ISPO Award 2022 Winner: SCOTT Superguide LT 95

How sustainably our equipment is manufactured concerns us all. That's why SCOTT has now taken an important step towards a more sustainable production of skis. Franz Marsan, Ski Product Manager at SCOTT explains this as follows: "At SCOTT we are skiers, cyclists, runners and we love our playground in nature. Our philosophy is to respect it and be environmentally conscious in the manufacturing of our products. We wanted to apply this philosophy to our skis as well. The Superguide LT 95 represents a new way to reduce our environmental footprint." To that end, SCOTT thought a lot about the materials used to build a ski. If you take a closer look at SCOTT's new Superguide LT 95, this becomes very clear as their team chased the goal to work as much as possible with sustainable materials when it came to this touring ski.

The focus is on the ski's wood core and the flax fibers used.

The core, made of 100% certified poplar wood, comes from sustainable European forestry whilst the finished ski is entirely manufactured in Austria. 100% natural flax fiber is used for damping. It replaces a carbon sheet and, as an alternative solution, gives the ski improved characteristics, for example, when shredding in variable conditions. The new eco-materials make the skis more controllable and improve both skiing experience and comfort.

The top sheet is made in part from bio-based raw materials. It comes from a French supplier who uses castor beans from India for it, replacing some of the plastic with biomass. 

Less fossil fuel based plastics in the ski also means a reduction in environmental impact. The use of recycled materials for the base and edges pursues the same goal of reducing the touring ski's environmental footprint while ensuring high performance.

Where no bio-based material could be used, recycled materials were the go-to. This also helped save resources in the manufacturing process, because reusing material pollutes the environment less than manufacturing based on completely new materials. That's why the base of the Superguide LT 95 consists of 50 percent recycled material and the edges 20 percent. Both are sourced from Austria. Likewise, SCOTT has optimized the application of glue in the composition of the ski's different layers to leave a smaller footprint here as well. 

This changes nothing in the use and care of the ski. The base and edges are just as durable and can be treated, waxed, and sharpened as usual in the service department.

As far as the design of the SCOTT Superguide LT 95 touring ski is concerned, a bridge has also been built to naturalness. On the one hand, the largely transparent top sheet provides insight into the inner workings of the ski and shows the eco-materials used. At the same time, a more environmentally friendly approach was also taken here and the injection of too many different shades was avoided. 

The result is a clean and at the same time, clever design in natural brown and wood tones, which on the one hand reveals the inner values of the ski and at the same time shows what SCOTT's development team was all about.

As a company, SCOTT launched what is called the Re-Source by SCOTT program to develop and promote corporate responsibility focusing on the brand's sustainability efforts around the three pillars of people, product, and the planet. The SCOTT Superguide LT 95 is the first innovative product in the ski sector, designed to kick off development for as many sustainable products as possible.

"We are very proud to present this ski model that is made from local and environmentally friendly materials without compromising on performance," said SCOTT Ski Product Manager Franz Marsan. 

The SCOTT Superguide LT 95 is made from more bio-based and recycled materials than new materials when calculated on its total weight, making it an important step towards sustainability. That's why the ski, which has been thought through down to the last detail of every component, is also an ISPO Award Winner 2022.

• over 50% of the weight is made of eco-materials
• an important milestone towards sustainable ski manufacturing
• a high percentage of recycled and local materials
• flax fibers supplementing carbon for damping
• clever transparent design