UKC

With a heritage of 78 years alpine experience behind them, Italian outdoor brand Salewa are entering the UK this spring. Starting with a range of their award winning shoes, rucsacks and sleeping bags, Salewa gear will be distributed by Wild Country from their base in Tideswell and available across the UK in specialist shops.

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/news.php?id=5221

In reply to UKC Gear: Is this the same Salewa that make (made) hardware such as crampons ?

In reply to Doug: They still do its seems! http://www.salewa.co.uk/winter-equipment/crampons

In reply to TobyA: So not really new to the UK ? (think I bought my Salewa 'bendy' crampons sometime in 1975, mail order from Field & Trek)

In reply to UKC Gear: Tiso has been selling their kit for quite a while now, I like most of the gear they make so it'll be good to have them in more shops.

In reply to UKC Gear: They are massive in Europe - go in any German, Austrian or Italian outdoor shop and you'll see lots of their stuff. My missus has a pair of their boots, and the gear is good. Lots of their stuff is green (like the trainer in the pic above).

In reply to Doug: My first crampons were also Salewa strap-ons too, not nearly as old as yours though - maybe only 23 yrs ago! so I guess no - not really new but if I remember correctly, Salewa bought Wild Country last year so I guess are using that connection to launch their soft goods in the UK. It will be interesting to see if they compete with Wild Country directly by selling things like harnesses and quickdraws in Britain.

In reply to TobyA:


Same here!

In reply to Douglas Griffin:

Me too - used them this weekend just gone. With nicely worn down points after 20+ years but they're still perfect walking crampons.

In reply to GrahamD: Guess they were quite popular in their day

I always thought they were an Austrian company but http://www.salewa.fr/salewa/histoire suggests German (& not Italian as stated in the article)

In reply to UKC Gear:

Have a look at the new sole technology on the mountaineering boot. You can lock in a 'fully stiffened' B3 arrangement or a more walkable B2 flex.
Hopefully this is a step forward ...(sorry) in boot design.

In reply to Doug:
Founded in Munich, moved their headquarters to Aschheim outside Munich (down the road from me) and then taken over by Oberalp (an Italian group)in 1990.

In reply to Doug: Definitely Italian. Based in Bolzano in Alto Adige/Sudtirol.

In reply to UKC Gear:
I bought a pair of Salewa Rapace boots at Christmas time. I had to order them from Germany, but they are brilliant. Very very impressed with them so far. On the strength of that, i wouldn't hesitate to get other products of theirs.

In reply to crustypunkuk:

I'm interested in replacing my worn-out Salomons with either the Rapace, or the Mountain Trainer Mid. What size foot are you? Do they fit well?

In reply to UKC Gear: Reasonably priced, well made mountaineering kit? Good news for me.

In reply to UKC Gear:

My "summer" helmet is a Salewa Krypton or Helium, bought a few years ago from Windermere Canoe and Kayak! I have seen their boots around a bit, they are a familiar brand to me in the UK, but I guess I've only seen odds and ends....?

In reply to Blue Straggler: I asked if I could review their cross over ski-climbing helmet as to me at least, that multi-rolling seems a great mix, but word is they aren't bringing them into the UK. As Wild Country is owned by Salewa now, I think they won't try and compete with Wild Country within UK markets which is sensible enough, although I guess technically Wild Country doesn't have a ski helmet.

In reply to Doug:

I thought they were German too, only by the sound of the name. I bought a second hand pair in 1969, so they would have been earlier, and at the time the advantage over Grivels were that you could adjust the length yourself. Both makes had front points. I bought a new pair a couple of years later and was quite surprised to see how long the points should have been! I kept the old pair for climbing on iced rocky ground as the short spikes seemed handier, and as they were already pretty short it didn't matter if I ground a bit more off.