It’s 100 days until the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games, and The North Face used the occasion to unveil its uniforms for the U.S. Freeskiing Team at an event last night in New York City.
2014 marks the debut of freeskiing at the Olympics Games. The North Face worked with freeskiing athletes Tom Wallisch, Maddie Bowman, Devin Logan, and others to make the custom uniforms.
Unique touches include laser-cut stars on jacket cuffs and the uniforms’ suspenders as well as a stitched-in piece of a The North Face Himalayan suit worn on an Everest expedition.
The Everest piece is embroidered with the phrase “Bigger Than Me.” The material was on the summit of the world’s highest peak in 2012.
In addition to standard jackets, the uniforms come with a kit of accessories. Athletes can mix and match ball caps, beanies, Buff-type headwear, and other elements to distinguish their own look on the slopes in Sochi.
A far cry from ski-racing suits, the freeskiing uniforms are baggy and embody the current style seen in terrain parks around the country.
Notes a The North Face press release, “The uniforms were inspired by a ‘Rebel Americana’ theme to capture the spirit of U.S. Freeskiing’s rich history and rebellious, counter-culture attitude.”
The uniforms were made in the USA at a factory in the Bay Area. Watch for the baggy red, white, and blue suits during the halfpipe, slopestyle and skicross competitions this February in Sochi, Russia.
—Stephen Regenold
