His recent 13th-place finish in the World Championships is the best ever for an American. John is the fastest American ski mountaineering racer. The evolution from baggy and breathable ski jackets to lightweight yet waterproof racing shells reflects the growth of Pete and John as skiers. But from a technical standpoint, there were days when we were standing in rain and days when it was sunny and bright, and their pants and jackets worked well in all conditions,” said Ram Mikulas, the president of the U.S. The striking race kits - resembling a Captain America suit - were wildly popular with both the athletes and spectators at the race, which is considered the Tour de France of ski mountaineering. Ski Mountaineering Team on its recent record-setting trip to the Pierra Menta Ski Mountaineering World Championships. Strafe provided the amply vented jackets and race suits to the 25-athlete U.S. ![]() The company’s latest designs include roomy, durable freeride jackets, snugger, more breathable softshell alpine fits, and extremely breathable active suits for mountaineering. John won his first Highlands Inferno in Strafe’s one-piece Sickbird Suit, named after the freeskiing contest award for the gnarliest line, an award John won in 2007 in a Snowmass competition. Today, the Sickbird and one jacket design have blossomed into more than a dozen lines, each with a specific purpose like freeskiing or ski mountaineering racing.įive years ago the brothers forged a deal with Polartec to layer the company’s stretchable, breathable yet water-shedding Neoshell membranes and insulation inside their jackets and pants. You don’t need to leave at dawn to get up there either,” John said. Within a lunch break, you can bump through entirely different climates and different geography. “Highlands Bowl is an authentic testing ground. But they lived to ski and had Highlands in their backyard. John and Pete weren’t trained designers or engineers. The test gear - 57 jackets, 57 pants and 28 of the company’s signature one-piece suits - hit shelves in 2010. John, laid up the next winter with a broken back, hatched a plan to design ski wear that looked and functioned better than what he was used to wearing and appealed to a younger audience at an affordable price point. They saw jackets made by European outfits like Norrona and Sweet Protection - options. Then, as seniors, they went to Europe for a spring break ski holiday. “For a while we didn’t realize there was another option,” John said. The crew would bang out a few sweaty laps of the bowl and then some resort laps. It’s nuts and you need a lot of protection but you are also working your butt off on the climb,” John said. When storms roll in up there, it can hit 70 mph winds. “We got obsessed with hiking the bowl and it really exposed some serious flaws in the gear we had. ![]() All weekend, they hiked and skied Highlands Bowl. Every Thursday they hauled up to Aspen, returning to classes early Monday. In four years, they never spent a winter weekend in Boulder. Those early days were in the mid-2000s, when the Gastons were atypical students at CU. Saturday, March 25th 2023 Home Page Close Menu
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |