OUT OF LOVE FOR THE MOUNTAINS
A company that lives for the mountains has to work with people who lives for the mountains. The founding of the SALEWA alpineXtrem Team in 2005 put that philosophy into practice. Its members include the most formidable personalities in international alpinism. It is led by Christoph Hainz. As ambassadors from the mountaineering world, which is characterised by respect and cooperation, every member of the alpineXtrem Team carries the SALEWA brand and its core values to the rock face, the snow fields, the granite ridges and the climbing halls of the world. And like any company, they’re not only testing themselves and their own physical fitness, they’re also testing our products. They do this under the harshest of conditions and without compromise. Their feedback flows directly to our design team, to support the process of continuously improving clothing and equipment. That’s way SALEWA customers can be certain they are getting well-engineered and highly functional products. Climbing is constantly evolving as a sport. SALEWA is aware of this and has extended its alpineXtrem Team 2009 to include the discipline of “freeski mountaineering”: long, steep ascents that are technically, mentally and physically demanding, that require professional rope and securing techniques, lead the experienced climber to a high alpine terrain. Then the descent from here is made by means of the wildest and most free form of skiing. Davo Karnièar is the man who represents this sport more than anyone else. In October 2000, the Slovenian was the first to achieve a complete ski descent from the summit of Mount Everest down to the base camp at the Khumbu Icefall. He leads the freeski mountaineering team, whose experience and skills directly influenced the products specially designed for this discipline. And he and his colleagues Martin “McFly” Winkler and Björn Heregger were delighted to have on board the first female member of the team. We will have more details shortly. 