An exciting brand in the Freeheel world sat down with FHL for some quick discussion on what is new in the quiver this
next season, Team members, emphasis on Women, and the success of the 7tm binding. Charlie Lozner, General Manager of
Trak Sports USA, sets us straight on where this brand is going in the future.
Karhu has been on the cutting edge of the Telemark ski world for quite some time now, and each year seems to take them
to new heights. This season they brought us the Team Jak, a ski developed by Team Riders to schralp the mountain and
make your tick list happen. At the same time they have rounded out there ski line with a few women’s skis and have
continued to dominate in the backcountry with skis like the Kodiak and the Jak BC.
Next season Karhu’s line will stay mostly in place, with the exception of a few new skis. New skis that you will be
seeing are:
- BC 100 – This is a lighter touring version of the Jak Team with a square tail. It still boasts a 100mm under foot
so one is guaranteed to kill it on the way down after a nice hike in the backcountry.
- AGENT – The agent has been an all mountain ski as well as a Park ‘n Pipe ski for the past few seasons. Karhu has
gone from an 80mm waist to an 85mm waist and added new graphics by Team rider Decker Jory. This is the ski for you,
whether you are cruising the entire mountain or want to hit some rails and jumps.
- The Jak and the Kodiak have new graphics, but continue to be the same ski.
In terms of the strong athlete team that Karhu has created over the past few years Lozner commented ‘It is a core group
of freeride athletes as well as a mountain team. We look for good ambassadors for the brand that help push the sport
in new directions.” That said, the company has added on Andy Jacobsen and Jason West to the Team rounding out an A
list of other freeheel athletes including Decker Jory, Ty Dayberry, & Josh Madsen. In addition Karhu has added more
athletes to their Mountain Team like Doug Workman, Eric Henderson & Allison Gannett.
Allison and Naheed Henderson, the two women athletes on the team were an integral part in the creation of Karhu’s women
skis over the past few years and are continually pushing for new and better things for the female shredders out there.
Lozner assured us that they were selected as athletes that connect with the female freeheelers out there. He must be
right on since the Betty won best female ski in SKIING magazine this year and the graphics have received praise by women
all over.
On another note FHL was curious to find out more about the 7tm Binding that Karhu distributes and the success of the
product. “It continues to be the only DIN certified binding on the market.” Lozner told us. The 7tm was also the
first binding to incorporate a free pivot tour mode, a popular feature that many other binding companies have started
to develop recently. This season 7tm arrived on target with the POWER in response to skiers who were asking for a more
active binding. Lozner told FHL that they are definitely pushing to take this technology to the tour mode as well,
which would mean a more aggressive binding on both the ascent and descent.
In conclusion KARHU assured that we can look forward to a lot from this company in the future! “We are already back at
the drawing board to see what’s next,” Lozner said. He ended by telling us that they are focused on bringing new
products out to “drive the progression of Freeheel Skiing.” We’ll stay alert to all that is to come in the future!
Til then check out more about Karhu and their athletes at:
www.karhu.com
