Designed to last: our concrete choices

By maximizing the strength and lifespan of your gear, we aim for a double impact: greater technical reliability over time, and a smaller environmental footprint through longer-lasting products.

Prepare for the unexpected by designing repairable products

Durability also means the ability to handle the unexpected, so we design repairability into our products from the very first sketches. This allows you to replace the most common wear parts, such as backpack buckles or zipper sliders.

The goal? By making our gear stronger and repairable, we naturally reduce the need for replacements, helping to conserve resources and slow down waste production.

Field testing to assess actual wear

When designing your ice axes, ropes, or tents with eco-conscious principles in mind, we rely above all on real-world testing. Our obsession: test, and test again, to methodically measure and prove the durability of our products.

- In the lab

Ce simulate the harshest conditions: accelerated aging, granite abrasion, extreme UV exposure, frost, repeated loads, and tear resistance tests.W

- In the field

Our open-air laboratory, the Alps, allows us to put dozens of prototypes through their paces each season, alongside our engineers, athletes, and mountain guide partners.

- During durability missions

Experienced users push our prototypes to their absolute limits on high-intensity, multi-week expeditions.

Timeless colors that stand the test of time

We believe durability is also about aesthetics. If you really love your mountain gear, you won’t want to replace it like you would a shirt. Our answer: simple, understated gear that doesn’t go out of style.

Colors

We mostly choose timeless shades strong enough to resist the swings of fast-moving fashion and to blend with the mountain landscape. Whenever possible, we favor low-impact dyeing processes, such as dope-dyeing, which use less water and energy.

Long-life collections

Our products don’t follow seasons; they follow generations. We evolve them gradually and continuously based on user feedback, without succumbing to short-lived trends. Fewer new collections mean better quality control, less impulse buying, and ideally, a smaller environmental footprint.

An imperfect but committed model

We know that, while our expertise has already evolved to reduce our impact, many challenges still lie ahead on the winding path of sustainability. Our commitment is simple: to keep improving.

Moving production closer to home

We are exploring opportunities for European manufacturing whenever it makes sense, this is a path we’re only beginning to trace. Beyond metal products made in Chamonix (ice axes, carabiners, and crampons), most of our trekking boots are produced in Europe, and the MT900 UltraLight backpack is made in the Czech Republic.

Analysis for ongoing improvement

We carefully study returned products to identify any defects and implement corrective actions. We let our data speak, monitoring product performance through metrics like overall return rates, customer ratings, and reviews. We also track key features over time, for example, how a backpack’s waterproofing or carrying comfort holds up after several years of use.