The Salewa group has appointed Christopher Sword as managing director and president of its newly established North American subsidiary, Salewa USA. Sword was previously the director of marketing, product development and corporate development for Russell Corporation’s Outdoor Group. Flanking him will be Tim Kelley, named sales director. Kelley was most recently the national sales manager for Life-Link, the former distributor for one of Salewa group’s brands, Dynafit. Life-Link will continue handling delivery and customer service for this brand through the 2006/07 season. Likewise, another of the group’s brands, Silvretta, will still be handled by Garmont USA during this time period. Last October the group announced the founding of the North American subsidiary and has since been working to keep as much staff as possible from the former distributors to give ensure a smooth transition.