Hej! At IsKEA, we believe your skis should continue to give you pleasure long after they’ve done their last turns – which is why we call our approach ‘downhill design’.
And how is it that we can bring products into the world that combine sustainability, form, function and quality – all at a low price? In the early days of the Covid-19 lockdown, my wife Lise said: “We could do with a table on the balcony”. All the stores were shut, but we had a cellar full of old skis, offcuts of wood and odd boxes of screws. And the rest is history…
BRUNOST
Plant shelf, yellow/black, 160X22cm
One of our founding principles at IsKea is “don’t run before you can walk”. This plant shelf was the original IsKEA piece – nice and simple for someone whose carpentry skills are rudimentary to say the least. Now the herbs get daily sun.
Designer
IsKEA of Chamonix
Materials
Shelf: K2 AK Launchers, donated to Lise after a hard life underneath Kath Murphy. Lise had them for a couple of seasons before very wisely going larger underfoot.
Supports: Offcuts from some interior shelving work when we first moved into our place in Chamonix in 2002
TØRKETTORSK
Clothes rack, orange, 170x50cm
Say “good-bye” to the free standing rack that gets blown over in föhn winds and say “hello” to this sturdy suspended rack – perfect to hang freshly washed clothes or air smelly kit if you can’t be arsed to wash it.
Can also be used to dry cod.
Designer
IsKEA of Chamonix
Materials
Frame: Atomic R9’s. Lise’s first touring skis, back in the early noughties, were Atomic 9.22’s, later rebranded as R9’s. At a positively anorexic 72mm underfoot, they were THE touring ski. Happily things have moved on.
Strings: Plastic sheathed cord from the supermarket.
Suspension system: Nylon cord and on line chandlery supplier for the pulleys.
GØLARJER
Table, green, 177x56x75cm
The smart design means that the table gets hooked onto the balcony rail just when you need it. The rest of the time it’s flatpacked away, leaving room on the balcony for the turbo trainer and/or fingerboard sessions
The table legs extend so you can have it at comfortable coffee table height for evening apero or at a standard height for breakfast in the morning sunshine.
We have tested it for you! The table’s surface is resistant to liquids, food stains, oil, heat, scratches and bumps, easy to keep clean, while its construction is stable, strong and durable to withstand years of daily use.
Can also be used as a very wide mono ski.
Designer
IsKEA of Chamonix
Materials
Table top: Völkl Katanas and Trab Polveres. I first toured on 3 figures underfoot with the Trabs in 2009. It was a bold move by an Italian ski mountaineering racing brand to break into the freeride market, but they were great. Like the Atomics, I bought a second pair as they were sooo good. But their low weight went against them for hard charging off piste, which is where the Katanas came in. All the subtlety and finesse of a monster truck with the accelerator nailed to the floor. I still remember taking long low air at speed on the Bochard piste during the product test, landing it and feeling like I was on rails. Katanatastic.
Legs: telescopic ski poles from Grivel and Technique Extrem. I must have broken the other one of each pair somehow.
Suspension cords: some old ab tat cleaned from a route in the Alps.
Probably best not to reuse this for mission critical body weight applications. A few croissants and a coffee pot should be fine though.
Trestles: Offcuts from old IKEA shelving units. No – really…
TAILPIECE
Yes, the Covid-19 outbreak is a terrible thing. Yes, lots of people are dying. So #restezchezvous #staythefuckhome and get creative.
Feel free to take my ideas and do them better than me. I’m a lousy carpenter. If I can do it, anyone can…
Thanks
to the IKEA marketing department for the text style.
I hope you have a sense of humour.
