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Growing up as a skier in Park City who also raced, I was always bothered that the goggles I needed for racing made me look like an old Jerry. I felt ashamed wearing them while freeskiing. They were dorky and embarrassing. But the “cool” brands and incumbent mega companies didn’t have the field of view or the lens performance I needed to be fast on the race course. There was not a high-performance technical brand that was fun and good-looking while at home in the course, the park, or the backcountry.
After winning the Olympics in 2006, it was time to try to make my dream of a fun, technical, high-performance brand a reality. I had the name SHRED. in mind as “Ted Shred” was a nickname growing up, and shredding the mountain was my life.
Enter Carlo Salmini. Carlo and I became friends after meeting at an Italian slalom race in 2004. He wore amazingly sleek carbon fiber shin guards. I had to know where he got them. It turns out he is a materials engineer who made them in his garage and was willing to make me a pair. Soon, he was prototyping protection for many of the top racers in the world, and with that, he started Slytech Protection. Soon after, I stood atop the Olympic podium with shin guards Carlo had made and I won my first GS World Cup race with the first pair of arm guards ever made, now a piece of equipment worn by almost every racer. That summer, while he was in Park City, I shared with him my idea for SHRED. goggles that were bright, loud, and fun but technical, with a huge field of view and great lenses. Carlo loved the idea and knew how to make it possible. A couple of months later, we had prototypes, and shortly after that, we launched SHRED. in November 2006, with 4 neon-colored goggles that were recognizable from across the mountain.
Always innovating and never imitating, we quickly launched the first-ever soft back protector with Slytech, worn by top freeskiers, snowboarders, and racers. We added and pioneered product lines and technologies that would enhance my performance on the course while improving the normal skiers’ confidence on the mountain. For us, nothing is more frustrating than losing a race or day on the mountain to flat light, weather, or injury.
In the early years, when not hammering away over R&D inside his garage, Carlo hijacked a corner of his father’s office in Venice, Italy, for our global headquarters. Meanwhile, we ran our US operations out of my attic in Park City, enlisting our friends as sales reps. We didn’t have a business plan, but we had plenty of ambition. We have grown and matured, but we still have that hustle and grit.
Today, we have a few more products and industry firsts to our name and a key partnership with MIT allowing us to launch breakthrough technologies, but our commitment to innovation is stronger than ever. Whether developing helmets, protection, sunglasses, or goggles that have won 15 Olympic medals, we’re pioneering revolutionary technology that boosts confidence, enhances performance, helps you have more fun on the mountain, and unlocks your inner pro. We have emerged as a market leader, building the products of our dreams with thousands of five-star reviews for our customers while proudly maintaining our underdog status. Come SHRED. with us.
Ted Ligety
