Jim Adlington, Planks Clothing (Bonus Episode #18)

In this Ski Podcast Special, I speak to Jim Adlington, founder of the UK snowsports clothing brand, Planks.

We talk about Jim's early ski career, from Kidsgrove to Val d'Isère; becoming a sponsored athlete with Salomon; and how he ended up creating the Planks brand.

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SHOW NOTES

• Jim Adlington is founder of the British snowsports brand Planks Clothing
• Jim learned to ski at Kidsgrove Dry Slope
• His first experience of snow was in Chamonix
• ‘Blizzard of Aahhhs’ was a hugely influential extreme ski movie
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTsAsYmPgDk
• His first seasons were for Skibound in Courchevel and then Val d'Isère
• You can listen to our Pat Sharples Special Podcast here
• The Salomon 1080 was a revolutionary ski
• This is a good article about the evolution of skis
• Jim persuaded Eric Davies, MD at Salomon, to give him a pair and subsequently became a sponsored rider
• He worked closely with photographer Ross Woodhall
• https://youtu.be/AKkyygSGa0U
• Planks Clothing started in Val d'Isère in 2008, with just hats
• Their iconic phrase is ‘Drop Cliffs, Not Bombs’
• Even from the start Planks was upcycling by used old stock
• Two thirds of the Planks collection uses recycled yarns from Repreve and has used 1.5m waste plastic bottles
• In 2019 Planks linked up with GB Snowsports with many of the athletes in the Park+Pipe team wearing their kit
• Planks have had a James ‘Woodsy’ Woods signature series since 2016
• https://youtu.be/IQ_iOkqmaNo
• The company has seen growth of 40% pa over the last few years, with sales to 46 countries worldwide
• Their recent crowdfunding campaign smashed their target and has raised almost £1m so far