Two years ago Amplid co-founders Anian Thrainer and Peter Bauer set-out to create the greenest skis and snowboards on the market. This week the Amplid Green Light Project; an on-going R&D mission with the aim of finding high performance alternatives to polluting materials, was awarded the 2012 ECO Award by ISPO’s select committee of industry aficionados.
For the 2012/13 season the Amplid Green Light product range will include a ski, a snowboard and a telescopic pole all manufactured with greener materials but with superior riding performance.
Eco minus the bullshit.
Green Light Q&A with Peter Bauer & Anian Thrainer
What is the Amplid Green Light Project? And why is Amplid going down the eco route?
The Amplid Green Light Project is an ongoing process where we are trying new ecologically responsible materials and techniques in our manufacturing. Every day greener and greener material solutions are being created and we want to make use of them. We feel as an industry, we are using and abusing nature to ride and to create goods; the least we can do is try to minimize the ecological footprint we are leaving.
What will the AGL range consist of for the 2012/13 season?
For the coming season we will be offering a freeride snowboard in three lengths, based on our Creamer shape. On the skiing side of things we are pressing a fat ski with our Lexington mold and adding a telescopic freeride ski pole made out of flax-fibers to the line.
What are the key eco features in the range?
We dismantled and analyzed every single material going into our products and put a lot of time into researching what parts could be produced in a greener way - from the topsheet based on ricinus-castor oil to recycled ABS-sidewalls and sintered bases. One of the highlights was finding a better resin which is manufactured from 60% agricultural material and creates zero toxic byproducts and requires less energy to harden. We have also been working on a core consisting of FSC wood with weight reducing inserts of foam, manufactured from recycled PET bottles. We bolstered the foam with flax-fiber stringers for more pop and vibration dampening. In the not too distant future the entire core will be manufactured from this featherweight foam and Flax fiber composite.
Really light and durable, we’re stoked to be bringing such green products to the market with absolutely no compromise to performance.
Why is AGL equipment any different to other “eco-friendly” ski/snowboard equipment on the market?
Amplid isn’t interested in creating products that only look green. Importing tropical wood veneers or flying bamboo sidewalls across the planet is the opposite of what we are trying to achieve. We’d rather look into recycled materials which satisfy our technological expectation, reduce the transportation mileage of all materials built into our boards and skis and make sure that what we are creating REALLY makes a difference to the world. Our aim is to eventually create our entire line from high performance, environmentally superior processes and materials!
How long has Amplid been working on the Green Light Project?
We started with the first ideas maybe two years ago, but didn’t feel like releasing anything to the market until the products moved beyond prototype status. This is where we are at now.
What does winning the 2012 ISPO Eco Award mean to Amplid?
The judging panel at the ECO-awards is made-up of industry leaders in production, marketing and retail, who are at the top of their game. For these professionals to take a very deep and critical look at the Amplid Green Light Project, its materials and processes, and decide that it’s worthy of the top spot makes us extremely proud of what we have achieved so far. We’re excited that this is just the beginning.
We heard rumors of some early release AGL goods hitting the stores this winter?
Yes, around mid-February we will release a limited quantity of the board and the ski, however these will be created in one length and availability will be scarce. Riders who are interested should check with their local Amplid dealer or visit our website www.amplid.com !
No comments:
Post a Comment