All Images : Joel Fuller, Raide Research | Skier : Nikolai Schirmer
Rising backcountry brand Raide Research has welcomed Nikolai Schirmer to the team as both an athlete and an investor. Schirmer just might be the world's most famous freeskier , right after the flying Frenchman , but he brings far more than just his reputation to the table.
He's signed on for the next four seasons, giving an immense boost to Raide's credibility. Schirmer is betting big on the brand's continued growth, as his contract is partially funded with equity in the company, making him both an athlete and a prominent investor.
"From what I’ve been a part of over the past months in terms of product development, I’m sure this will go well," Schirmer told FREESKIER. Started just three years ago, Raide has already begun to work its way into conversations with the likes of well-established industry names.
"The partnership actually started with my filmers getting the backpacks," said Schirmer when discussing how Raide originally came into his crosshairs. "I saw the functionality [of the packs] was beyond anything I had used before. Then they came out with the Hybrid Bib the next year, which is a product I’ve tried to develop for half a decade, and it went from there."
Schirmer has been vocal in the past that he only reps brands whose gear he trusts with his life. And with the caliber of skiing he's known for, it's not hard to see this is an honest statement. Someone in his shoes can't afford to gamble when it comes to reliability.
Schirmer, Raide's newest team member, repping the Hardshell Jacket and Bibs
He elaborated on his confidence in the partnership, saying, "To work with a brand that is 100% focused on what I do is extremely refreshing, as we have to consider nothing but what will make the sickest product." Schirmer credits Raide founder, CEO and Chief Product Developer Kyle Siegel with instilling a performance-first attitude throughout the company.
"Having the CEO and Chief Product Developer be the same person really speeds things up," said Schirmer. "Kyle started his career at SpaceX and you can really tell, because product development is going at rocket speed."
An avid backcountry skier, Siegel's career has been anything but linear, working in different capacities at companies like SpaceX, Snapchat and The North Face. The inspiration to start Raide came from a ski trip on Mount Rainier.
Having tried numerous packs and gear before, this expedition was the tipping point that led him to realize a telling truth about high-performance mountain gear: People were making gear lighter and lighter, but features and function weren't being prioritized.
"It didn't matter that this was a very light, 600-gram pack. I was moving much slower because it didn't combine performance, function and style in the way I wanted," said Siegel. "When I looked around the market, it seemed like every brand was equating performance to lightness, but there's so much more to the story. It has to be light, but it also needs to be durable, comfortable and include features you can access."
This philosophy, a blend of style, function and lightweight performance, has fueled Raide's products, and it's the guiding force behind their winter 2027 collection . This latest drop is their largest yet, including several men's and women's bibs and jackets, insulated layers, mitts and, of course, their staple packs.
Siegel even went as far as to say, "This [2027] collection is a meaningful step forward and might be the largest evolution in soft goods for ski touring in one drop." He's not far off, as it includes several record-setting products, including "the lightest back-panel-access ski packs on the market, skiing's first hard shell kit in skiing with Spectra-like ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene woven throughout the entire garment and a down jacket made with 1000-fill ExpeDry down that offers the highest warmth-to-weight ratio available."
Schirmer is expected to have a heavy hand in product development over the coming years, and there's possibly no better mind for it in the industry. As someone who clearly values the fundamentals Siegel laid out, it will be interesting to see where the brand heads in the coming seasons, and we'll be watching closely.
