MONTEC – where ‘the customer is the brand’

We are delighted to feature MONTEC in our first Brand Partner Showcase Series! If not familiar with the brand, read on to learn more!

Struggling to find quality gear in Sweden to ride in back in 2006, two brothers, Emil and Linus ordered some apparel from US brands. Their buddies were so impressed that they wanted some too. What began as a small project importing gear previously unavailable in Sweden for a small group of friends quickly snowballed into something special.

After a few years of selling the bigger US big brands Emil and Linus imported, they heard tons of great product ideas that big brands did not seem to listen to. This is when the brothers had a lightbulb moment. The best people to create with are those who ride, roam, and follow their passion every day – the seed that formed Ridestore.

Ridestore was born with one simple, underpinning ethos: The customer is the brand. The community has always been at the heart of Ridestore, and that’s never going to change. After all, its first customers were friends, and that’s still how the company likes to think of it today.

Ridestore opened the lines of communication with its customers, threw out the rulebook, disregarded ‘traditional’ company structures, and set out to make its own line of snow gear with the rider community at its core. The result? MONTEC – where the only ‘boss’ is the customer.

Ashish Ahlawat, Head of R&D at MONTEC and Dope, was kind to sit down with us to answer a few questions.

MONTEC has a very engaging following – can you share a bit of who your typical consumer is why you think that is so?

MONTEC is a unique direct to consumer ski and snowboard brand whose ethos is “the customer is the brand”. MONTEC is founded on the principles of co-creation with customers, a WOW experience which means going above and beyond what the customer is expecting from us, creative expression, quality to last a lifetime and focus on providing the best gear for fair prices all year round. MONTEC customers believe in continued progression and demand uncompromising performance and long-term durability from their gear.

When and how did MONTEC form a collaborative partnership with NexTex/TuboDry®?

For FW22, we wanted to elevate the MONTEC baselayer to be higher performance and more durable and that’s when we first explored TurboDry fabrics. After some evaluation we landed on a 250gsm smooth face with peached back TurboDry fabric. We wanted to make a versatile baselayer which could be used for a variety of activities across different temperatures, and which could be worn both off and on the mountain and that’s where TurboDry function really shines as it allows for rapid moisture wicking/drying and good warmth.

What is it about TurboDry® that your customers respond to and why?

Comfort- warmth while having really good wicking/drying rate performance.

Any customer feedback you might like to share?

Overall, we get constant feedback from customers that MONTEC alpha baselayer made using TurboDry fabric has very good comfort (especially wicking and drying rate) and durability. Below are just couple of customer reviews:

• Comfortable, great look and keeps you at the right temperature when shredding.
• Amazing base layer! Kept me warm all day out in the Swiss alps.

Is there a particular experience with a MONTEC baselayer you would like to share?

In October 2022 our product team went to Austria for a product testing trip. Unfortunately, it was too warm for good riding conditions with temperature hovering around 4C. So we decided to test TurboDry performance. One of our team members decided to wear an insulated jacket on top of MONTEC baselayer with TurboDry fabric and fully cinched the hem and sleeves to not allow for any air flow. He rode hard for 1 hour in very sweaty conditions and was fully drenched in sweat but guess what- as soon as he stopped and allowed ventilation through the garment, his base layer dried in under 5 min. He was amazed at such a good drying rate and that’s when we all really got sold on TurboDry performance.

Anything you would like to give us a sneak peek about with regards to any new MONTEC developments or programs on the horizon?

We are continuing to explore lighter weight TurboDry fabrics for future performance baselayer categories.

What’s on your travel list for 2024 – any new ski/snowboard destinations planned?

Laxx in Switzerland and Svalbard in Norway are the two upcoming trips where we will be riding in the backcountry and will be further testing TurboDry fabrics in a range of temperatures and conditions.

Thanks for taking the time to read our Q & A with Ashish! Please visit MONTEC online for more product information on this great brand.