The Skier Who Built the Coolest Ski Brand You’ve Never Heard Of

What makes a “core” skier? I’d say, it depends on who you ask.

In the broadest sense, though, it’s a person who truly dedicates themselves to the culture, the craft, and the artfulness of skiing. It’s more than just someone who hangs out at “cool” ski areas, wears the trendiest outerwear, or portrays themselves a certain way in media–it’s someone whose life revolves around skiing and whose aim is to shape the sport’s future.

By that definition, I’d say Laurent De Martin (LDM) is absolutely nailing it. The 33-year-old Swiss freeskier from the Region Dents du Midi (a small range of particularly jagged peaks near the French/Swiss border just north of Chamonix) has had quite the evolution as as an athlete–starting as comp skier before starring in a number of iconic park and urban film segments, and eventually shifting into a far more influential role as the co-founder of the Simply Recreation Club (better known as Simply. skis).

LDM is a big part of a small but growing movement in skiing to bring the sport and industry into a more modern, sustainable paradigm. The vision behind Simply. is to be a purveyor of experience, not just to sell as many skis as possible, and to do it in environmentally responsible, fiscally sustainable manner. In fact, the skis are intentionally “weird,” with extremely unique shapes featuring squared off tips, a swallow tail across all waist widths, and soft but poppy flexes that encourage expression and a different approach to sliding on snow. They fall into the same category as skis like the Salomon Départ, offerings from 1000 Skis, or products like the Armada Kimbo–they’re not for everyone, but are meant to plug a gap that progressive freeskiers felt needed filling.

Just as much as making skis, part of the process for LDM is pouring his artistic vision into experimental, ethereal-feeling film projects. His latest, titled inefficient joy _, just dropped online, showcasing a stunningly beautiful approach to trying to answer a question we might all face as skiers: why do we do it?

The film’s description explains it: “inefficient joy _ is an experimental short ski film exploring the paradox of dedicating so much time and energy to something as fleeting as the moments we all chase throughout the winter. In doing so, it reflects on why we do what we do revealing the inexplicable joy that skiing brings.”

With the release of the new film, we caught up with LDM to chat about his career and where things have taken him.

Laurent, give us a sense of where it all got started for you. 

Skiing has been a part of my life as long as I can remember, growing up on the border of France and Switzerland it was always around me. I spent some time competition skiing when I was younger, mostly in local slopestyle contests. That was way before the 2014 Sochi games, but the Swiss Freeski Team existed long before that. We could go to sports school and do comps to ski as much as possible. You’re obviously stoked when that works! 

I did alot of the World Cups before Sochi with the team, but I learned that it wasn’t really my vibe. I got hurt that early season, and then guys like Andri Ragettli came around, and the level went crazy. I had already started doing movies when I was 16, but that’s kind of when I went into full-time filmmaking.

I started out as part of the Gpsyfeelin crew, then changed to film with Level 1 for 4 years. I was a Superunknown finalist, which eventually turned into filming with them. Josh Berman really backed me up a lot. While filming, I still competed in some specialty comps like Line Catcher and Playstreets. They were so sketchy! Like Red Bull Crashed Ice, but on skis.

What were some of your inspirations for filming back then and some of your favorite segments you were in?

Oh man. Candide has always been one of my biggest inspirations. But in terms of segments, I’d say that massive Mammoth jump session for Habit, when the 120-foot Superpark jump got re-built for Level 1. I think it was one of the biggest jumps ever built at the time. So scary! Also, my time learning to snowmobile–that was so funny for us Europeans. We don’t really have those in the Alps.

That’s when I started to understand that it’s not just about riding. There’s an art and creative process to it. My time with Level 1 eventually ended, and I turned into making my own projects, locally. Too much travel was wearing down on me. I wanted to enjoy my own mountains a bit more, taking the skills I learned around the world to showcase my home. That all came from the vision of doing it locally, with friends. Performance was important but the point was aesthetics. 

It’s not that easy to make a living out of skiing, especially in a country like Switzerland. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue that. I was skiing for Movement Skis for 8 years, but I was ready to settle down a bit and take it a bit more easy. So I did one winter just doing local resort content, and that was exactly what I needed to reset.

That led to two of my favorite films like From Switzerland With Love, and Simply., and now I just dropped my most recent just came out that I’m really proud of: inefficient joy_. 

When did the idea for a new ski brand come into play? 

I met the crew who eventually became Simply during the time I was re-thinking my approach to my skiing. They actually came to me and offered a local prototype facility to make skis, in Le Chable, at the bottom of Verbier, very close to where I live. That definitely made things a lot easier, we didn’t need to slot into existing factories to make things happen. Plus, it was clear that we shared similar values.

At the end of that winter, I was involved in an avalanche accident in the mountains, which forced me to reset again. But, that made me realize to just jump into the project and not be nervous about the stuff I didn’t know. I needed to do what I wanted to do in skiing. Fuck it, let’s go! That December, we launched. We actually only had like six months to make a brand and products from a blank slate. 

That’s impressively quick. What was your vision for the brand?

To me, it was about simplicity and aesthetics. I wanted a ski design that doesn’t change every year. That just leads to overproduction, which is really not worth it for small brands. 

I’ve spent some time skiing in Japan and I took inspiration from surfing and snowboarding over there. Here, skiers don’t take care of their skis! But over in Japan, the locals see them as tools to take care of. I think we’ve definitely lost the respect for our tools in skiing, and it’s something I really miss. 

From a branding perspective, that year-to-year consistency leads to recognizable products. For us, it’s our shape. Also the simple topsheets. I like to call it Ghost Style. That’s different from, say, 1000 Skis’ super-loud style with the red skis.

What about the vision for the product?

We started right away with the shape we wanted to do. The skis themselves have dictated the visual vision for photography and films. That shape really calls for a certain style, but there’s no rules. 

The first year really was a year zero. We dropped the Recreation (our all-mountain ski) in 3 sizes, and used that first season to tease and test the product.  The following winter, we launched the Carver, then followed with the Celebration (a fat powder ski) the following year. Now we have three skis in the line.

What does it feel to be at this point in the game? Does it feel good getting established?

Established? Ha, I might not say that, but stability is the goal! We’ve definitely made an impact on the scene, which is what I really am proud of.  For me, the creative part has been the most rewarding. I’ve seen myself grow the most in that world. 

The business side is super interesting to me too. I think it’s way more complicated and less my world, but I’m glad to be involved. 

What are the biggest challenges you’re facing as a small brand?

There’s definitely some challenges of producing skis in Switzerland. But there are some advantages. We reach another community, a more core and maybe “normal” community in skiing. That’s also why I want to keep things approachable, and not have to sell skis at premium DPS prices. 

Do you think we’re entering a new era in the industry with indie brands coming back?

I’d like to think so. Much respect to brands like Faction and Black Crows that ushered that in that new era, but Simply is really in a different league. Those guys are growing, growing, growing. I’m not sure if that way of thinking is really working in the long term. 

I think it’s an opportunity for the little guys today though. Like the guys at 1000 Skis, we’re from the same generation, and I think we wanted to take the opportunity to do things a little differently. It’s not about being as big as possible, but it’s about having a healthy business and sharing our vision of skiing.

We have the opportunity to shape how we want free skiing to look, and that’s one I don’t want to miss.

What’s next for you and for Simply?

I think I want to spend more time skiing, last year’s winter was very involved with making the film and working on the brand. I want to take it a little easier and spend as much time on snow as I can. For Simply, we’re going to work on some artist capsules and test some new models to release in the future. 

Now that I have a ski brand, winter always comes too fast!