Why Chris Davenport Is Inspired by Scarpa’s Use of Plastic Waste to Make Innovative Ski Boots

Chris Davenport, one of the world’s top extreme skiers, has been aligned with Scarpa for more than a decade. Part of what has kept him with the brand for so long are its lofty sustainability initiatives.

In 2021, for instance, Scarpa announced it would pursue its goal of becoming a certified B-Corp. At the time of its March 2021 announcement, the company revealed several initiatives that were underway, including having 100% of the electricity used at its facilities in Italy come from certified renewable sources, allowing Scarpa to offset roughly 1,000 tons of CO2 per year.

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Also in March 2021, Scarpa discussed the spring ’21 release of the Mojito Bio, its first 100% biodegradable shoe. The look, which is a variation on Scarpa’s biggest-selling style globally, is built with biodegradable performance rubber soles. At the end of its life, Scarpa said 85% of the Mojito Bio would decompose after 450 days in a landfill.

Scarpa confirmed with FN that it is “really close” to achieving B-Corp certification, and that its headquarters and European manufacturing have hit all the standards.

During FN’s cover shoot at the start of the month with Davenport, Bode Miller and Michelle Parker, the extreme skier said Scarpa’s efforts in sustainability have been a factor in him remaining an ambassador. “I know that they’re doing the right thing, and I love the innovation they continue to come up with when it comes to manufacturing in sustainable ways,” Davenport said. “I just love that they care.”

The athlete also revealed the Scarpa sustainability initiatives that have impressed him the most as of late, and what he’s looking forward to in the near future.

“When you make a ski boot, you have these little plastic pellets and you pour those pellets into a big hopper and it gets heated up and that plastic gets injected into a mold. You pull the plastic ski boot components out of the mold, you trim them and put them together. When you trim them, there’s a bunch of plastic waste,” Davenport said. “Scarpa over the last 30 years kept all of that waste in barrels. We are going to introduce new Scarpa Maestrale boots made from recycled plastic. We also introduced last year our 4-Quattro boot, which is plant-based.”

He continued, “Innovations like that are not only good for the company, for their sustainability initiatives, for their ethos, but it’s also good for their bottom line. If I’m a customer and want to vote with my dollars, I’m going to buy the ski boot that has no petroleum products from the company that obviously cares, that’s making recycled boots.”

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