Zipline Ski, a Baltimore-based maker of ski poles, will supply the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team with poles designed by Zipline's founder, a former U.S. Ski Team athlete.
U.S. mogul skiers will use the poles, designed to be lightweight and durable, through 2019, including at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in South Korea's PyeongChang, the team announced Tuesday.
"Ski pole technology has barely advanced since I was a mogul skier," said Chuck Heidenreich, Zipline Ski founder and a mogul skiier on the U.S. Ski Team in 1981 and 1982. "We're here to change that."
Heidenreich, a former marketing manager for Spaulding Sporting Goods, said he designed the poles from his experience as a skier and his 25 years in sports product development. Heidenreich started his company in Baltimore in 2013 and is selling the poles through the Ziplineski.com website and on Amazon.com. Zipline is one of several pole suppliers to U.S. mogul skiers.
"Chuck is definitely very passionate about poles," said Garth Hager, U.S. Ski Team Head Freestyle Coach, in the announcement. ""It's refreshing to work with someone who gets what specifically a mogul skier would be after in a pole."