Click on photo for SLIDESHOW

K2 Sports, formerly based on Vashon Island, now in a quarter-mile long Georgetown building with over 250 employees, many from West Seattle, shot a high-energy ad, complete with smoke machines costumed band and audience in ski gear to go worldwide this fall and winter. The photo shoot utilized the Easy Street Records Cafe at the Alaska Junction Wednesday night, May 18.

Employees and professional skiers sponsored by K2 Sports crammed together and rocked the house as former ski-pro Stefan Stankalla crowd-surfed with skis on. Many passers-by stopped to ask 'Who is the band tonight?' as the music, and participants, spilled out on California Ave.

"I was born in Germany," said Stankalla, who must be good as he has his own Wiki page. He lives in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a mountainous region in Bavaria. "I came here for the shoot. I was a professional skier. Now I'm working for K2 doing ski development, mountain performance skis, and doing clinic work and sales promotion."

The company, located at 4201 6th Ave South, two blocks east of Costco, has a newly-released 2011/2012 catalogue. On its cover is a moody photo of the record shop taken on a rainy night from the center of the street crosswalk. The image has been altered so that instead of "Easy Street Records" the sign glows with the K2 Sports emblem, and the K2 Fresh Tracks Records name. This done with the cooperation of Easy Street.

In addition to the photo shoot, five final contestants appeared in colorful ski attire who have been competing for the prize of free skis for life. A contestant, 18 years old, flown in from Austria, won. The emcee quipped that the prize was worth "thirty thousand dollars, or one hundred and twenty thousand Euros." Those amounts kept changing throughout the event.

Helping run the event at Easy Street was West Seattle resident Mike Gutt, Global Marketing Manger, K2 Skis. We featured him last summer in an article about his company's Special Olympics sponsorship where donors rappelled off Rainier Tower downtown, which you can read about here:

"Easy Street Records is an iconic location in West Seattle,:" said Gutt. "It fits our brand in terms of the personality, the authenticity of what we have going on. It speaks K2 as much as it does records to us. We look for venues that showcase a great wealth of energy and authenticity. We're shooting our ad campaign for 2011/12 that will be seen in all countries."