Australian base layer and sock company, le bent, has partner with one of the world’s leading backcountry skiers, Cody Townsend, to create le send, a sock designed specifically for ski touring.
This is the world’s first ski touring specific sock created to help your feet get to the deep pow stashes through long ski tours and steep boot packs.
Gone are cold, wet, painful feet, replaced by le bent’s renowned bamboo rayon and merino blend with technology founded in the ski touring field. Townsend partnered with le bent to design a sock that keeps feet warmer, drier and more secure in the boot.
Design elements of ski touring sock
Le send has a double thickness at the toe box to complement wider toed ski touring boots. Vascular compression creates the feeling of cold, so Townsend and the le bent designers removed the typical compression element in the forefoot and added a subtle compression in the calf for added muscle support.
The weave on the upper forefoot has been designed to allow the feet to breathe through the heat of touring and hiking.
“As former boot fitters, we knew the material was key to developing the ultimate ski sock and spent years in R&D developing our fabric. It’s everything you need in a winter-sports performance fabric: soft, warm, moisture-wicking, and quick-drying” says le bent co-founder Simon Blondel.
Game changing ski touring socks
The truly game-changing element of this sock is the welded silicone strips placed on the heel to lock down your foot from any sort of upward slippage while touring, boot packing and skiing.
“It’s the simplest solution to a problem that caused blisters, inefficiencies in hiking, less downhill performance and generally drove me crazy” explains Townsend.
This silicone strip is also placed on the inner edge of the upper cuff to solve the ever-annoying downward slippage of your sock.
When are they available?
Le Send will be available at retail in the northern autumn/fall of 2019. RRP $31.95.
