Altai Skis

Altai Skis was conceived by Nils Larsen and Francois Sylvain in 2009. We both had extensive experience in the ski industry and had worked together designing nordic and backcountry skis for over ten years. We felt there was a great potential for skis designed for what we like to call pocket backcountry, the skiing many skiers have ready access to cl... ose to where they live. In both Quebec (Francois home) and NE Washington (Nils home), skiing out the back door or close to it offers us excellent and easy access to the winter world. We set to work on new designs, with the goal of creating easy to use and accessible gear to match the often overlooked skiing possibilities hiding in plain view. Nils has been working on a documentary project on indigenous skiers in the remote Altai Mountains of Northern Asia since 2005. The ski traditions in the area date back thousands of years, possibly to the origins of skiing. The skiers in the Altai still use one ski design for all their skiing, whether its a short trip to feed their livestock, over the hill to visit a neighbor, or a two-week hunting expedition deep into the rugged mountains. All skiing in the Altai is backcountry. This was the inspiration for Altai Skis, it defines the spirit of our company and it will drive our designs into the future. As of fall 2014 we have upgraded our site to serve customers in both Canada and the US. First, our site is now multilingual (French and English)! The other big change (aside from the new look) is that we now accept payment in US and Canadian dollars. When entering the Product Page you need to choose between the US store or the Canadian store. We found this was the cleanest way to separate the two shopping carts as the products all have their own buy buttons as well as sizing and other options, both of which may vary between the US and Canada. Read more...Read More