NXT, between mountaineering and new mountain activities

Mountaineering has changed over the years, from slow and heavy to light and fast, and a whole series of complementary mountain activities have been added to it. For this reason, Salewa has rethought the concept of Collection, proposing for the 2025 season NXT, a series of products with a versatile nature, usable for mountaineering, as well as for hiking and climbing. We were in Bolzano for the official presentation, testing the products and interviewing the testimonials of the campaign “Luca Andreozzi“, eclectic boulderer and “Hanspeter Eisendle“, Alpine Guide with decades of experience, two athletes who perfectly embody the modern concept of moving in the mountains.

4Outdoor is also on Whatsapp. Just click here to subscribe to the channel and stay up to date.

Luca Andreozzi e Hanspeter Eisendle Interview

LUCA – Where are you from and when in your life did you approach bouldering?

I am originally from Versilia, in Tuscany, and Bouldering came into my life very early. Since I was a child I started climbing rope routes and blocks and this last activity came back in a predominant way later, as it felt more like my discipline. Bouldering gave me the opportunity to explore, discover and do new things. Playing with creativity is what I like most about climbing and Bouldering allows me to do it.

In Tuscany this discipline was still little known and I had the opportunity to travel and test myself on things I touched.

HANSPETER – Where are you from and how did you start climbing?

I come from Vipiteno, in the north of Alto Adige, and as a boy climbing was just a necessity for me. From home I saw the Dolomites that had a strong attraction, I wanted to get my hands on those mountains and to do so I had to climb them, but once I reached the top I saw other peaks and the desire to reach them was renewed. I don’t know why I wanted to climb them, perhaps also because it was a place where I could be alone, if I had had the sea or the desert in front of me I would have ventured there anyway. The mountaineer was born much later, when I discovered that other people went to the mountains, that there was a literature and a culture of mountaineering, and this did nothing but make me want to climb and share my mountaineering experiences with others. So there was a transformation, from a selfish desire to a social activity.

LUCA – Have you ever thought of Bouldering as a basic activity, preparatory to climbing mountains?

Sure, Bouldering has always given me a sense of adventure, discovery and uncertainty, as well as the possibility of broadening my horizons by making me curious to climb long routes. I have found many more similarities between Bouldering and mountain climbing than with climbing at a cliff.

HANSPETER – Do you also see similarities between bouldering and mountaineering?

Sure, Bouldering is like a small mountain but you have no protection, you experience the uncertainty of completing the problem, of reaching the top, or falling.

HANSPETER – What is the average age of your customers?

I have clients who are eighteen and seventy or older, but I realized I had aged when I was a guide for a family to the third generation, that is, from father to grandson.

LUCA – How did the collaboration with Salewa come about?

It was born in a way that was both natural and unexpected. I was contacted to take some photos for the NXT campaign and once I did that I was told that I had not been chosen by chance, and not just to be a model. Rather, I had been selected for my background and for my vision of climbing, an atypical vision that was not usually understood by brands.

I talk about my slightly unconventional approach and all the other interests I cultivate, from climbing to skateboarding to surfing.

On the contrary, these peculiarities made me interesting in the eyes of Salewa, which was looking for an ambassador to communicate a new concept of mountain collection, a transversal, versatile collection, suitable for those who range from hiking to mountaineering to climbing. A collection designed for a new generation of outdoorers, for the future: NXT, next precisely.

With Salewa we met at the exact moment when we were both open to embarking on an experience.

HANSPETER – What did you think when they asked you to participate in this project and climb with Luca?

I didn’t know Luca, I had been told that he is a very strong climber, with a very high grade and I am always pleased when I hear of someone who wants to broaden their horizons. In this case for Luca it was not about pushing his grade but rather trying a new dimension of climbing, a long and historic route in the mountains.

My role as an Alpine Guide would have begun there, not with the desire to be a “wise old man” but with the pleasure of participating in the emotion of those who have a first approach to something new. Curiosity pushes you to do something new, someone accompanies you and in that moment the differences disappear, you are tied together.

LUCA – Hanspeter spoke about emotions. You have a very high grade in climbing but here, as we said, it was about climbing the Piaz route on the Torri del Vajolet, a multi-pitch route of about 4° but with incredible exposure.

What did you feel?

It was a whirlwind of emotions, but even before starting to climb, I’m talking about the approach, on terrain with snow and ice. Then having understood, once at the top, that the adventure was not over, it was only halfway.

We had to turn back quickly because the weather was changing, so we abseiled down the face and returned to the refuge and then to the parking lot in a storm.

I realized that the concentration had to remain high from the beginning to the end and this contributed to sharpening the emotions.

The climbing on the wall, with its surprising exposure, was a part of the whole thing but overall it was an all-encompassing experience that made me want to try again.

HANSPETER – In your career you have seen the evolution of materials, both in climbing equipment and clothing. What do you think of the new NXT collection?

I have witnessed progress and what Salewa is proposing now seems to me to be a logical innovation. The evolution of human endeavors, as well as mountaineering ones, depends largely on technological innovation. Shoes, hardware, clothing, push performance, as human capabilities alone could not do. I believe that the NXT collection is once again a step forward in the field of functionality, protection, lightness and performance in general.

LUCA – You have a very versatile approach to sport, what do you think of the NTX collection?

As a layman I initially looked at this collection with suspicion. It is a general opinion that high mountain clothing must be as protective and full of technical features as it is bulky. On the contrary, the NXT collection is as technical as it is minimalist, it is hyper versatile, so much so that it can be used for hiking, mountaineering and climbing, it is protective but breathable and has a design, colors that unmistakably recall the place where it was conceived, the Dolomites.

I felt very comfortable with the NXT clothes, I was afraid of feeling constrained and slowed down in my movements, on the contrary I felt free to move, like when I do Boulder in a t-shirt, so much so that I didn’t feel the need to change even once the activity was finished.

HANSPETER – Luca said that this experience made him want to try climbing other long routes in the mountains. Will you, Hanspeter, go bouldering with Luca?

Of course, also because Bouldering has always been practiced by climbers of my generation. It didn’t have this name but we all studied the movements of rock climbing. It is a physical and mental training, and a very useful experience to transfer to the wall.

View the NXT Salewa collection