Airwalk Sets Up Testing Center
Company bases staff at Hood for year-round feedback.
9/29/98
By John Stouffer

Several years ago, Airwalk was considered a top snowboard-boot supplier that drew heavily from its skateboard heritage to make great strides in the snow business.

Paul Alden and Cec Annett

Today, the company has evolved into a full-equipment supplier looking to expand on the idea that it's a snowboard company, not just a boot or youth-oriented footwear company. SNOWboarding Business had the opportunity to visit Airwalk at its Boalsburg, Pennsylvania offices to better see just what the company has been up to recently.

Centrally located in the Quaker State, the Airwalk offices house 80 employees that include designers, product managers, sales, marketing, and customer-service departments. The company also has another office in Altoona, but is slowly moving those people to the main office. Located directly out the back of the building, one gets a view of Tussey Mountain, a small, East Coast ski resort that the company can get to in a matter of minutes during the snow season to test out product. In the summer, the surrounding hills provide outstanding single-track mountain biking for employees.

According to Snowboard Boot and Apparel Product Manager Cec Annett, Airwalk has been spending more and more time on snow to ensure that the company will produce and supply the best-performing snowboard products in the industry. With more than fifteen global A-team, more than 30 B-team, and 100 regional riders, the company relies heavily on the riders feedback to assist with designs, graphics, and overall performance of its products.

But Airwalk has taken things one step further. It has based its R&D; Manager Joe Babcock at Mt. Hood, Oregon to test and evaluate new product designs and in-production models year-round to make sure they meet specifications during the manufacturing process.

This summer the company hosted a major get-together of its designers and team riders to work on products. By doing this, the company helped give ownership of these products to the different people involved with developing the lines. While retailers won't be able to preview these new products for another several months, the Airwalk staff believes that it will be offering the most complete and best-ever line of snowboards, boots, bindings, and apparel.

That's a major departure from the company that once supplied almost every pro snowboarder with boots and only boots. But in the end, with a growing and mainstreaming snowboard market, Airwalk sees the business as vital to its company image. And with the resources that its highly successful footwear business offers to its snowboard offerings, the company still believes that it has plenty of room to continue to grow and improve in the snow-sports market.

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