ISPO Award Juries 2017

Tom Wilson-North is the head of the winter operation at Chamonix's iconic freeride shop Zero G, and senior snowboard writer for the pan-European BoardsportSOURCE B2B journal. He is married with two children.

"ISPO Award is one of our first chances to really understand the highlights of next season's gear. The meeting of minds and wealth of experience amongst jury members always leaves me inspired, and the exchanges during panel sessions are well-informed, opinionated, heated and passionate... exactly as they should be“.

Jaka is a product designer, who is well practiced in the arts of skydiving, skiing and ice hockey. His first hand design approach and eye for detail benefited the jury greatly. He was the national champion in formation skydiving for 8 years and also represented Slovenia in two world championships. He competed in alpine ski competitions throughout her youth, and was also later selected as a junior for HK Olimpija, Ljubljana in ice hockey. In her design career she has been awarded with 3 Red Dot awards and a national award for excellence in the creative industry.

Robin Lecorvaisier oversees the development of Water Action Sport at Hurricane Action sports. Passionate about and has been practicing actions sports since he was a kid. Globetrotter, in 2016 Robin joind Hervé’s team at the Fise Academy Montpellier, a school where he was teaching Wakeboard and Kiteboarding.

"I’m looking forward discovering the new innovative products at ISPO 2017 as sport instructor."

Earlier Successes:

Powerlifting Vice German Champion

2 times BMX Race Elite German Champion
2 times BMX Race Elite National Series Champion
3 times BMX Race Vice German Champion

2 times MTB 4X Eurobike Champion
2 times MTB Dual Eurobike Champion
many times MTB 4X Festival Champion
24 hours MTB CC Team Worldchampion

Snowscoot X German Champion
Snowscoot Dual Vice European Champion
Snowscoot X European Champion
Snowscoot Dual Vice World Champion
Snowscoot X Vice World Champion
Snowscoot DH Vice World Champion

"I’m really looking forward to being part of the ISPO AWARD jury. Especially when it comes to innovation, quality and implementation, I’m in my natural element."

Johanna Blixt is working with sales at Hollywood, a Stockholm-based streetwear shop with a focus on skateboarding and snowboarding.

"I'm very happy to be part of the action sports jury since action sports and primarily snowboarding is one of my biggest interests and hobbies. Thanks to that I'm very familiar with the industry, and it's going to be a fun and good experience for me."
 

Born on the island of Sylt, the chief editor of “40inch Longboardmagazin” lives the board sport. Surfing, windsurfing, stand-up paddling, longboarding, but also other extreme sports like paintball, are part of his vita. He is the author of "The Lost History of Longboarding" – one of the main reasons why he knows everything about innovations and trends regarding the boardsports scene. Alex is responsible for the marketing of Modular Pumptracks, Whitezu Urban Wave, and the surf/skate brand Slide in Germany. He is currently working on a concept to install workshops for surf skating all over Germany. Alex and his team are also organizing the successful ISPO Longboard-Embassy since 2013.

“A lot of good ideas failed because they don’t get the backup from the industry. Being part of the Brand New Jury, I can help finding one or the other raw diamond.”

François is a mechanical engineer and development manager at Invest Basque Country. He has worked with sports-related companies since 1996, especially in the innovation area. "I am really happy to be part of the jury as I have been a surfer for the last 42 years, and still surf almost every day. As an engineer working in the innovation field and with start-up companies for the past 19 years, I am looking forward to seeing the latest innovations."

Tammy has spent most of her life living in and around the mountains of Europe and the world. Having spent a significant amount of her childhood climbing and hiking the Alps by foot and on skis, she eventually discovered snowboarding and has never looked back. Tammy has worked in the snow sports industry for over 20 years and has been teaching professionally as a BASI level 4 snowboard instructor for the last 15 years. In 2006, Tammy founded the highly successful French-based snowboard school "MINT Snowboarding," recently voted "Best Snow Sports School" at the 2016 World Snow Awards.

"I love seeing the new products each season and how product innovation can improve my sport and my adventures. That's why I am truly excited about being part of the Action Jury Panel at ISPO MUNICH 2017".

Philip Volker started his athletic career as a track and field athlete before he got hooked on more trendy sports like snowboarding, skateboarding, and mountain biking. His biggest passion is surfing and the traveling that comes with it. Philip loves extreme sports, but he's eager to stay under control – because he dislikes injuries and the regeneration time involved. A sports science major, Philip also knows the theoretical side of things, which he's happy to share with others and put into practice. "The evolution of many of the sports I like depends on innovative products – that's why I like to keep track of what's going on. Being part of the ISPO AWARD is great. I hope my knowledge will be helpful for the judging process.”

After many years of design experience in the fashion industry, Alexa Dehmel decided to make use of her passion for sports and become a freelance designer for functional clothing in 1996, followed by the foundation of her own agency with employees in 2005. Even today, it is still a positive challenge for her and her team to develop good products and collections for the mountain, water, fitness and performance sports and workwear sectors. A further milestone is planned for 2020: A globally unique innovation, competence and training center for functional clothing in the Munich area.

Interview with Alexa Dehmel: "Munich to get a unique expertise center for functional clothing"

Monitoring trends and transformations in the sports and outdoors industry as well as perceiving consumer attitudes, Louisa's global research unearths new inspirations and ideas. Her graphic visions focus toward a balanced future, where sustainability, creativity and performance all merge as one.

Urs Egli looks back on 15 years of professional experience with global sporting goods companies including Kjus, Oakley, Vaude, and Mammut. During his career, he successfully led business areas such as product management, innovation, product development, and brand and category management. Urs is a passionate skier, snowboarder, surfer, and mountain biker based in Engelberg, Switzerland. At the moment, Urs is part of an Executive Master of Business Administration program at the Maastricht School of Management to prepare his next business venture.

Dr. Jun-Yan Hu is Chief Technology Officer at Best Pacific International Holdings Limited, Technical committee member of the Standardization Administration of China and External Ph. D. Student Supervisor at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His research interests cover functional products development and performance evaluation, standard development and technology transfer. Jun-Yan is listed as inventor in 38 patents granted around the world and received various innovative products awards. Since 2011, he is also a member of several National Technical Committees on Textiles and Material Characterization, which is part of the standardization administration committee in China.

After an apprenticeship in tailoring and a degree in clothing technology, Dominik worked in the areas of product management, production management and product integrity management for several years. He also managed the conversion of Zimtstern, the Swiss snowboard and fashion brand, into an eco-friendly brand. Meanwhile, Dominik is project manager of his own company “Fuss-ion”, which he founded in January 2012, and an accompanying apparel network.

ClimatePartner develops strategies and software solutions for companies, allowing its over 1,000 clients from more than 25 countries to integrate climate protection into their value added chain. Foerster looks back on a multi-year experience in the fields of strategy consultancy, online business and company internationalization. The German-American studied political and business economics in Germany and France.

Prof. Matthias Kimmerle worked for 20 years in the fashion, sports and outdoor industries in the fields of product development and management as well as production management. Since his appointment in 2014, he has been teaching at the University of Applied Sciences in Albstadt-Sigmaringen in the field of innovation management, particularly innovative alternative joining processes and textile ecology in the Textile and Clothing Technology bachelor's degree program and in the Textile and Clothing Management master's degree program with a focus on Industry 4.0. His research focuses on generative sustainable manufacturing processes.

Expert for: Eco Responsibility, Camping & Adventure

With over 30 years of experience in the outdoor industry and a career that has involved senior positions at major companies, including Lowe Alpine, Mammut Sport Group and Berghaus, Mark Held was one of the founders of the European Outdoor Group (EOG) in 2003, which had the clear objective of uniting the fragmented outdoor industry by encouraging and facilitating collaboration on projects for the good of the whole sector. The EOG’s agenda covers key areas such as research, events, sustainability, responsibility, outreach, product safety and the promotion of participation in outdoor activities. In 2005, Mark agreed to take on the management of the EOG and became General Secretary, a role he has fulfilled ever since. Mark is actively involved in all areas of the sector and in addition to being the EOG General Secretary, he is also a Vice President of the Federation of European Outdoor Sporting Goods Industries (FESI) and acting Chairman of Fair Wear Foundation.   

“I always look forward to the Awards Jury meeting, partly due to the excitement seeing what new products are being launched, but also because the people, the place and the organization make the event a really positive thing to be part of.”

Detlef Fischer is Managing Director at TEXTILCOLOR AG in Switzerland. In the past, Detlef was CEO at BEZEMA (textile dyestuffs and auxiliaries for the textile industry) and one of the pioneers and manager at “bluesign technologies” and responsible fort he development of the bluesign system. In his spare time, he enjoys skiing the Alpstein in his new home country of Switzerland.

As the founder and co-director of AIR – Agence Innovation Responsable (Annecy, France) – and the co-founder of OWL (Outdoor Waste Lab), Benjamin is passionate about the great outdoors, innovation and sustainability, and always favoring actions over words. Benjamin has slowly but steadily built a reputation within the outdoor industry while remaining engaged with the community and thriving on new projects and collaborations, both personal and professional. He is also a founding member of the Mycelium Colab, a European network of independent sustainability experts developing responsible and innovative business solutions for the sports and textile industry. 

Expert for: Eco Responsibility, Outdoor Fitness & Water Sports

Johan James van Breda is the BD & Member Manager in Europe for the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), who have collected peers and competitors from across the apparel, footwear and textile sector and together, have developed a universal approach to measure sustainability performance that drives transparency and identifies opportunities for impact throughout the supply chain. He previously worked for ASICS in their sustainability department. Johan is a sports fanatic, he used to be a competitive cyclist and international rugby player, and enjoys any kind of physical activity, especially in the outdoors and mountains during all seasons. He is a product and gear enthusiast and follows innovations in the sector closely.

Kjersti Kviseth runs the design consultancy agency "2025design", the first European cradle to cradle firm dealing with the design, development, and manufacture of materials and products as well as sustainability assessments and strategies. She was Global Sustainability Manager at HÅG (office chairs) for ten years. In recent years, she specialized in the textile industry, including wool and sportswear. She also represents the International Wool Textile Organisation (IWTO) in the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) and is actively involved in the development of the Higg Index Product Tools. Kjersti loves nature and outdoor sports all year round and practices martial arts and medical qigong.

With over 30 years of experience in the outdoor industry and a career that has involved senior positions at major companies, including Lowe Alpine, Mammut Sport Group and Berghaus, Mark Held was one of the founders of the European Outdoor Group (EOG) in 2003, which had the clear objective of uniting the fragmented outdoor industry by encouraging and facilitating collaboration on projects for the good of the whole sector. The EOG’s agenda covers key areas such as research, events, sustainability, responsibility, outreach, product safety and the promotion of participation in outdoor activities. In 2005, Mark agreed to take on the management of the EOG and became General Secretary, a role he has fulfilled ever since. Mark is actively involved in all areas of the sector and in addition to being the EOG General Secretary, he is also a Vice President of the Federation of European Outdoor Sporting Goods Industries (FESI) and acting Chairman of Fair Wear Foundation.   

“I always look forward to the Awards Jury meeting, partly due to the excitement seeing what new products are being launched, but also because the people, the place and the organization make the event a really positive thing to be part of.”

With a strong interest in materials and new technologies, Kuno Prey has been working as a technical consultant and product designer in the industry since finishing his studies in Art & Design. Due to several awards he gained international recognition. Kuno was involved in the foundation and development  of the faculty of Design at the Bauhaus University in Weimar before returning to his home country where he is now setting up the faculty of Design & Art at the University in Bozen.

“I love being outdoors where I especially enjoy the sparkling mountain air. As a design professor, I try to draw the students' attention to what is superfluous. The focal points of design are pleasure, comfort and safety as well as high aesthetic values, whilst ecology and social relevance form the basis of every design process. I see the ISPO Award as an ideal aid for orientation in the sporting goods market.“

Sun Bin has been a member of the Chinese national climbing team since 2000. He was also a member of the Beijing Olympic Committee and the torch relay project leader at Mt. Everest, which he climbed in 2007. After the Games, he became a mountain guide for the Seven Summits. As president of the Summit Outdoor School, he organizes free mountain trainings for local guides and students. Sun Bin is also president of the Tibet Outdoors Association.

Expert for: Hardgoods, Backpacks & Mountaineering

Piotr Turkot is co-owner and publisher of the first Polish outdoor industry magazine “4outdoor” and the most popular Polish climbing site wspinanie.pl. He is one of the organizers of Krakow Mountain Festival, an event for sports and culture. Piotr Turkot is also one of the initiators of the Polish Outdoor Group and now President of the organization. In his spare time, he enjoys climbing and the Outdoors.

Alewalds have been in the business for 80 years and concentrate on the Outdoor business. Hiking, Crosscountry skiing and Nordic Skating are three of the biggest areas. Alewalds are independent and have 4 shops in Stockholm and Uppsala and one web-shop in Sweden.

Working for Polar Sport s.c., one of the leading mountain equipment retailers in Poland, Marek is responsible for the department of complaints and warranties and creates standards for customer service by finding out the customers’ need and adapting the services accordingly. “Professionalism and factual approach allow for continuous development and positive perception on the market, both domestic and foreign.” In his free time, Marek tries to be as active as possible with friends and family.

Marianne is a Dutch professional climber and lives in a self-built, off-grid tiny house. As a winter athlete, she can look back on several first ascents and successful expeditions. She is also an avid endurance runner, mountaineer and mountain biker. She also teaches climbing safety, gives lectures, trains other athletes, organizes climbing events and takes care of some well-known Social Media channels.

Expert for: Hardgoods, Backpacks & Mountaineering

Urs Weber competed in numerous races, ran more than 50 marathons, short-distance and Ironman triathlon events, has been testing running shoes and equipment for over 20 years and has been working as an editor for specialty equipment at Runner's World Germany for more than ten years.

"The ISPO Award is the litmus test for the sporting goods industry. Whoever succeeds here is probably also successful on the market. Developments in the sports industry have shown that the winners are highly relevant in their respective sub-markets – as technological pioneers, design icons or trend products.“

For Max, being a jury member is not just part of the job. For him, it’s rather a privilege, being able to support the leading international sports trade show for retailers and sports experts in finding the best products of the year. It’s a privilege that makes him, his publisher and his team very proud.

Beatriz has been working for the Public CatalanTelevision for seven years specializing in sports communications. She has run endurance races around the world and is the first Spanish woman to finish the 4deserts races, named one of the Top 10 endurance competitions in the world by TIME magazine. Loving the mountains, she went to the Everest base camp with a Spanish expedition in September 2012.

Dr. Jun-Yan Hu is Chief Technology Officer at Best Pacific International Holdings Limited, Technical committee member of the Standardization Administration of China and External Ph. D. Student Supervisor at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His research interests cover functional products development and performance evaluation, standard development and technology transfer. Jun-Yan is listed as inventor in 38 patents granted around the world and received various innovative products awards. Since 2011, he is also a member of several National Technical Committees on Textiles and Material Characterization, which is part of the standardization administration committee in China.

Aleks Tatic is a product designer and founder of the agency Tatic Designstudio in Milan. After his studies at the Art Center College of Design in the USA and in Switzerland, he specialized on sports & lifestyle products and tools at various European firms. He then led the Italian design studio „Attivo Creative Resource“ to international success for twelve years. Today, with his multicultural team of designers and product specialists, he designs and develops a wide range of highly ergonomic products.

Three years ago, after a total of 17 years with INTERSPORT and four years as Running Category Manager for a group of 24 shops, Fabrice joined Endurance Shop to develop and structure the product selection and network of the French market-leading running retail chain with a total of 58 outlets throughout France. The running, cycling and fitness enthusiast also works as a freelancer for various publications, TV and radio stations, and sports brands. The 42-year-old is also working with trend consultants in Paris, London, and New York.

“Being an ISPO AWARDS jury member comes as the reward after 20 years in the sports retail business and always searching for new trends and innovations. Thank you for this opportunity!"

Besides running her parents' company’s IT, Andrea Langheinrich also works at a fitness center. When it comes to sports, she is open for everything and extremely versatile – from skiing and hiking to wakeboarding. Andrea loves to be active – dancing, running or tennis, but also Yoga or stand-up paddling are only some of her passions. She is extremely interested in the latest fitness trends and takes care of her health.

"I am super excited to be part of the Fitness & Health jury. I am sure it will be an entirely new experience for me, and a great enticement to try out a lot of new things."

For over 20 years, Wolfgang has been involved in sports and travel journalism. He is currently publisher of German SkiPresse (skipresse.de) and the new digital travel magazine RoadTrip (roadtrip.cc). In the past, he has worked for as well as published several B2B magazines and consumer magazines. Wolfgang has been involved with the ISPO Awards since the beginning of ISPO’s “European Ski Awards” over ten years ago.

After many years of design experience in the fashion industry, Alexa Dehmel decided to make use of her passion for sports and become a freelance designer for functional clothing in 1996, followed by the foundation of her own agency with employees in 2005. Even today, it is still a positive challenge for her and her team to develop good products and collections for the mountain, water, fitness and performance sports and workwear sectors. A further milestone is planned for 2020: A globally unique innovation, competence and training center for functional clothing in the Munich area.

Interview with Alexa Dehmel: "Munich to get a unique expertise center for functional clothing"

Jana Lindqvist is a former tennis player who switched to freeskiing in the early 2000s.
Since then, she has filmed with both Swedish Posse and Free Radicals and competed on the Scandinavian and international tour as well as on the FWQ.

Currently, Jana works as a purchaser at Alpingaraget in Stockholm, Sweden. Thanks to her background both as tennis player and skier, she knows the importance of function and fit and what her customers are looking for. Quality and design are also very important, and Jana carefully picks the key items from the collections of the brands she works with.
"I feel honored to be part of the jury and think it will be exciting."

Mathieu was editor of a major online portal for several years before joining Éditions Nivéales, France's largest action sports media company: Éditions Nivéales publishes magazines such as Snowsurf, Ski Magazine, Skieur Magazine, Grimper, Montagnes, and Vertical. Although he started snowboarding relatively late at the age of 15, Mathieu has tested more than 500 different skis and snowboards in the past 20 years.

Tomasz Kurdziel has been publishing NTN Snow&More magazine in Poland for 20 years. Sport has always been his great passion: above all skiing, but also sailing, windsurfing, tennis, and motocross. In all these years, he was not only a journalist and consumer, he also tried to organize ski races and trips. "I haven't missed one single ISPO in 25 years. For me, the ISPO is a meeting point, inspiration and knowledge source. It's a fixed date in my calendar – like Christmas."

Stéphane studied mechanical engineering and has been working at the European Patent Office in Munich as a patent examiner for the past 15 years. First covering footwear for eight years, he is now responsible for ski/snowboard/bindings/skates/wheels/climbing gear. His work includes the assessment of innovations in regards to the current state of the art and granting the patent provided a product meets the requirements. Stéphane grew up in Bourg St Maurice / Les Arc in France. Competing in ski contests at a very early age, he switched to snowboarding in the early 1990s and joined the ISF and FIS circuit for four years. When the carving skis were introduced to the market, he switched back to skiing. Nowadays, he loves to go ski touring, and his preferred skis are telemark skis. In the summer, Stéphane is a passionate climber, mountaineer, and mountain biker.

“I feel honored that I was asked to join the ISPO Award Jury. Skiing is my way of life and everything connected with skiing is my passion. I deal every single day with patent applications on paper. To see the actual innovations is highly motivating. I can’t wait to see what the ski world has come up with this year to make our lives better.”

After his active career as a biathlete and cross-country skier, Mario took on the role of editor-in-chief of www.xc-ski.de, the best-known German-language online portal for cross-country skiing, while studying business administration. Every year, he organizes the largest cross-country ski test in the world. Since 2015, Mario and his brother are the owners of the Internet portal. 

Christof Ronge develops two- and three-dimensional designs for leading brand manufacturers.

"As an athlete with an affinity for technology and materials, I am looking forward to the exciting task in the jury of the ISPO Award. But it doesn't always have to be the reinvention of the ski that inspires me. For me, it's rather the entirety of solutions to small and large problems that defines an outstanding product." 

Anders has a management consultant background with international experience in automotive and sports and today engaged in challenges with brand management, digitalization and sustainability issues. He grew up on the countryside in a region with an strong Nordic skiing heritage and today appreciates outdoor life all seasons in the mountains and on the sea. He is the President of the Swedish Sailing Federation and has a strong engagement in events like Ecotrail, Uddevalla MTB and La Diagonela in Engadin. Until  2015 he was the CEO of Vasaloppet.

“I spent most of my career in product development and I am fascinated by the boost in interest for Nordic skiing as well as the development of new products that comes along with the growth of the market. To be part of selecting and awarding the most innovative products is an honor and I think we will see many innovative products that will surprise us in the next couple of years.”

Winner "Become a jury member"

From the early childhood Janine has been involved in sports and travel. She is currently Researcher at TU Dortmund University and lecturer for alpine Skiing. Since several years she is involved in the training and education of skiers and ski instructors and worked in several countries of the world.

“I am really happy to join the Jury for the ISPO Ski Award, because Skiing is a part of my everyday life and my attitudes towards life. As researcher i´m working with innovations and aspects of quality. Therefore I am very excited about the submitted products and I am happy to have the opportunity to judge and discuss their different aspects with various experts. "