In recent years, we’ve seen governments and the private sector make greater efforts to look after the planet through the use of more natural, sustainable, traceable and renewable practices.
There’s many examples within the ski industry of brands that are leading the way globally and are becoming the new standard for green manufacturing.
The coastal fields of Normandy in northern France might seem like a strange place to go for a material that improves alpine ski performance. But when the R&D team at Salomon’s Annecy Design Center went searching for new materials that would help deliver better ski-to-snow contact and exceptional dampening qualities—all in a lightweight package—that’s exactly where they landed.
Salomon’s patented C/FX Superfiber reinforcement layer is designed to combine all-nautral Flax and Carbon Fiber to sustainably provide dampening and vibration absorption.
“Our goal is to let skiers have more fun on the mountain. We took our patented C/FX technology to a new level to provide the power that you need for groomed slopes and the dampening needed when skiing in mixed snow.” says Scott Lumsden, Salomon product marketing manager, Alpine Skis & Bindings.
In this video they show how they’ve combined all-natural flax fibers and Salomon’s design expertise to produce the new C/FX technology found in Salomon’s ski range.
Wanting to help improve animal welfare throughout the down industry, Patagonia collaborated with industry stakeholders globally to pioneer the Traceable Down Standard which means they trace the source of their down from parent farm to apparel factory to ensure the birds are not force-fed or live-plucked.
Their process audits their supply chain, end-to-end and has set new standards for the industry and now has people asking…is your down cruelty free?
Australian company Le Bent has been fine tuning a unique and innovative blend of Merino and Bamboo. Merino is an entirely natural fibre, grown all year round making it completely renewable. It regulates temperature by absorbing and releasing temperature and has anti-bacterial properties making it odourless! When combined with highly sustainable Bamboo, the fabric becomes soft, silky and durable. It’s also more suitable for those with allergies and irritations to 100% merino due to the silk like quality of the Bamboo.
And then there’s companies that recognise that to ski well into the future, we are dependent on Mother Nature and we need to look after our environment.
XTM has taken steps to measure and take responsibility for the impact that their business has on the earth’s long term liveability. So far they have offset 8000 tonnes, accounting for 100% of their carbon footprint since 2010.
Their carbon emission off-set investments are designed to fast track the development of clean energy technologies that replace the burning of fossil fuels. They invest purposefully in the places where most of the emissions from their production are made, currently being Hydro and Solar power projects in China.
