My guest today is Thor Verdonk, the Technical Product Director for the Rossignol Group. You’ve probably never heard of him, but you’ve heard of the products he has helped to shepherd into the market, most recently the Lange Shadow.

The Shadow is unquestionably the biggest story in Alpine ski gear this winter. Bear in mind that Lange has been the epitome of the modern race boot for generations of racers. It’s probably the most imitated design in the post-war history of our sport. But the Shadow isn’t being touted because of its rich heritage, but for the degree to which it has departed from its ancestral roots. A boot design that for many years seemed trapped in amber pulled off the most ambitious re-design of the 2-piece, overlap shell since this primordial design’s inception.