The first time I went skiing, I almost broke both my ski pole and nearly my bones. I was a teenager desperate to look cool. When my dormmate asked, “Want to ski with me? I’ve learned skiing since childhood. We’ll have a lot of fun after school!”, I swallowed my fear and said yes.
A day later, after a short chairlift ride, I was in top of the slope Googling “how to ski for beginners”. My attempt to brake involved holding on my pole firmly trying to engraved to frozen ice. It was not nearly enough, I tried again by jamming my ski pole tip to the front of my right ski. Not remembering much detail, I went aerial and nearly landed in the concrete parking lot. The ski pole was totaled, but luckly i was intact.
chairlift ride
That disaster should’ve discouraged me from going skiing. Instead, moving to Colorado made me fall in love with skiing. Resorts transformed from mere bunny hill to temple of expert terrain and deep front range power. Downhill racing became a meditation, feeling simultaneously being accepted and challenged. It was the golden years of ikon and epic pass before they become monstrous and consumed the almost entire ski industry.
Explore Gears was built by me and a group of college students and friends who went ski together. In the frozen moments between chairlift debates and I-70 traffic jams we discussed the products’ intricate design details. Our manifesto scribbled on a lift ticket: Gear should amplify joy, not complicate it.
3D Roots’ Skeleton
Three winters ago, we began dissecting and test ride major brand’s equipment. After successfully snapped a almost a dozen poles and had to repair a few touring bindings. We felt the industry had prioritized Instagram aesthetics over user experience.
This winter, After a full season of R&D and iterations our winter gear will meet the snow. We innovatively re engineered ski poles with everything we learned building highend composite trekking poles. Please stay tuned for 25/26 ski season.
