I was just visiting the Montrail site and noticed their “Velocity” line of shoes has been trimmed as well as their climbing/mountaineering and hiking shoe lines. Finding that interesting I checked out their “Athletes” section (their list of sponsored athletes). I noticed this has been dramatically cut as well. Checking their blog they have a post on the reasoning behind this:
Yes, Montrail is focusing on fewer athletes and select ultrarunning events in 2008. We are thrilled to sponsor 17 ultrarunning athletes in the U.S. and our team represents the leading ambassadors and best personalities in the sport. We also sponsor a few dozen athletes overseas such as our Ultrarunning team in England, Jae-Duk Sim from South Korea and Hiroki Ishikawa from Japan. It’s important to know that Team Montrail is global.
It took a long time to narrow our U.S. team to 17 athletes and we are very pleased with the end result, and here is why:
They are the best communicators in the sport of ultrarunning for sharing their passion with others. Many of our athletes work as educators. They provide constructive ongoing product feedback. They go well beyond winning races…they run for a cause, they speak at retail clinics, they help out at events and trade shows, they spend time at Montrail HQ to meet one-on-one with our design team.
Hmmm well not exactly the heavy weights of trail running on that list… I wonder what happened to Karl Metzler, Hal Koerner etc? They could have other deals I guess but I know that would be a major oversight if they dropped athletes of that caliber Luis Escobar… doesn’t he take photos or something? I do agree some of the comments especially this one:
In regards to the comment about having all these Montrail shirts at the start line… In my opinion, a sponsored runner is #1: one who other runners respect and look to for advice based on their accomplishments and #2: runners who are true ambassadors to the sport. Last year Montrail put everyone and anyone in a shirt, by doing that a company isn’t selling anything, the only thing they have done is lose respect as a brand. It almost became comical to see all the Montrail shirts at the start line. It wasn’t a “who’s who” at the start line anymore, it became “What percentage of Montrail shirts will finish?” I don’t have any respect for a brand like that!
I always found this a little comical up here in Canada(Vancouver) I know there are a few “sponsored” runners who it’s like really your sponsored why? Because you placed like 12th in a local ultra???
Hopefully their shoes will not deteriorate like their team.
3 responses so far ↓
1 Wasatch Speed Goat // Jan 31, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Yea, Columbia bought Montrail 2 years ago and their quality is “columbia grade” I have ran in the Vitesse for 7 years and the stitch job on the new Vitesse is Columbia grade! Time to try a company that believes in quality, La Sportiva makes real nice trail shoes.
2 Scott // Jan 31, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Yeah I agree. The quality has slipped.
La Sportivas are great. I have a pair of Slingshots I use in the short races. I use their climbing shoes also very solid. I use the Brooks Cascadia also seem to be quite good they have a good designer…
3 pg // Feb 1, 2008 at 6:41 pm
I would have to agree with the author and other commentors. I personally knew and trained with an X-Montrail athlete who is no longer and also used their shoes. I’m an unapologetic capitalist and can understand business decisions but I can’t understand why risk a great brand and image for a few bucks or to fit a round peg into your square hole system. It’s too bad.