Renowned athlete/activist Caroline Gleich launches goggles to promote mountain exploration and equal opportunity for women, from the outdoors to the office.
“It’s not enough to have 50 percent of women showing up. We want 50 percent of women at the top.” Professional ski mountaineer Caroline Gleich’s words strike a powerful chord — especially for a product pitch.
For fall 2019, Gleich will team up with eyewear brand Julbo to create custom goggles. But the central goal of Gleich’s namesake gear won’t just be a special design. She wants to spark big dreams for mountain explorers and, more importantly, educate adventurers about the need to support women’s leadership roles.
To that end, the Caroline Gleich Family Series goggle will donate a portion of proceeds to an ambitious Everest campaign Gleich hopes will help create a more equitable representation of women “at the top.”
Julbo Caroline Gleich Family Series Goggle
Julbo’s Caroline Gleich Family Series goggle ($240) sports a vibrant illustration, created by artist and freeride skier Simon Charriere, across its silicone strap. The scene depicts the skyline of the French Alps in Chamonix — home to Julbo’s headquarters — and Utah’s Wasatch Range, Gleich’s home peaks.
“The artwork is based on a story of pursuing big mountain dreams: being a small person going from one range to a bigger range,” Gleich said.
Julbo claims this custom goggle provides a wide field of vision and utilizes the brand’s proprietary Reactiv photochromic lens. So it darkens in the sun and transitions back in low light. The lens also sports an anti-fog coating to help prevent fog buildup.
Gleich said the goggle is meant for skiing and snowboarding. The goggles are meant to handle quick-changing conditions— the lynchpin of Julbo’s product development.. Still family-owned, Julbo made the first-ever glacier glasses in 1888.
“Julbo is a small business with the same headquarters and manufacturing plant they’ve had for over a century,” Gleich said. “I love the brand’s rich mountaineering history.”
Goggles Support a ‘Climb for Equality’
A portion of the goggle sales will benefit Climb for Equality, Gleich’s 2019 campaign. This spring, Gleich will summit and ski Mt. Everest, and use the mission to raise awareness about the importance of equality for women.
“Close to 10 percent of all people who have summited Everest are women,” she said. “Leadership positions across the board — whether it’s 8,000-meter peaks or Fortune 500 CEOs — do not have an equal representation of women.”
Paired with the goggle launch, Climb for Equality invites people of all genders to share a social media post that supports women’s leadership using the hashtag #climbforequality. The goal: reach 1,000 posts in solidarity by the end of 2019.
Explorers can access the campaign’s social media toolkit at the Big Mountain Dreams Foundation website. Grab the goggles at Julbo.com this fall.
