The founder of a new Swiss ski is hoping to kickstart a revolution to reverse the overstocking and overproduction habits of an industry heavy on CO2 emissions.

The ski brand — called ‘Simply.’ — is the brainchild of Laurent De Martin, a freeskier from Valais, who wants young skiers to “build new dreams” and aspire to a more environmentally friendly way of enjoying the mountains.

Simply. skis will be produced from traceable, renewable materials using 100% renewable energy in the innovative First Track Lab in Val de Bagnes, near Verbier. With the aim of keeping everything as local as possible from start to finish, 95% of materials used in the skis will be sourced from Europe including traceable poplar wood cores from Slovenia with hopes to use paulownia from Italy and Spain. The ski tips are made from recycled wine and champagne corks, which work brilliantly to reduce vibration.

There are currently three skis in the Simply. range and the brand plans to produce only 1,000 for next winter — co-founder Laurent’s vision is to drastically reduce waste by making skis on demand.

First Track Lab was founded in 2018 has been working in research and development for ski brands including Rossignol and Decathlon, and co-founders Selim Abdi and Yoann Chapel jumped at the chance to work on Simply. throughout 2022 with Laurent, bringing its skis to the market in a record time of just seven months.

Skier with ski

Laurent De Martin with his distinctive Simply. ski The Recreation

“Our goal with First Track Lab is to create change in the ski industry to make it more local and responsible,” says Yoann. “We will only be making Simply. skis on demand — over-production is a big issue in the ski industry, for example this winter ski brands have all ended up shipping their skis to the USA where the snow has been good, at vastly discounted prices, just to get rid of them.”

Simply. skis have a distinctive asymmetrical design with a fishtail inspired from surfing. There are three types — a piste ski called The Carver which is 81-85mm at the waist, a freeski called The Recreation with a double rocker and either 96 or 100mm underfoot and a fatter powder ski that has yet to be named.

Laurent explains to EcoSki: “There will be minimalist, timeless branding on the skis and the same design every year so we don’t have ‘this year’s or last year’s ski’ scenario which creates waste. Each ski contains an NFC (Near-Field Communication) tag that allows us to trace them from production to their end-of-life so we know exactly how each ski is performing.”

“I’m so over the green-washing marketing speak from big brands, and the damaging buy-buy-buy, more-more-more attitude we have,” says Laurent. “Simply. will be fully transparent and give people the knowledge and skills to keep their skis in use for as long as possible — we will teach people how to make the top sheet last longer, for example.

“The conditions are changing in the mountains and we have to accept it and be creative with what we have now — I grew up dreaming of heliskiing in Alaska but that’s not sustainable any longer and we have to give kids new dreams.”

The skis will retail at 989CHF in Switzerland and First Track Lab and Simply. aims to open regional production hubs in France, Italy and the UK. The poplar wood from Spain and Italy is processed in Germany ensuring the journey for materials is short. Marketing will be kept to a minimum so that growth of the brand is organic and the skis are available in Europe through Simply.’s online shop and in Switzerland both online and via retail partners to minimise carbon emissions.

What’s more, EcoSki’s Abi Butcher had a test of The Recreation in Verbier recently and we’d like to report that it skis like a dream. Lively, responsive and stable — she loved it.

Check the skis out for yourself at simplyrc.co

Laurent De Martin, founder of the new Swiss ski brand Simply. wants to change buyer habits and encourage young skiers to “build new dreams”