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.
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
- 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
- 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
- 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
