Karpos partner with Anterselva 2020 Biathlon World Championships

  Sportful and Karpos partner with Anterselva / Antholz 2020. Two brands, arising from the same passion for sports, the mountains and nature. An organizing committee that shares the same values and that has transmitted them to the most important winter sports event in the Nordic skiing world. Three partners in a single project, Anterselva/Antholz 2020. Sportful is the product of a great passion for cross-country skiing and cycling and was created with the unwavering goal of making athletes faster, lighter and more protected when practicing the sports they love. Karpos emerged from this experience and directed its gaze upward, creating garments for those who love to move with speed, lightness and safety in the mountains. These are the elements that will characterize the next Biathlon World Championships, which will bring the Südtirol Arena in Anterselva to life in 2020. https://youtu.be/qB5MOQgXuWc The representatives of these outstanding entities met and immediately felt in perfect harmony: the same values, the same unconditional love for sports and the values they represent. “Ours is a partnership that emerged naturally,” said Alessio Cremonese, director of Sportful, “with an openness and ease that prove that important collaborations are created first of all in spirit. Then nothing is more genuine than the effort we at Sportful devote to creating the best garments for our athletes, and nothing is more genuine than the professionalism and passion that the organizing committee of Anterselva/Antholz 2020 bring to what we can without a doubt describe as the most important event in the world for biathlon.” Gioia Cremonese, Karpos brand manager, added, “Providing the 1,500 volunteers with Karpos clothing is like following the projects of our athletes and ambassadors in the Himalayas or in Patagonia or on the challenging walls of the Dolomites. The volunteers are athletes who, like us, enjoy ski mountaineering, mountain biking, trail running or climbing. They want the best for what they do, and that’s why we’ve dedicated the same energy to them as we dedicate to all the best Karpos athletes and ambassadors.” A collaboration that will bring together Sportful, Karpos and the organizing committee of Anterselva/Antholz in partnership for the next three years, starting with the world championships in 2020. A story that is yet to be written and that will bring great satisfaction to the world of winter sports and beyond. WHO IS KARPOS At first we talked about lizards, ants and caterpillars – all animals that are able to overcome gravity without wings. But then we came to think that the concept should be represented by an element that could symbolize a man climbing, but also nature, which in this case should encompass and surround the man’s mind – and more. And thus was born that superhuman hand, a fusion between the digits of a man and those of a gecko, a prehistoric and magical reptile capable of walking on walls. And then the color ... green, the color of nature, because it is not we who conquer the mountains but the mountains that conquer us. We are the visionary mountaineers who imagine that love can cause holds to materialize under our fingers. We are the crazy idealists who think that with passion we can realize our dreams. We believed this, and we continue to believe it. WHO IS SPORTFUL Sportful started as a sporting dream, a goal, an ambition. Olindo & Irma Cremonese, from Asolo in Italy moved to the foothills of the Dolomites in 1946 to build a business - initially shearing, carding & spinning wool yarn.  Eventually the business evolved - producing quality underwear in the late 1960s under the name Manifattura Valcismon. Sportful’s story really starts in 1972 when their son, Giordano Cremonese, became intrigued by the challenge of the new Marcialonga cross-country ski race- taking place near his home. Though he was a keen cross country skier & athlete in general, he felt that the clothes available at the time were inadequate for such a long race in a cold valley. He set about producing some of his own designs using Acrylic fabrics that were state of the art at the time, the finishing touch on the garments was the ‘Sportful’ logo to highlight their design & purpose. On a cold January morning in Val di Fiemme, Giordano lined up with the hundreds of other skiers & took on the tough course with his bright orange suit designed to keep him warm & comfortable for the 70km race. His unique clothing received many compliments & enquiries - he realized that there must be a demand for quality clothing designed specifically for the sport. By 1973 Sportful was officially up & running with orders coming in from across the Dolomites for his unique specialist cross-country clothing. In 1985 with a solid reputation for ski wear, the Sportful brand followed Dr. Cremonese’s other sporting passion & began to develop clothing for cycling, using it’s knowledge gained from designing apparel to perform comfortably in changing conditions. The brand was well received in the cycling community, with teams such as Ceramiche Ariostea ,Maglificio Bianchi using Sportful. Within a few years was in use by possibly the most successful team of all time –Mapei & then later the honour of clothing the Italian National team who won 6 World Championships and 1 Olympic title in Sportful. Family has always been the core of the Sportful brand, from its beginnings as Manifattura Valcismon with Olindo & Irma selling their wool to the factories of Veneto, passing their business on to their son Giordano and now his children, Alberto, Alessio, Dario & Gioia, have all had important roles within the business since 1995. It’s an extended family too, some of our staff have been here for  over 40 years and the business is still in the same valley as it started, back in 1946. We have a passion for the mountains around us. Whether we ski, cycle, hike or climb we are extremely lucky to have the spectacular playground of the Dolomites on our doorstep and take every opportunity to make the most of them, you can see their influence in many of our products, whether it be the name of a jacket or a feature we thought of while half way up a rock face, they are our inspiration. In 2007 Sportful drew from it’s love for the mountains, creating the Karpos outdoor clothing line, a range of technical product designed to perform in alpine environments, whether climbing, hiking or ski mountaineering. Innovation & design has always been key to our products, something clearly demonstrated by the success of our athletes over the past 40 years. We’ve been technical supplier of clothing for some of the biggest names in our sports - in the past from Mapei & Team Italia, Tinkoff Saxo to our current partnership with Team Barhein Merida and Bora Hansgrohe. In Cross Country we’ve sponsored the Italian,  French, Czech, Finnish, Ukraine & Kazakhstan national teams and in Ski Mountaineering the Spanish & Italian teams. We have always strived to make the best products possible to ensure top-level athletes have the leading edge. Some things always remain the same though; we are driven by our love of sport, mountains & our desire to innovate. We are Sportful. Info: www.karpos-outdoor.com