Sustainable product development is becoming the pervasive way with which companies tackle climate change and appease consumers. As Garth Yule mentioned in his presentation for Junxion, corporations attempt to offer solutions to climate change and sustainability through consumer behaviour. While consumers cannot be left out of the solution, companies need to step up and use product, process, and material innovation. The ski industry has always intrigued me and I notice the pressures and hype associated with new products (skis). This includes companies releasing “new” products every year, although they are typically graphic updates, with minimal tweaks to core technology and shape. As skiing is an expensive sport, skis can be considered luxury or status goods. As such, there is immense pressure to have the latest and greatest gear. Skis can take about 100 days of before the construction even begins to feel the stresses of use. The only people capable of “skiing out” their gear in a season are either sponsored athletes and are required to display a company’s latest products or members of the population that cannot afford nor necessarily care about having the latest. Ski resorts are one of the largest purchasers of ski equipment, servicing their rental department. Partnerships typically drive these purchases as it is good exposure for ski manufacturers. These contracts would require that the resorts update their gear every season. This results in a mass of turnover each year, which is the goal seeing as you need to be able to sell product to generate revenue. An interview with Black Crows Skis designer/brand manager Yorgo Tloupas highlights the importance of brand in shaping a company’s image. I felt that this nailed it home and showed a good example for the ski industry. With Black Crows’ simple design and graphics, this limits the pressure built up in the industry. The photos show the graphics separated by a year on a ski that in its construction, has not changed. Rossignol also serves as a good example of going against the status quo in that it achieved profitable sales of its 7-Series line of skis without changing the ski design or graphics for three years. This shift of business perspective is not only easier on the consumers, it reduces pressures for retailer and other purchasers of skis as well.