Who has never railed against their bulky ski boots in which you inevitably sweat? “Fifty years ago we moved from leather shoes to plastic shoes and it was a big step forward, but since then it hasn’t changed,” emphasizes Hervé Fredouille, mechanical engineer. This ski lover had an idea during a ski touring outing ten years ago, with an instructor buddy. “Ski touring boots have evolved a bit and pivot better at the ankle. It clicked in my head,” he recalls. He will invent articulated, lighter and more comfortable shoes.
He filed the first patents for his improved ski boots in 2020 and created the company Zufo, first based in Lacanau in Gironde, at the beginning of 2021. The project was supported by the Unitec incubator in its development . His project received a “CES Award” in September, which should earn him maximum attention during his first participation in the 2023 show, organized from Thursday to Sunday in Las Vegas. It was also selected with 25 other winners during a perfecto 2022 call for projects, launched by the ecological transition agency (ADEME). It aims to bring out an offer of products, services and processes with a lower environmental impact, thanks to an eco-design approach.
Much more lightness
“Today, shoes have a rigid plastic shell, it’s better than the leather ones with which we twisted our ankles, on the other hand these shells are not morphological”, analyzes Hervé Fredouille. To provide more flexibility and insulate them from the cold, the shoes are caulked with foam but without achieving a very good compromise between comfort and thermal insulation.
“And in addition the foam interferes with the transmission of forces, points out this engineer. I completely separate the functions: on one side there is an exoskeleton which distributes the efforts in such a way that it is comfortable and on the other textile which provides insulation. To make this bulky piece of equipment lighter, Zufo has opted for 3D printing using continuous carbon fibers. The exoskeleton (shoe structure) transmits forces without interference.
“They are made up of a dozen modules that can be assembled and disassembled without glue or special tools,” specifies Hervé Fredouille. The only technology we kept is the sole that clips onto the bindings of downhill and touring skis. These shoes made in France are more versatile but also more durable because they can be easily repaired and recycled.
Presales early 2023
If the final prices are not yet fixed, Zufo is positioned on the high end. The first presales should be possible online, in February or March 2023 with the availability of the first models for next season. Station tests are planned for 2023 before the launch of industrialization and marketing in the winter of 2023-24.
“The CES is an opportunity to see the American market, which is the second largest ski market after Europe. We are lucky in France to be the world center of skiing with manufacturers like Salomon, Rossignol, etc., concludes Hervé Fredouille. This may be an opportunity to involve investors in a fundraiser, even if we want to favor the French. »