Softly launched in 2009, FTX Snowshoes has sold about 10,000 pairs of snowshoes in Italy for the current autumn/winter season – not bad for a national market estimated at around 100,000 pairs a year and dominated by France’s lower-priced TSL brand.
Entirely manufactured in Italy with thermoplastic materials, FTX has been concentrating on the Italian market for now, aside from some orders from the U.S. and Canada. It has been working mainly with associations and ski resorts, providing high levels of service, and it has now added other complementary products to its offer such as poles, gaiters, backpacks and torches.
Sales have been boosted by the fact that members of the Liquigas Cannondale cycling team, including champions of the caliber of Ivan Basso have been using FTX snowshoes as an effective winter training tool.
Located in Montebelluna, the company was born from the idea of Vincenzo Sabbadin, an industry consultant who previously worked for Rossignol, Dalbello and Benetton Group, and two local entrepreneurs, Maurizio Forner and Alessandro Tesser. They run a service company specializing in difficult painting jobs on various materials, using nanotechnology.
