Industry News
If you were paying close attention at the World Championship’s opening event yesterday, the women’s Combined event, you may have noticed Team USA skiers in a new race suit. US Ski & Snowboard, in partnership with Kappa and Protect Our Winters (‘POW’), equipped the Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team with a special race suit for the 2023 FIS Alpine Ski World Championships held from February 6-19, 2023, in Courchevel and Méribél, France.
Climate change is an existential threat to the future of skiing. In the 2022/23 season, ski teams worldwide have seen the devastating effects of a warming climate with canceled races due to lack of snow, tracks made entirely of machine-made snow, and athletes racing in 50-degree temperatures in the middle of winter. For snowsports athletes, a warming winter is the single biggest threat to the future of their sport.
US Ski & Snowboard partnered with POW, the leading non-profit organization advocating for systemic solutions to climate change, and Kappa, the team uniform partner, to bring to life a unique vision of climate change on the athletes’ race suits.
“From the initial vision and concept to the product in hand, we at U.S. Ski & Snowboard, POW and Kappa have created a suit that represents and brings attention to a warming climate. Although a race suit is not solving climate change, it is a move to continue the conversation and show that U.S. Ski & Snowboard and its athletes are committed to being a part of the future.”
– Sophie Goldschmidt, President and CEO of U.S. Ski & Snowboard
The race suit is designed by Kappa and produced in Italy with 100% Italian fabrics in a factory certified in terms of environmental sustainability. The race suit features large chunks of icebergs sailing in the ocean, based on a satellite photograph of an expanse of ice breaking due to high temperatures. The design draws attention to the importance of taking a global view of the present-day situation. “We are proud, as the Official Technical Sponsor of US Ski & Snowboard, to be part of this initiative in support of POW and its fight against the climate change crisis,” says Lorenzo Boglione, Vice Chairman of BasicNet S.p.A.
The suit also bears a POW logo on the neck, showcasing the importance of the organization in US Ski & Snowboard and Kappa’s fight against the warming climate, as well as an illustration of the POW snowflake logo on the leg.
“POW and U.S. Ski & Snowboard are aligned on the urgency of uniting the snowsports industry and community on meaningful advocacy on climate. This World Championships suit designed by Kappa makes a statement that athletes, brands and winter enthusiasts worldwide can get behind. By coming together, we can educate and mobilize our snowsports community to push for the clean energy technologies and policies that will most swiftly reduce emissions and protect the places we live and the lifestyles we love.”
– POW Executive Director Mario Molina
“As a POW Alliance member for the last few years, it’s really cool to partner with the Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team through POW to wear these Kappa speed suits for the 2023 FIS World Championships. These will help bring awareness to climate change and melting glaciers and shrinking snowpacks around the globe and how that affects our sport directly. We’ve had so many canceled races this year so it’s definitely happening in real time as we speak.”
– Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team racer Travis Ganong
The Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team will wear the suits throughout the World Championships, and afterward, the suits will be sold at auction, with all proceeds going to POW. What a great way to nab a piece of history and support a worthy cause!
