For the Tuvans living in northern Xinjiang, skiing is a natural way of life.
There are currently about 2,500 Tuvans living in the Altay region, and when the snow covers the forests, the Tuvans use their own fur skis as a means of transportation during their grazing efforts. Suke is one of them, who fell in love with skiing when he was a child following his father to the mountains to graze herds, and when he grew up, he began to systematically ski in order to improve.
The allure of skiing is spreading. Unlike the survival skills that local residents have cultivated since childhood, more and more skiers are coming to Xinjiang in search of the feeling of adrenaline pumping into the brain during climbing. Guancai is a mountain guide and a "child" of the mountain, Dahuan came from the city and has always admired the mountain, and the two settled here three years ago because of their love.
At first, they longed to explore the pristine snow of the mountains, but as they continued to search for mountaineering and skiing routes, they were also rediscovering the true meaning of self and freedom. These stories were also included in Archaeopteryx's December 21 documentary "The Way of Mountain Snow", a well-known outdoor brand rooted in the mountains, re-explores the symbiotic relationship between humans and nature this snow season through the personal experiences of three groups of mountaineers and skiers.
Guancai and Dahuan left the city and settled in Hemu (the full documentary can be watched on the official video account of Archaeopteryx)
The stories of the three groups of characters can be converging into two dimensions: one is the way people get along with nature in the process of mountaineering and skiing, and secondly, and more noteworthily, Archaeopteryx introduces "ski safety" into the public narrative of domestic skiing through the brand's own perspective and method, which is unique in this year's snow season marketing - at the time of outdoor popularity, Arc'teryx is tantamount to providing a dose of cold thinking.
As mentioned in the film, in the process of climbing and sliding, a person can talk to heaven and earth, and it is enough to talk to himself. But while praising such free flight, Archaeopteryx also calmly tells the other side of freedom, jumping out of the current bustling business world, revealing the importance of professionalism and safety in the present, and sticking to the "way of mountain snow".
When skiing development goes ahead of safety
Outdoor sports in 2023, following the pace of 2022, are still showing a thriving scene. As the first full snow season after the Beijing Winter Olympics, more people have stepped onto the ski resort, according to the "CCTV Finance" report: Since November 2023, major ski resorts have opened boards one after another, and ski orders across the country have skyrocketed by 800%, and it has even been named the "hottest ski season".
It is undeniable that even with the increase in entrants, skiing is still a sport with a high risk index. According to a statistical report published in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine in October 2021, an analysis of 107,540 injury reports covering nearly 30 ski resorts in parts of Canada over the 10-year period from 2008 to 2018 concluded that the average daily injury per 1,000 skiers was 2.24, with an injury rate of 0.2%, of which 12.8% were seriously injured.
However, skiing started late in China, and ski safety has not been taken seriously. It was not until 2017 that the "China Ski Resort Management Code (2017 Revised Edition)" jointly issued by the Winter Sports Management Center of the General Administration of Sport of China and the China Ski Association clearly pointed out that skiing is a "high-risk sport".
According to China News Weekly, some foreign ski resorts will provide skiers with RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) identity cards, which can record skiers' relevant information and activities in the ski resort, and in the event of an accident, they can use the ID card to query the skier's activity route and other relevant information, which is convenient for search and rescue. Some foreign ski resorts also set up slow skiing areas on slopes that are prone to danger to prevent accidents from happening too fast. Archaeopteryx also observed that the safety awareness of Chinese skiers and the safety protection system of domestic ski resorts are lagging behind.
To put it simply, the development of sports is ahead of safety awareness, and the risk factor is higher for non-man-made "off-road ski resorts" and mountaineering and skiing events, "Mountaineering and skiing represent freedom, and freedom means risk," says Xing Zhekui, Archaeopteryx alpine guide in the film. At the same time, taking Xinjiang Keketuohai Ski Resort as an example, there is often a "forbidden" sign in front of the ski resort outside the road.
Sukh with his sister Urna
This is also the background of Archaeopteryx's release of the documentary. "The Way of Mountain Snow" constantly emphasizes the safety of mountaineering and skiing and the reverence for the mountains, and it is when this snow resort is crowded with people that the safety of mountaineering and skiing needs to be mentioned again and again - when we are seeking freedom, we must not forget to have professional and safety support.
This is not the first time that Arc'teryx has focused on the story of "safety", and those who are truly familiar with the development of Arc'teryx know that in the past 34 years, "mountain awe" has been the principle that the brand has always adhered to in its brand narrative and actual operation.
On the product side, whether it is insisting on repeated testing under extreme and harsh conditions, actively building a safety-first value concept for users, or strictly restricting complex and fancy designs and attaching importance to professionalism, it is a manifestation - users who have purchased Archaeopteryx are often more and more impressed by its functionality and durability in use; These things are more concretely presented in "The Way of Mountain and Snow", which not only contains awe, but also contains the philosophy of how to coexist with nature in the mountain snow.
It is necessary to tell the story as well as to be the story itself
In the development of the brand, based on the mountains and constantly challenging the limits, Arc'teryx has always explored the core of the relationship between man and nature.
In the story of "The Way of Mountain and Snow", snowers look for ways to get along with mountains and snow, explore the true nature of freedom, and Archaeopteryx explores more about the other side of freedom.
Specifically, on the one hand, from the perspective of the individual climber, it advocates that every enthusiast respect nature and that only with safety can they get true freedom, and on the other hand, Arc'teryx uses the dangers that every climber may face as an entry point to face safety topics that are rarely talked about in the market.
It is especially important that Archaeopteryx not only narrates "ski safety" in this discussion, but also becomes a facilitator.
"The rugged wilderness and unpredictable weather are a testing ground for Archaeopteryx's inspiration." Since the brand's inception, the safety attributes of its products have always been a topic of Arc'teryx's thinking, born and raised in the harsh environment of Canada's Coast Mountains, and Arc'teryx has always used such extreme environments to test its products. From its first flagship product, the Vapor seat belt that is fixed with hot adhesive technology, it has been accompanied by this concept one by one.
Serving the real needs of the wearer under harsh conditions is the fundamental logic of Arc'teryx's product development. As a result, there is more active feedback from wearers, including Mike Danks, a member of Canada's North Shore Search and Rescue team, whose views and needs are typical: equipment can save lives in bad weather, if it's good enough.
Archaeopteryx alpine guide Xing Zhekui
So far, this concept has continued from the perspective of categories and functions on the product side. Including the design does not follow the trend, through the intuitive, concise style adhere to the simple scheme to provide a strong guarantee for the wearer.
Taking the current Archaeopteryx snow line family as an example, the Rush hard-shell snowsuit is lightweight, portable, breathable and wear-resistant, providing hard-core support for mountaineering and skiing, while the Sabre SV hardshell snowsuit is made of 100D 3L GORE-TEX® Pro fabric with the same type of wear-resistant protection as Alpha SV, which is specially designed for harsh snow conditions, flexibly adapting to different terrains, protecting the mountains, and protecting skiers from long-term wear in harsh climates, coping with rocks, steep slopes, cliffs, woods and other complex terrain. The design of other accessories has also been considered and tested for safety performance.
Not only does the product focus on safety and professionalism, Arc'teryx also invests in the offline community to help users develop security awareness. Arc'teryx has always believed that the importance of community to outdoor sports brands is self-evident, and community building also needs to be professionally based.
The film "The Way of Mountain Snow" also tells that Peng Chao, who has systematically learned Xi avalanche safety-related knowledge, opened an avalanche safety education course and public welfare activities with the theme of ski safety in Xinjiang. His more long-term initiative was the establishment of the Altay Avalanche Research and Education organization (AARE), which advocates the exploration of nature in a dispassionate and scientific way. Improve the safety knowledge system of mountaineering and skiing, and increase the awe of mountaineering enthusiasts to the mountains.
Peng Chao's move is exactly in line with Arc'teryx's requirements for community professionalism, which can increase the all-round connection between athletes, ski professionals, senior Arc'teryx users and avalanche education professionals, and truly put the awe of the mountains into practice. At the same time, Archaeopteryx is still exploring snow resorts around the world, hoping to spread this awareness and practice by applying what it has learned.
Xing Zhekui, an Archaeopteryx alpine guide, Wang Zhixun, a ski promoter, and Peng Chao, the promoter of AARE, survey the snow conditions
This is not only Peng Chao's idea, but also in line with the original intention of Arc'teryx - for people who are new to outdoor and skating sports, it is more necessary to establish a correct safety value system than other things, so as to lay a good foundation for subsequent professional ability and skill reserves.
Adhere to the essence of skiing and the original intention of the brand
This "hottest ski season" has attracted more brands to compete and invest. Both luxury brands and outdoor sports brands regard skiing as the "main front" and carry out a series of new product launches and brand marketing actions.
The brand "roll war" snow season expresses the importance of skiing to the brand in the most direct way, and on the other hand, it is also the publicity and promotion of skiing, so as to accelerate the development of skiing in the Chinese market and enhance the public's awareness of skiing. To put it simply, the brand and the snow season go hand in hand on this cold winter day.
Nowadays, the probability of outdoor and trendy screens is getting higher and higher. In the fashion industry, major luxury brands have started to make snowwear and snowboards, and in the Chinese market, a large number of domestic light outdoor brands have emerged. Wearing outdoor clothing has become a trend at a time when Gorpcore and Snowcore are frequently mentioned, and Archaeopteryx has clearly been involved in this trend over the past few years.
However, fashion and fashion have not always been the most concerned thing for Arc'teryx, compared with the major sports and luxury brands, the big show, luxury pop-up exhibition as the main narrative, Arc'teryx chose to do the opposite, focusing on the ultimate charm of mountaineering and skiing itself, the people and human ecology behind the sport, and the difficulties faced in China.
Perhaps this kind of doing the opposite can also be called a kind of perseverance. On the one hand, the core users of Arc'teryx have always been those who have extremely high requirements for quality, Outdoor enthusiasts who seek themselves in nature are crucial to the professional narrative in this field, because these users themselves are a picky group, which includes not only the product, but also the brand values behind the product.
While Arc'teryx adheres to the essence of outdoor products, it is also an adherence to the brand concept: the ultimate professionalism and seriousness coexist, maintaining the awe of the mountain. This is all reflected in "The Way of Mountain Snow", which takes mountaineering and skiing as the starting point, constantly mentions that "mountain snow is no trivial matter", and explains the trinity of skiing skills, safety awareness and physical literacy. Essentially, mountaineering is not a show, let alone a show, but a sport that deeply interacts with nature, and only by really engaging in it can you enjoy the ultimate sense of freedom.
In the midst of the outdoor and skiing boom, it can be seen that it is necessary to have both the pursuit of ultimate freedom and the principle of reverence for nature, which is exactly the brand DNA and position that Archaeopteryx wants to reaffirm at this time.
The "Way of the Snow" provides a glimpse of Archaeopteryx's brand strategy and direction, including the sustainable ReBIRD™ program launched in recent years, which aims to cherish natural resources when born from nature, and respect for nature has become a strong driving force for its sustainable development.
For the Chinese market, these initiatives by Arc'teryx are expected to bring more humanity to the still-booming outdoor sector, and provide another unique insight and attitude on how the industry can move to the next stage.
Returning to Archaeopteryx itself, they chose a difficult but correct path. In the hustle and bustle of many marketing in the snow season, adhering to the awe of the mountains can be said to be a bold move, but it shows the original intention of the brand. This action also declares to the outside world that Archaeopteryx's DNA has never changed.