Amplid’s new website for the 2014/15 season is now live!
Check out all the details of the Morning Split and LAB Carbon Split.
The LAB is a skunkworks of sorts, created to push the envelope of snowboard design without the traditional market restraints. Last year they brought us the LAB Carbon Split, one of the work’s lightest splitboards. Maybe next year they could bring your idea to life. Amplid has been openly seeking ideas in design, technology or otherwise for future splitboards. If you have an idea for Amplid, feel free to share it here in our forum.
– Amplid
– Amplid
About Amplid
Amplid is the sum of its parts. From inspiring artists to committed team riders and frost bitten demo guys, the large family of contributors who make Amplid what it is are the Amplid Research Cartel. With the ARC’s efforts, Amplid, an independent, rider owned company endeavours to produce the best skiing and snowboarding gear available, without cutting corners or compromising its ethics.
The Boss – Peter Bauer, Bavarian born and bred, started snowboarding in 1984. Hooked from his second day riding, Peter progressed quickly and was soon competing. At the 1986 Austria Cup on the slopes of the Kitzsteinhorn a chance meeting with Jake Burton Carpenter changed the course of Peter’s life:
“Jake approached me and asked me where I’d got the Burton Cruiser I was riding from and whether I’d like to try a Safari prototype. Before I knew it I was wearing a Burton race suit and had a ticket to the US Open.”
During his career as a professional snowboarder Peter was German Champion 11 times, European Champion five times, World Champion four times and vice World Champion in the combined event (halfpipe, moguls, slalom and downhill) behind a certain Craig Kelly. Racing also allowed Peter to freeride all over the world: From first descents in Valdez and Atlin to impossible lines off the back of Chamonix, Peter was one of freeriding’s true pioneers.
No riding career is complete without video parts but few riders have been involved with such classics flics as the Blizzard of Ahhhs, Scream of Consciousness and Pachamama. 16 years at Burton also gave Peter the opportunity to learn his craft. Peter was heavily involved with developing and testing some of the most revolutionary snowboards of the late 80s and 90s and learned a lot from working with the best in the industry:
“I learned a lot from Jake. He has a holistic approach to things; taking a step back and seeing things from a distance for a while and then getting closer again and making adjustments with a tiny screwdriver (metaphoric) to get the whole right.”
In 2002 Peter left Burton to pursue his own interests. Success with his own design consultancy and with Powderhausen, Europe’s first snow community, had given Peter a taste for entrepreneurship and he felt it was time to make a break. In 2005 Peter Bauer and a local friend Anian Thrainer founded Amplid, a ski and snowboard brand for the anti-apartheid era. To this day Amplid is the only brand to serve both skiers and snowboarders from day one. Amplid enabled Peter to experiment with shred designs, flex patterns and graphical concepts to his heart’s content.
With a flair for creating successful businesses it may have been surprising to some that Peter chose to go down the Snowboard brand route, a route not known for its capital rewards:
“Amplid was never about the money, it was about getting our feet on shreds the market couldn’t provide. Anian and I wanted to ride our own boards and skis. Unfortunately the market is flooded with what sells easily, not what makes a rider’s day better. We started Amplid to be an exception.”
Although Amplid keeps Peter more than busy, 30 years after taking his first turns, Peter is still pulling ‘sickies’ on powder days and he religiously rides nearly every snow covered morning at the resort that lies at his doorstep. When asked what keeps him riding, Peter’s answer is typical of somebody who has caught the bug:
“Actually I don‘t know. I’m still hooked like I was on day one. Nope, actually like day two, the day that you start to know that you love riding”
The Mission – Amplid was founded by Peter Bauer and Anian Thrainer to build better snowboards and skis; to this day that remains Amplid’s single-minded mission. The yearly cycle of bringing new snowboards and skis to market is at times frustrating, hectic and hard work, but when we get to rip a couple of turns on a new design, receive an email from a stoked customer or hear buzz about an Amplid shred at a demo day, it’s all worth it. Amplid is proud of the skis and snowboards it designs and manufactures in the European Alps.
Ethics – Amplid’s ethics are simple; we value our customers, we take pride in our work, we care about the environment and we love our brand. All Amplid Skis and Snowboards go through extensive development and testing so that we are sure that they will deliver performance time and time again. All of the materials used in Amplid products are from trusted suppliers who guarantee quality and consistency. Amplid skis and snowboards are manufactured in two of the most forward thinking and environmentally responsible factories in the European Alps, each with a motivated, professional and local workforce. All of Amplid’s suppliers are situated within 400km of its factories to minimize unnecessary transportation mileage. Last year Amplid’s development of less environmentally harmful material solutions and manufacturing techniques won the ISPO Eco award; anything we can do to keep the mountains white all winter is just good business sense!
