• Altai Skis

    Truly all-purpose backcountry tool
    Our Products
  • Altai Skis

    Truly all-purpose backcountry tool
    Our Products
  • Altai Skis

    Truly all-purpose backcountry tool
    Our Products
  • Altai Skis

    Truly all-purpose backcountry tool
    Our Products
  • Altai Skis

    Truly all-purpose backcountry tool
    Our Products
Our first ski, the Hok
Our first ski, the Hok

Our first ski, the Hok, is a ski to be used whenever and wherever there is snow. With a partial climbing skin integrated into the base, the ski climbs with ease. The skin also makes the ski slower and easier to control than traditional skis. The ski’s short, wide design makes it incredibly maneuverable, ideal for thick woods and variable terrain, a truly all-purpose backcountry tool.

We believe that backcountry skiing is wherever you choose to go, whether it’s out the back door for a quick tour in the woods, or to your nearby park, hills or mountains.

Our skis require no groomed areas, no lifts, no tickets, In fact, they prefer it that way

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About us
About us
Altai Skis was conceived by Nils Larsen and Francois Sylvain in 2009.Nils Fancois. QC

We both had extensive experience in the ski industry and had worked together designing nordic and backcountry skis for over ten years. We felt there was a great potential for skis designed for what we like to call ‘pocket backcountry’, the skiing many skiers have ready access to close to where they live. In both Quebec (Francois’ home) and NE Washington (Nils’ home), skiing out the back door or close to it offers us excellent and easy access to the winter world. We set to work on new designs, with the goal of creating easy to use and accessible gear to match the often overlooked skiing possibilities hiding in plain view.

Nils has been working on a documentary project on indigenous skiers in the remote Altai Mountains of Northern Asia since 2005. The ski traditions in the area date back thousands of years, possibly to the origins of skiing. The skiers in the Altai still use one ski design for all their skiing, whether it’s a short trip to feed their livestock, over the hill to visit a neighbor, or a two-week hunting expedition deep into the rugged mountains. All skiing in the Altai is ‘backcountry’.

This was the inspiration for Altai Skis, it defines the spirit of our company and it will drive our designs into the future.

Deep in the Altai Mountains of North Asia

Skis are still considered an essential tool for travel and hunting during the long winters.
One pair of handmade skis carries the skier through thick forests, up and down rugged mountains, and across frozen lakes and streams…
Being avid backcountry skiers, we have been inspired by the do-it-all nature of the skis used in the Altai Mountains. It is from this that Altai Skis was born.

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