Freeride World Tour riders to wear only Mons Royale
Wednesday 22nd
January
Wānaka, New
Zealand
Freeride World Tour riders Craig Murray
and Jess Hotter
sign exclusive
agreements to wear only Mons Royale
New collaboration delivers sustainable,
highly technical apparel for the world’s
leading
riders – one small step towards a radder future
Mons Royale, New Zealand based designers of merino apparel from the mountains for the mountains, will be outfitting two of the top Freeride World Tour athletes this year. Mons Royale have teamed up with Ghosts, a newly formed outerwear brand based around sustainability, to deliver for the first time a full layering system from base layer to outerwear. Using innovative materials, progressive techniques and design thinking Mons Royale and Ghosts aim to build ethical businesses built on the values of sustainability, transparency and responsibility.
Mons Royale co-founder Hamish Acland:
“We believe what you wear next to skin is critical to comfort and performance in the mountains. The issue for us is when the best athletes compete on the Freeride World Tour or get filmed doing breath-taking runs what they wear next to skin is hidden. So the awesome benefits of merino get hidden too. We wanted to change that, so we started to look around at outerwear brands who we might collaborate with, trying to find a brand that shared our values. Ghosts does that. Then our design teams got together to create custom outerwear just for our athletes.”
The collaboration has its roots in Freeride. Tony McWilliam, the brainchild behind Ghosts, has lived and skied in Verbier for over twenty years and it’s where he founded and grew the now infamous Faction Skis before launching Ghosts. Acland, a former freeride competitor, would often sleep on Tony’s couch while visiting the freeride mecca of Verbier, and it’s where he had the idea for Mons Royale.
Hamish
Acland:
“I spent a good ten years of back to back
winters chasing snow and competing in freeride competitions.
When you live out of a ski bag you have a very limited
amount of gear you can take after you pack your skis. I saw
a need for technical merino apparel that you could wear on
and off the mountain. That was essentially the
beginnings.”
Tony McWilliam:
“I have always
enjoyed seeing what Mons Royale will bring each season. From
a creative point they were the originals in taking base
layer from boring shifting a whole new fan base to
wool”
Jess Hotter:
“I am really stoked to
join the Mons Royale family, Hamish has been like a mentor
and I am looking forward to being part of the Mons story
through my skiing”.
Craig Murray:
“I enjoy
working with Mons Royale not just because they are great
kiwi brand but also because the gear is perfect for a
dirtbag’s lifestyle and traveling on the road."
Jess and Craig have already gone well in Hakuba, Japan this week and you can catch the throughout the FWT tour.
For more information on Mons Royale check out www.monsroyale.com
For more
information on Ghosts check out www.ghostsapparel.com
For more
information on the Freeride World Tour check out https://www.freerideworldtour.com
ends