Text by:
Lisa Misconel
Photos by: Alex D’Emila
Choosing to do: Benedikt Böhm is the soul of Dynafit
To summarize in an aside the spirit of Benedikt Böhm, it would suffice to tell you how this interview was done: seated at the table for lunch, having just arrived from weeks of meetings around Europe the day before tackling his fourth Mezzalama, he did not allow a minute to be wasted: I present to you the exact embodiment of the Dynafit spirit, its CEO. The first athlete to represent the brand, he did a lot of things before reaching the top rung. In this job, we journalists know a lot of important people, but Benedikt is definitely one you remember: his passion, the energy with which he speaks, and his incredible humility are no small values, especially when your responsibilities are like those of a CEO of his magnitude.
The XXIII edition of the King of the Grand Course trophy, the Mezzalama, was the first in years to bring back the original course thanks to favorable conditions and the immense effort of the Cervinia guides. 6:30 a.m., 209 teams at the most coveted starting line in classic ski mountaineering. The peaks of Castor and Lyskamm Nose peek out from above the clouds as the best in European and world ski mountaineering compete on ice, rock and swooping descents. Also to be greeted by the bubbling cheers of Gressoney-La Trinitè is a team that has done a bit of Gran Course racing-they are called the Dynafit Vintage Trio. 1/3 U.S. with Pete Swenson, 1/3 Spanish with Javier Martìn de Villa, and 1/3 German with Benedikt Böhm. All three veterans, they have each previously been part of their nation’s team and worked in Dynafit. Another team united by the same passion is the one made up of Mezzalama and Dynafit, created in 2015 and carried on to date improving year by year.
“I went to Lara and Adriano (Adriano Favre and wife Lara Dulicchio, ed.) and told them. Hey, we love the race you organize, can we be your main sponsor? After participating in my first Mezzalama I completely fell in love with it, and I couldn’t find a better union of our brand with such an event. I even find that such a race is important for our society: it is important that we continue to explore risks and limits and that, for once, we cannot control everything. True alpine terrain and some of the most incredible peaks in all the Alps, to be shared among three friends-what could be more beautiful?”
So let’s summarize the character a bit: we have the manager of an international brand, an athlete and a mountaineer. We often wonder how some people manage to train and work but in this case the whole thing is elevated to the highest power…
You manage to put together work, training, expeditions. But how do you do it and especially why?
Who said I can do it?(laughs, ed.). It’s just a matter of interlocking, I live a very busy life in which I don’t waste a single minute. I sleep very little, five hours maximum, then my day starts without wasting time, life goes very fast! I always try to compress everything and train in the morning, sometimes even at 3 o’clock or 4 o’clock, in short very early. But of all that I don’t have to force anything, it’s now part of me and my rhythms, it’s part of my efficiency and my strength, they want to be up there and be well, to see the sun rise while everything has yet to begin. Then I come down, fresh and charged for work, and I don’t stop until it’s bedtime. On weekends I try to be with my family, aiming to experience quality understood moments since I am not often at home. I try to find a balance even though it is not always easy and I don’t always manage to do it as well as I would like. It has become my way of life, and because of that it also has downsides. This sense of having to be productive and perform at every moment of my life can, at times, be exhausting not so much for me but for my family and others…. And for my collaborators! (laughs, ed.)
Do you have any regrets?
I think there are two areas in my life where I will have regrets. The first is that of family: my lifestyle often leads me to be away from my loved ones, especially my children. However, I realized that this is who I am and I cannot fight it; I would not be happy if I repressed my dreams and needs. Therefore, I want the moments I spend with my loved ones to be of quality and I live them intensely. And this same intensity I experience in the mountains, where sometimes the risks are high and people wonder if it is worth it. My answer is: it is worth living a life with risks, because that is what gives you excitement and intensity. The other regret I had, which I am now working on, is that I did not do all I could for the planet I love. So I got in touch with WWF and became its spokesperson through my own initiative called “Helping Bands.” It is something I will carry on for the rest of my life and is worth all the effort, time and money it requires.
What prompted you to take action?
We are 8 billion people on this planet. How many gallons of oil do you think we consume in total? 15 billion, per day. Almost two liters a day per person. Where on one side you have nature, on the other side you have the city. Every month the earth’s surface takes up a new built-up area equal to the size of New York City. Every month for the next 40 years, a new New York. Do you understand now what motivates me to act? There are a thousand ways to contribute, and I have chosen to help in protecting marine and natural environments and expanding these areas. The idea is that with little you can contribute to something great, the bracelet (hence the name Helping Bands, ed.) is but a symbol reminding you that even little is still something. I have visited these protected areas often and know very well who is behind them as well as WWF managers, so I know the facts are there and they are concrete.
There is often a tendency to believe that it’s all or nothing: like the example of travel, either you stop traveling by car, airplane or everything is useless.
I am totally aware that to go to Nepal I need to take a plane. My work itself is within an industry. We all have an impact, but it comes down to perspectives and intentions. My intention is to improve where I can. Today’s man is not ready to change everything and go back to 30 years ago, we have needs that can only change with time. We can try to do better where there is room for improvement, though. When I go to the mountains with friends and colleagues all tease me about my outdated clothes and equipment when I could have the complete setup just launched on the market. But the thing I like is that those products have a value beyond their intrinsic: they are parts of me, they have accompanied me on important adventures in my life. This is precisely where Dynafit’s commitment to the Lifetime Guarantee comes from.
The Lifetime Guarantee is a warranty that goes beyond the two-year warranty imposed by law and covers the entire life cycle of the product. In addition, since last October, Dynafit has introduced a ten-year warranty for the repair of a wide range of the products. Why and what does it mean?
The production of garments in the past 10 years has doubled, while their durability over time has halved. We want our products to be companions for the lives of enthusiasts, who can wear them remembering climbing a mountain or completing a journey. In the whole company we are going through a phase of great transition and transformation because of this: the whole architecture of production is different, also aimed at creating solutions such as might be patches. Do you have a hole? An excuse to personalize your garment with a patch that identifies you and at the same time screams, “Hey! I made this hole by climbing, and I’m proud of it.” We hope this becomes a trend because it’s important to remember: there’s nothing more sustainable than what you already have in your closet, no amount of recycling, organics or renewables is going to hold. We have between 25 and 30,000 items in our homes on average, and we should occasionally reflect on the meaning of owning so many things. What makes us happy? The things we own or the moments we experience?
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