Ski lift seats are made of fabric?
Yes – they are, and pretty nasty fabric that you cannot recycle.
But when Idaho Sewing for Sports (IDSFS) approached Renegade about co-developing a fabric for the ski industry, we were all in (being based in Colorado helped for market research and product development).
IDSFS sought out polypropylene webbing and thread so that the whole ski lift seat could be recycled with as little effort as possible. The last piece was the foam, which is where Tintoria Piana U.S. stepped in.
IDSFS launched the recyclable ski lift seat in May 2022 at Sun Valley Resort, Idaho. Mount Ashland in Oregon was one of the first ski areas to adopt the fabrics, loved them and offered the following testimonial:
“As for the recycled seat pads, we love them. They seem to be holding up very well and in some cases even better than the traditional ones. We found that they shed moisture and snow better and are more comfortable, as well. One of our Lift Op Supervisors just told us that we have one customer that will wait in line until he sees a chair with one of these pads on it.”
Since then, Renegade fabrics have been deployed at over 20 ski areas across North America as chairlift seats, tower pads, custom tarps, and are exclusively used by some of the largest ski resort operators in the world. Renegade also supports the Idaho Sewing for Sports team with sustainability data for their customers and custom colored fabrics.
When the time comes to retire some lift seats, Tintoria Piana USA will be able to recycle them as part of their national foam recycling program.
Renegade Plastics’ President Curran Hughes attended the Rocky Mountain Lift Association conference in Grand Junction, CO with Idaho Sewing for Sports to support their sales team and help answer technical questions about Renegade fabrics.
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