ISPO Award 2021: These Are the Products of the Year

"It's all about finding the most innovative products and ideas," explains Franziska Zindl, Head of ISPO Award. Whether a brand exhibits at ISPO Munich is completely irrelevant in the evaluation. After all, the ISPO Award has developed into an important orientation aid for retailers and customers since 2011. The jury's neutral judgment is what makes the seal of quality so valuable.

And so, from February 1 to 5, 2021, a total of 47 Winners and 25 Gold Winners will present themselves at ISPO Munich Online. You can find all award winners here.

There was plenty to do for the five juries during the corona pandemic. The experts from all over the world had to review around 250 applicants in the categories "Snowsports", "Outdoor", "Urban Life" and "Running & Fitness". The fifth jury also awarded the ISPO Sustainability Achievement. Across the categories, 66 products made it into the final selection.

The Ortovox Diract Voice promises faster help in avalanche accidents. In an emergency, seconds can matter, and speed is of the essence when rescuing avalanche victims. The rescuers themselves are often stressed or even shocked, the search in impassable terrain is a challenge. The Diract Voice avalanche transceiver guides rescuers to buried victims with clear voice instructions, guiding the user to the target and speeding up the search and rescue of buried victims.

For Ortovox CEO Christian Schneidermeier, the Product of the Year award is above all a confirmation: "We want to make mountain sports safer, that's what Ortovox stands for. 40 years ago, we revolutionized avalanche victim search with the first dual-frequency device. With the new Diract Voice, we are now presenting yet another innovation that, with its simplicity and intuitive operation, provides even better support for finding buried victims as quickly as possible in an emergency. We are very pleased that the new development has been awarded Product of the Year and confirms that the intensive development work has paid off.

The Cyclon from On wants to score at first glance with sophisticated technology for runners: Speedboard midsole, rocker silhouette and a weight of under 200 grams. The real highlight: the fast running shoe is only available by subscription. In this way, On wants to set new standards in sustainability: the shoes are made entirely from sustainably sourced polyamide, over 50 percent of which is made from bio-based oils from the castor bean. At the end of their life, the worn-out kicks are exchanged for new ones. The old shoes do not end up in the trash, but can be recycled as a whole. For this, On also secures a Sustainability Achievement.

For Caspar Coppetti, On Co-Founder, the new shoe is just the first step into the future: "Cyclon is a 'new shoe.‚Run, recycle, repeat' in a subscription. With the Cyclon project, On is taking a big step towards the circular economy. With the subscription model and clever design, we want to break through the usual linear product life cycles. Products are easier to recycle if they consist of as few different materials as possible. That's why we designed the Cyclon performance running shoe with a large proportion of bio-based materials from the castor bean - the shoe is 100 percent recyclable.

For those who like to work out at home without big equipment, the VAHA smart mirror is a sleek alternative. This intelligent mirror is design furniture and fitness trainer in one: It offers many workouts from the categories cardio, strength, yoga, dance and flexibility, in addition, personal trainings are possible via video call on the mirror. As part of the personal coaching, nutritional advice with individual plans is also available. For the workouts, it has a high-resolution display, camera, speakers as well as microphone and offers access to many third-party applications.

Valerie Bures-Bönström, founder of the Mrs. Sporty studio chain, presents the VAHA as the ideal training device, especially for times of pandemic. She says: "Turning the living room into a gym at the touch of a button: With VAHA, we are pursuing the vision of combining the joy of exercise with smart technology and the best trainers in the industry - for a unique workout experience. We are very pleased that the jury of the ISPO Award has recognized the potential of VAHA and thank you very much for the award!"

The Haglöfs Nordic Expedition Down Jacket is made for harsh Arctic winters. It is made for adventurers who seek maximum functionality and comfort even in extreme cold. The construction combines the benefits of goose down as well as graphene infused polyester insulation and breathable outer fabric.

As a result, the insulation is said to keep you dry and warm for up to 10,000 minutes even in extreme, wet and humid conditions. The construction allows moisture to escape, reduces heat loss to almost zero and has a high warmth-to-weight ratio: in size L it weighs only 850 grams.

For Victor Adler, Global Marketing Director at Haglöfs, the award is the highlight of a special year: „We are very happy, and honored, to receive the prestigious ISPO product of the year award for our Nordic Expedition Down Hood. This has been an exceptional year in many ways, and we are incredibly proud of being able to develop such a complex innovation in a year like this.

With the Nordic Expedition Down hood, our ambition was to raise the bar for performance in the insulation category. We set out to create an innovative down jacket with exceptional insulating qualities that would allow the user to stay warm and dry – even in the most challenging and gruesome of Nordic weather.

We would like to thank the ISPO jury for recognizing these efforts, and for further reinforcing our belief that our vision of Responsible Performance is worth pursuing.“

Of the 66 products that made it to the final selection in the Sustainability section, the jury chose these products:

Zanier Eco Active Gloves Green

On Cyclon

Icebreaker Zoneknit Hoodie

Helly Hansen Odin Infinity Insulated Jacket

Earlybird Chiackadee