La Sportiva Factory Visit
Nestled among the ski resorts of the Italian Dolomites, La Sportiva have been building boots at 1013 metres since 1928.
It’s not easy employing 500 people there, but that’s how many people it takes to make 3000 pairs of shoes and boots per day!
Still owned and run by the fourth generation of the same family, La Sportiva now makes footwear, clothing and packs suitable for indoor bouldering and trail running right through to ski mountaineering and expedition climbing at the highest altitudes. The leather used in their footwear is a waste product from the food industry and their 30 year relationship with their local supplier ensures not just the quality of the hides but also plays a key part in the companies broader environmental ethics. Their Val De Fiemme facility operates on 54% renewable energy running a state of the art carbon ventilation system meaning staff have no need to wear masks during the manufacturing process.
On entering the factory, we were immediately struck by how quiet it was and how clean it was - most of the manufacturing here is still completed by hand (no noisy machines) and the few machines there were have been precision manufactured specifically for the company. However, no matter whether a style has been made automatically or manually every boot is manually checked before packaging.
When you think that climbing shoes contain around 60 components and mountaineering boots closer to 80, you can perhaps begin to get an idea of just how big the factory is - it even includes a state of the art testing lab where folk in white coats put fabrics, seams, components and designs through some pretty savage tests - even the laces get tested for abrasion!
With climbing now an Olympic sport, La Sportiva were delighted to be the footwear brand of choice for 43% of athletes at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Not everyone was sponsored - some of the athletes brought them simply because they were the best for their feet but for the 7 strong La Sportiva climbing team there were 12 medals!
On display in the showroom were unique tributes to celebrate Gold medal winners Toby Roberts (GB) and Janja Garnbret (SLV) taking production from Val di Fiemme to the top of the world's most important wall.
Next up it was time to meet the global sales team and Head of Product Design - to listen to the dedication and passion of everyone here at La Sportiva was incredible. It’s not just the 3-4 year field testing of their Olympus Mons boots in the Himalaya that’s impressive, it’s the real nitty gritty - like changing thicknesses in climbing shoe rubber to aid performance, technology used to create breathable glues, a focus on bodyweight as opposed to volume to differentiate men’s and women’s models and how the lengths of gaiter zip tabs are critical to the flow line of the zip.
These La Sportiva folk - they really sweat the small stuff!
As a La Sportiva Pro store we stock the entire size range for the models we have available in our shops and on line. In some cases this includes half European sizes to really get the fit just right. From autumn 2025 we will be welcoming a select range of their superb technical clothing range into our shops. Don’t forget to keep an eye on our socials or sign up to our newsletter to find out more….