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Award-winning tele binding
to be manufactured and distributed by the young engineering team
of Chris Valiante and Collins Pringle
February 10, 2004--The news may have come as a surprise to many, but
to Russell Rainey's friends the announcement yesterday that he
is exiting the binding business to pursue another of his great
passions came as no big shock. This is a man who follows his
heart and who has remained true to the things that define his
spirit. After some 17 years of building tele bindings and having
made a major contribution to progressing the sport in the process,
Rainey still gets stoked by a backcountry tour with friends in
his home mountains around Teton Pass, Wyoming. And it is this
same energy and dedication which is driving Rainey into his new
endeavour as head of an outdoor-based, Christian, father and
son adventure camp program.
"We've had a lot of fun and success
bringing sons and their fathers together in the past two summers
I have been associated with Christ in the Tetons," Rainey
told us recently. "It's rewarding and fulfilling work so
when the board of directors came to me and explained that the
growing program needed a full-time Executive Director, I began
to explore options that would allow me to fill that role,"
Rainey continued.
"About this time I witnessed the great
work Chris Valiante was doing for us on our redesigned heel piece
/climbing bale and realized that he and his partner Collins Pringle
had the talent and energy to carry the HammerHead into its next
era of usability performance, and durability." Russell went
on to say that he was happy to have found someone to carry on
the Rainey Designs tradition of innovation in combination with
the quality customer service his company has been known for.
"Chris and Collins are up the task of moving the Rainey
Designs legacy forward," said Russell.
Indeed. Last week we spent some time with
the owners of 22Designs, the new firm the pair has formed to
manufacture and distribute the HammerHead, and we can report
that Chris and Collins are full
of ideas and enthusiasm for both the HammerHead and the sport
their company will serve. We were impressed by their energy and
dedication to the idea that telemark binding designs need to
move forward if the sport is to continue to progress as it should.
These two have an excellent start with the HammerHead, we expect
that they will heed Russell's example of following one's passions
as a pathway to excellence. Expect to see big things from 22Designs. |
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Russell Rainey
in the hut at the top of Glory Bowl, Teton Pass, WY, just last
Wednesday |
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Russell booting
up Glory. |
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