The industry’s top event awards its prizes: Nordica, Tecnica and Blizzard are again confirmed as leaders of innovation for the 2017-2018 season.

Tecnica Group confirms its status as a benchmark for innovation in the winter sports world. A status corroborated by the ISPO Awards conferred at ISPO Winter. The awards are particularly meaningful since the fair is the industry’s top international event, where new products for the 2017-2018 season are presented to buyers.

Forty-five judges from 13 different countries chose three of the Group’s products as the winners of their respective segments. Awards went to the evolution of a time-honoured ski like the Blizzard Spur (Gold Winner Award in the off-piste/all-mountain category); the new Tecnica Mach1 Pro W boot, the heart of the Women to Women project (Winner Award in the Alpine Boots category); and the new Nordica Strider Pro 130 DYN Hike&Ski boot (Winner Award in the Freeride Boots category).

Tecnica Group bagged a triple win last year, too, an unprecedented record that further strengthens the group’s leadership. Alberto Zanatta stated that, “Creativity is part of our DNA and is fuelled by our major R&D investments over the past few seasons. A virtuous circle which, year after year, expands our expertise. Our brands’ capacity to innovate places them at the forefront. All-round leadership of the ski world: in fact the awards went to a long-established product like the Blizzard Spur, still a benchmark in the freeride world; to the new, ambitious Women to Women project which enjoys the collaboration of university researchers and introduces a new concept of community linked to product use; and, lastly, to the new Nordica boot designed for new kinds of skiers who are increasingly unwilling to confine their skiing to the traditional slope/freeride/alpine skiing categories”.

BLIZZARD SPUR – Gold Winner ISPO Award

For the upcoming season, Blizzard has revamped its freeride collection to guarantee a ski for every need, divided between an All Mountain Freeride range and a Freeride range. The latter is especially designed to make it easier and more fun to ski on soft snow. The key element in this collection is the Carbon Flipcore D.R.T. (Dynamic Release Technology) construction system: a layer of Titanal reduces torsional rigidity at the tip and tail but adds underfoot control and stability, while a uni-directional layer of carbon at the tip and tail stabilises the rocker without increasing torsional rigidity.

Within the frame of this revolution, the legendary Blizzard Spur, too, has been radically revised, thereby boosting its personality. The new Spur features asymmetric side-cut with a sharp narrowing at the tip and tail: in this way skiers can easily “surf” over all kinds of fresh snow as the ski floats over even large drifts of powdery snow.

TECNICA MACH1 PRO W LV – Winner ISPO Award

Warmth, Comfort, Customisation, Performance: these are the bywords for the new Mach1 Pro W, Tecnica’s high-performance boot redesigned for the Women to Women project, which involved an all-women team of professionals (athletes, alpine guides and ordinary skiers) committed to defining their real skiing equipment needs. A concentrate of technology in a collection truly made for women. Reworked balance to suit women’s different centre of gravity; new heat-mouldable areas to achieve maximum comfort, especially at the calf; warmth guaranteed by the innovative Celliant & Lambswool fibre, which harnesses the properties of 13 thermoreactive minerals that convert body heat into infrared energy to reflect the foot’s heat back onto the foot. Lastly, for those who particularly feel the cold, the THERM-IC integrated heating system is charged overnight via a normal USB cable to provide a whole day’s skiing always with warm feet.

NORDICA STRIDER PRO 130 DYN – Winner ISPO Award

The new High Performance Hike&Ski boot is all about lightness, with a modern design and a width of 100 mm. Strider makes ascents easier without compromising performance when going downhill. Three different kinds of plastic deliver maximum comfort, excellent performance and great functionality. The new Triax cuff is 20% lighter. The boot’s plus point is Tri-Fit Customization: the InfraRed Shell Customization Heating Element is used in synergy with Nordica’s Custom Cork Liner system and a special oven. Strider also has Primaloft^® technology which increases the liner’s water resistance, prevents compression and keeps the skier’s foot warm. Lastly, Nordica has, in alliance with Michelin, developed a sole that offers unprecedented grip and stability that starts from the forefoot, through the metatarsus to the heel.

INFO: Tecnica Group