Mammut’s Qogir Soft Shell Wins ISPO, OutDoor Awards

Mammut, the Swiss quality providers of alpine gear and apparel, was recently named the winner of ISPO Sport & Style’s Performance Award, and also the INDUSTRY AWARD at OutDoor for the Extreme Qogir Soft Shell Jacket. New in 2007, the ISPO Performance Awards recognize products and manufacturers that demonstrate outstanding products in the Hardware, Clothing, Footwear, Specials, and Eco Responsibility categories. ISPO’s Performance Award panel recognized the jacket as “very light, highly functional and…distinguished by especially high resistance to wear and abrasion.” The Performance Award winners were announced at the recent ISPO Sport & Style tradeshow held June 29th – July 8th in Munich, Germany.

The Extreme Qogir is Mammut’s latest hybrid soft shell innovation, incorporating a new Ceramic Dot reinforcement technology providing a previously unseen level of protection from friction and wear. As the trend toward increasingly finer and softer materials in the production of soft shells and outdoor clothing continues, durability and garment longevity has become a concern as apparel is often exposed to the friction of pack straps, hip belts, and unforgiving surfaces. Outdoor specialty consumers have come to expect an uncompromisingly high level of quality and endurance from clothing and gear even as soft shells, for example, trend toward lighter weight and more supple, flexible, and wearable fabrics. Swiss manufacturer Christian Eschler AG developed a solution with its new “ceramic imprinting”, which incorporates ceramic particles into a surface coating that is highly resistant to friction, with a greater longevity than non-imprinted reinforcement materials. The ceramic dots can be used with virtually any material, allowing the garment to retain its softness and flexibility even in the reinforced areas. The innovation is notably environmentally friendly, as no solvents are used in the production process.

The jacket also won an OutDoor INDUSTRY Award at the recent OutDoor tradeshow in Freidrichshafen, an award recognizing apparel and gear in a variety of categories for quality,
innovation, and performance. Specifically, contending products are evaluated for degree of innovation, design quality, choice of materials, environmental friendliness, functionality, ergonomics, utility value, and trendsetting character, among other criteria. The OutDoor INDUSTRY Award is intended to assist consumers in purchasing innovative products of premium quality, and endorses winning manufacturers with the endorsement seal for hangtags and in-shop point-of-sale collateral. OutDoor INDUSTRY AWARD designees were announced at the show, held July 19th-22nd in Friedrichshafen, Germany.

“We’re excited about these awards here in the US, as soft shells are a huge part of Mammut’s heritage and largely what we’re known for here,” said Jeff Cunningham, National Sales Manager for Mammut USA. “As we celebrate 25 years of soft shell innovation at the upcoming OR show, these awards solidify our position as innovators in outerwear, but also in providers of the some of the best quality technical apparel available to our consumer base.”

Mammut’s commitment to design innovation in soft shell technology dates back 25 years, with the launch of a mountaineering pant featuring a quick-drying, two-way stretch outer shell fabric from Schoeller ®. The Chamonix pant was initially met with market skepticism, but withstood the rigors of harsh alpine conditions, resulting in a successful soft shell category for the brand. To see the Extreme Qogir jacket and Mammut’s entire line of alpine and mountain outerwear, apparel, and gear, visit Outdoor Retailer booth #3007.

About Mammut
Based in Switzerland, Mammut is a leading manufacturer of all-season alpine gear and apparel. The Mammut Sports Group now includes Raichle Swiss quality outdoor footwear (www.raichle.com) and ToKo wax and care products (www.toko.ch)
in addition to the Mammut brand of alpine apparel and gear. For more information about Mammut apparel, gear, athletes, and the Mammut Sports Group brands, contact Ian Connor at 1.800.451.5127 ext. 113, or log on to: www.mammutusa.com. For media inquiries, contact Alycia Cavadi at 617.262.5559 or alycia@momentummediapr.com.