Mammut acquired Snowpulse, a fellow Swiss company that makes one of Europe’s leading air bags for surviving avalanches. Air bag technology has been used for decades in Europe to protect backcountry skiers from avalanches, but is only now be adopted in the United States thanks to studies showing it dramatically reduces avalanche victims chances of being buried.
The acquisition will help round out Mammut’s portfolio of backcountry safety gear, a small but rapidly growing niche market that includes avalanche transceivers, shovels and probes. It will also help Snowpulse contend with growing competition from U.S. brands that have entered the market with less expensive air bag solutions.
Mammut, which closed the deal July 1, was already licensing Snowpulse venturi technology to equip a new line of air bag packs Mammut will launch this fall/winter.
Snowpulse SA CEO Yan Berchten and CTO Pierre Yves Guernier, who founded and owned Snowpulse, have stayed on and will continue to oversee development, quality control and sales and marketing of air bag products from Snowpulse’s headquarters in Martigny, near the popular freeriding areas of Verbier and Chamonix.
Mammut intends to continue to market the proven Lifebag models and the Snowpulse R.A.S. models under the Snowpulse brand. Dealers in the existing distribution network will be contacted by their distributor over the next few weeks and informed of the subsequent process.
