bag.