Beeep. Beeep. Beeep.

Finally, he picked up the phone.
“Don’t sign a new ski contract!” I shouted.
“So…” he started.
“Yes!” I interrupted.
“The others?” he wondered.
“Onboard,” I confirmed.
“So we’re doing it?” he asked just because he wanted to hear me say it.
“We’re doing it,” I said just because I knew he wanted to hear me say it. “Sunday, eleven o’clock, the usual spot.” I continued and hung up.

“Can we open up a window or something?”

The office was tiny but we were used to squeezing.
The conversation was about how. And why. Anyone could, in theory, make skis. So why were we?
“We have to make better skis, the best skis, the skis we’ve always wanted to ski” was one answer.
“I won’t do it unless we’re one hundred percent dedicated to make it as sustainable as we possibly can” was another.
Everyone nodded along in agreement. But by the third answer the nodding stopped.
“But we can’t just make skis. Skiing has never been about skis. It’s about the culture. Our culture, the culture we grew up in. We owe it so much and we have to try and give back to it and keep it growing, evolving and stuff.”
The nodding stopped because it had turned into something else. A sort of headbanging. Violent, euphoric, f**k-yeah-that’s-right headbanging.

Epilogue

We didn't have a name that day, but that’s when the ski company 1000 was born. Or 1000 the culture company if you will. Because while we work harder then we’ve ever worked to make the skis we’ve always wanted to ski, the real reason we’re doing this is to take over an industry run by big corporations and give back the power to the ones who truly keep it alive. The skiers.
So, whenever there’s a decision to make there’s one thing that echoes in the back of our minds. A lodestar, a motto, a rule that helps us stay on the right track.

Keep the culture moving.

Design

“That looks cool, I want that!” is probably one of the most common thoughts in the world. So, naturally, most ski companies drops a new graphic every year to make people buy a new pair even if they don’t actually need one. Great for profit, bad for climate. Over-consumption is a huge driver for climate change and we don’t want any part in it. That’s why we make red skis and red skis only. New year? Same color. New model? Same color. It hurts sometimes, because of course we get so, so many ideas on graphics. But it’s a good pain. “Why red though?” you might wonder. Why not? It’s nice. It’s the color of love. And just like the skis it POPS

Manufacturing

Maybe you’ve been to Åre, maybe you’ve not. Either way, it’s probably the Swedish capital of skiing and definitely the place we make our skis. Åre Ski Factory has won awards for being themselves – a top-tier facility with more than 40 years of experience. We’re pretty demanding when it comes to quality and sustainability and there’s no way we would make our skis anywhere else. As the young kid on the block we call the ski industry, we can’t stress enough how much it means to us to work with such an institution. We thought we knew skis and sustainability, but thanks to everyone at Åre Ski Factory we now know a lot more.

Social responsibility

There are so many ways to take responsibility and we try our best to do it all. Both in the background and in the public eye. All our tier 1 suppliers are European companies, which means that they’re all under the European Union’s strict worker rights framework that ensures a healthy, safe and well-adapted work environment as well as a strong data protection. We’re also collaborating with the Winter Sports Network to map out and ensure that the same goes throughout the whole supply chain. As a bootstrapped company started by six white guys, we’re well aware of the journey that lies ahead of us – and the ski industry as a whole – to make our small part of the world a more diverse and inclusive place. Our first step is to support GRAB, a community of female skiers that’s doing awesome work to create a platform for more girls and women to excel in park skiing. If you have (or know) of other projects that supports inclusivity in skiing, we’d love to hear about it.

Community

We’re founded by X-Games medalists, awarded ski film makers and long-time professional skiers. But that’s just a resume. We’re really founded by people who loves skiing. Not only the act of it, but everything around it. The people, the places, the fact that you can meet a stranger on a beach on the other side of the world and feel like friends just because you found out that you’re both skiers. It’s the culture we grew up in and we want to do everything we can to give back. We’re still in the starting blocks, but our idea is to invest in our riders, community events, films and other projects that we see creates value for the culture. And we ask you, our customers, to be a part of our journey and tell us where you think we should go as a brand.

Sustainability

Sustainability wasn’t really a subject in the 90’s or the 00’s, but we know a lot more these days. And the best thing about being a fairly new company is that we don’t have any old habits to get rid of. We can make it right from the beginning. Our mission is to be the most sustainable ski brand out there and it’s not one we take lightly. We have signed the Race to Zero initiative, which means that we’re committed to cut our emissions by half in 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. And since we’re still a tiny player on a big field, we’re thrilled to also be a part of the Winter Sports Network which includes 95% of the ski and snowboard industry and is a network where wel share best practices, unify our voice towards suppliers and do everything we can to set an example for other industries.
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To learn more about our work follow #1000sustainability.
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For a more in-depth read our sustainability page >