Ram Mountaineering shows new ranges

Sports Trader visited the recent Ram Mountaineering trade show to learn about their new brands and ranges for 2013.

Ram Mountaineering has founded a new distributorship, Traverse Outdoor Gear (TOG), that will distribute two new footwear brands, Boreal and Zamberlan.

Boreal, Spain’s top mountaineering footwear brand, had been in SA intermittently, but their rock climbing boots, especially the classic Fire Rock, were mainly brought in by retailers, explains owner Simon Larsen. Now, for the first time, the brand will be handled by a distributor in SA, who will be concentrating on the high-end products within the range. Boreal caters for the high performance mountaineering market seeking top quality and provides a range equipped to tackle the likes of Mount Everest, scale rock faces, trek in the Drakensberg mountains or along the Otter Trail.

Zamberlan is an Italian brand founded 80 years ago that is now distributed in more than 40 countries, including in SA for the first time. TOG will be introducing products that will be more focused on the “main stream” portion of the outdoor market, like backpacking boots, lightweight trail lifestyle leisure and travel footwear. They will also launch a “Speed Hiking” range, which will be a new category in our market. Speed hiking is a new trend identified at the OutDoor Show in Friedrichshafen and the hikers that want to cover a bigger distances in quicker times need a specialised good quality, light, walking shoe.

Simon Larsen presenting the Zamberlan mountaineering footwear.

Zamberlan features GoreTex waterproofing.

Ram Mountaineering has also brought in Baladé, a French brand with the main focus on knives for hunting or camping. They will be focussing on a tight range in four categories:  the Superlights, that are as light as 27g to 37g, are very well balanced and pack away neat; the more general range style sell at good price points that will give retailers good margins; the top end Laguiole range includes a product with a genuine bone handle; the compasses manufactured by the brand.

Black Diamond is now introducing headlamps in a variety of colours.  The redesigned Cosmo incorporates the more feminine colours of the discontinued Moxy and has been upgraded from 55 lumens to 70 lumens. The ReVolt headlamp is 110 lumens strong and can recharge via USB. It can work either on alkaline or rechargeable batteries.

Nikwax has developed a base wash to cater for the needs of the sports market rather than just the outdoor market. The anti-microbial cleaner enhances the durable water repellence on baselayers, eliminates odours and adds fragrance.