The Swiss textile technology innovator HeiQ and one of the world’s leading premium ski brands KJUS sponsored the tailor-made leading-edge bob suits during the first Cristal Da Glatsch bobsled race to support the oldest and only natural bobsleigh track in the world. On 1 March, the race took place on the Olympia Bob Run St.Moritz-Celerina in the Engadine Valley, Switzerland. Likewise, the software solution provider Comitas and the high-speed internet provider Mia Engiadina have cooperatively supported this speed driven event.
The words «Cristal Da Glatsch» in the Rhaeto-Romanic language translate as «Ice Crystal». The club’s naming pays homage to both the ice that brings the Olympia Bob Run to life and the ice track’s location in the Romanic Engadine. The club’s members are mostly business people whose heart beats for Swiss traditional winter sports, both to watch and to participate in. Founded in September 2017, Cristal Da Glatsch aims to support the Olympia track while enjoying camaraderie and speed burn. The Olympia Bob Run St.Moritz-Celerina in the Engadine Valley, Switzerland, is the oldest and only naturally refrigerated bobsled track in the world. It served as host to the 1928 and the 1948 Winter Olympics and is hand-built year by year by the same families of mountain farmers since generations.
To kick off the new club with a bang, Cristal Da Glatsch organized a bobsled race on March 1. The CEOs of HeiQ, KJUS, Comitas and Mia Engiadina, put themselves forward as participants and shared bobsleds with experienced Swiss world champions, like Marcel Rohner and Cla Mosca, to race downhill at more than 130 km/h. All of participants were inspired and exhilarated by the experience.
WATCH the event video of the bob race:
To support this great Swiss tradition, HeiQ and KJUS, sponsored the leading-edge and tailor-made bob suits for this event. Just as KJUS, HeiQ wants to excel in making textiles perfect and best performing. Skintight and aerodynamic suits are essential for the race to reduce drag on the way into the bob and down the run. The gear combines a stunning drag reduction performance with a comfortable fit enabled by a secret HeiQ finishing technology minimizing air resistance and enhanced quick dry properties.
Carlo Centonze, CEO of HeiQ, was inspired by the unique event. He explains, “A state of play is critical to innovation. It’s no wonder that an event like this led to all sorts of (crazy) ideas in the HeiQ team’s heads. If I was going to sit in a bobsled I wanted to do it with gear that really lets me maximize speed. Upgrading apparel with textile technologies is what we excel in here at HeiQ, so we were in the enviable position of being able to customize ‘limited edition’ drag-reduced bob suits.” Having in mind already the next idea, he adds right after the race, “It was really cold. We need to add heating technology to this textile.”
Nico Serena, CEO of KJUS, ads: “Sports, the mountains and the desire to always strive for perfection, are part of who we are. At KJUS, we’re always working towards the future of ski apparel. Speed is one of the goals we work towards, besides functionalities such as light-weight, breathability and warmth. We were delighted to support this event.”
All sponsors who supported the race were overwhelmed by each participant’s bravery and enthusiasm. André Brühlmann, CEO of Comitas and founder of Cristal Da Glatsch stated, “This was exactly what I was hoping for when I decided to found Cristal Da Glatsch. It didn’t take me long to completely fall in love with this old winter tradition and I wanted to do my part in supporting it and providing other people with the same opportunity.”
Jon Erni, CEO of Mia Engiadina, heads the only one of the four companies that is actually situated in the Engadine Valley. “We are proud of making things faster for the Engadine Valley by providing a high-speed internet connection. So you can imagine how much fun I had celebrating speed with faster bob suits on the Olympia Bob Run.”
