Ortovox

Origin

The history of the Ortovox brand goes back to 1980 and begins with the founding of Gerald Kampel's engineering firm. Together with Jürgen Wegner, Ortovox developed the F2, the first two-antenna avalanche beacon, in 1980. From then on, Ortovox developed more and more new products, the now world-famous Ortovox avalanche beacons are an example of this and a must have if you are looking for one of the best materials for avalanche safety.

Innovation and product development at Ortovox never stand still and are progressive in all aspects. Together with athletes, product specialists and customers, quality and functionality are given the highest priority at Ortovox, with the aim of ensuring a safe and adventurous alpine journey for everyone. The brand sees itself as both a winter and a summer brand. Passion for pristine snow on ski trips or freerides propels the brand in exactly the same way as shared experiences on alpine, mountaineering or alpine tours. Friendship characterises every interaction within the company - within the team, with customers and with partners and suppliers - in the mountains and in everyday life.

Collection

Ortovox produces clothing, but also all kinds of highly sophisticated equipment. Think avalanche airbags or complete avalanche safety sets. At Twinseasons, you will find almost the entire Ortovox range on our website. From hardshells and thermal clothing to backpacks and first aid kits.

Technologies and innovations

Diract Avalanche transceivers

Ortovox has a long history of designing avalanche pagers. They are currently offered under the name Diract. There is a choice of the Diract and the Diract Voice avalanche beacon. This Diract Voice is the world's first avalanche beacon with integrated voice navigation and guides you reliably and quickly to your snow-covered companion in an emergency. Watch this video from Ortovox for a comprehensive guide to both avalanche pagers.

LiTRIC avalanche backpacks

Together with Arc'teryx, Ortovox has developed the LiTRIC avabag system. This is an electronically rechargeable avabag system. It is light and compact and because it no longer uses cartridges (as traditional avabag systems do), you no longer have to deal with luggage restrictions on the plane. Because the system is rechargeable, you can also practice with the avalanche backpack easily (and most importantly, more economically).

Ortovox uses a zip-on/off construction that allows the system including back panel to be easily separated from the backpack. This means you only need one system plus back panel, while being able to connect different types of backpacks to it. Depending on the adventure you want to go for that day. You can connect backpacks suitable for freeriding (the LiTRIC Freeride's) and touring skiing (the LiTRIC Tour's). For the minimalist, there is the LiTRIC Zero. However, this has no zip-on/off option. Check out the following Ortovox instructional video to get a good idea of these special avalanche backpacks.

Collaboration with Dermizax

For its hardshell clothing, Ortovox uses Dermizax membranes. In the following video, the German brand explains why it chose these membranes:

Sustainability

PFC's

Partly by using PFC-free DWR impregnations and membranes (such as those made by Dermizax), Ortovox has managed to produce its entire collection PFC-free since 2023. Ortovox justifies this as follows: ‘It is our responsibility to protect both the mountains and the mountain athletes. And that poses a challenge. Our products must be environmentally friendly and still function under extreme conditions. Therefore, our goal is to use PFC-free solutions that are durable while ensuring reliable protection in mountainous areas.’

Ortovox Wool Promise

Ortovox is a big consumer of wool. In the form of merino wool , you come across it a lot in thermal clothing or fleece vests, but you can also come across it in hardshell clothing. In addition, Ortovox uses wool from Swisswool as insulation material in most of their insulation jacket range. All this wool is Responsible Wool Standard certified. Ortovox also has its own Ortovox Wool Promise (OWP), in which it makes four promises regarding the use of wool:

• All wool should be obtained without the mulesing method.
• The farms supplying wool to the Ortovox should practice a sustainable form of agriculture.
• All parties involved within the OWP system should have good personal relationships with each other.
• The production and transport chain of the wool used by Ortovox, should be transparent to consumers.

Local production

Of all Ortovox's collections, 44% are produced in Asia and as much as 56% in Europe by 2024. The goal is to get the latter percentage to 60 or higher. Vietnam (37.8%), Latvia (12.28%) and Hungary (11.97%) are the biggest producers for Ortovox.

Participation in sustainable initiatives

Ortovox is a member of a number of initiatives aimed at improving the production process of clothing and (outdoor) equipment. These include the following initiatives:

• Bundesverband Nachhaltige Wirtschaft (BNW): Ortovox is a member of the BNW. The BNW is a German organisation dedicated to a sustainable economy and business. The organisation promotes and supports companies and initiatives that strive for sustainability in various areas, including environmental protection, social responsibility and economic stability.
• ClimatePartner: Ortovox uses the help of ClimatePartner, a German company focused on supporting other companies in reducing and offsetting their CO2 emissions.
• Ortovox is a member of the European Outdoor Conservation Association (EOCA). The EOCA is a non-profit organisation founded by companies from the outdoor industry in Europe. EOCA's mission is to provide financial support to projects focusing on the conservation and protection of natural environments around the world.
• Fair Wear Foundation (FWF): Ortovox holds FWF ‘leader’ status.

The above is just some of what Ortovox is doing in terms of sustainability. If you want to know more about this, also read their sustainability strategy called Protact 2024 on their own website.

Ortovox Store

In the Netherlands, Twinseasons is an official Ortovox dealer with a shop and also an extensive range on the webshop. Shop in our Ortovox store and experience how durable and high-quality Ortovox products are.