In the realm of performance, everything counts. For 30 years, Spyder has focused on every detail in engineering superior skiwear, scrutinizing the subtleties that make every discipline - every athlete - unique. Renowned for integrating high-tech fabrics, fashion and functionality, we're obsessed with keeping you dry, comfortable, and warm. Then we push it harder. Rigorously tested by top athletes across the world, Spyder embodies a passion for performance - the same passion driving you to your next adrenaline rush.

To explain our company's history, we have to begin with the man who started it all. David Jacobs, Spyder's founder and current chairman, has been the brand driver, product visionary, and cultural leader throughout our history. David was born in Montreal, Canada, and began skiing at age 13. At 21, he won the prestigious Quebec Kandahar, and from 1957 through 1961 was a member of the Canadian National Ski Team. In 1957 he captured the title of Canadian Downhill Ski Champion, and was the top-ranked member of the Canadian FIS Team the following season. As the first full-time head coach and program administrator for the Canadian National Ski Team from 1964-1966, David continued his contribution to the sport at the national level. Having this perspective of a world-class athlete, David understands that athletes depend on quality equipment to give a competitive edge.

In 1978, while David's sons were in the ski race circuit, he noted that there was only one brand of race sweaters available. He knew he could make a better product and sell it to the close-knit race community. This business, named David L Jacobs, Incorporated, began as a small mail order business in his kitchen "for racing, by racers."

After the successful introduction of race sweaters, David added ski pants to the catalog offering. One of David's early creations was a navy blue racing pant with yellow striped pads extending from the knee to the hip. His son Billy mentioned that skiers were calling them "spider" pants, due to their spider leg-like appearance. David recognized this as an opportunity to have a powerful, lasting name and logo associated with his products, and renamed the company. A passionate sports car fan, he borrowed the spelling with a "y" from the Ferrari Spyder. The new black widow logo was splashed across Spyder's early mail order catalogs, which included race pants, padded sweaters, Vuarnet sunglasses, bent downhill poles and other racing accessories. For two years, Spyder operated out of David's kitchen. At the end of two years, sales were in the six figures and his kitchen was too crowded.

To finance an expansion in 1980, David sold Spyder to Boulder-based Hanson Industries, a ski boot manufacturer. Eighteen months later, David bought Spyder back before Hanson went bankrupt. Sales continued to climb, and Spyder gained popularity as authentic, performance-driven skiwear.

Spyder became an official supplier to the US Ski Team in 1989, a relationship Spyder continues to support with great pride. In 2002, Spyder became a sponsor of the Canadian Alpine Ski Team, bringing David's involvement with the first Canadian National Team full circle. The dominant Canadian Freestyle Ski Team followed suit in 2003. In 2004, Spyder penned an agreement with the talented Austrian Alpine Ski Team, viewed as a major sponsorship coup in the race world.

Spyder product has been showcased on Olympic podiums multiple times. At the Games in Turin, the Austrian and US Alpine teams collectively captured 16 medals, plus Canadian Jennifer Heil grabbed a gold in moguls. In 2002, Bode Miller took home two silver medals from Salt Lake City. In the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics, Tommy Moe, Picabo Street, and Diann Roffe-Steinrotter each won gold; Tommy and Picabo also won silver in those Games. Diann and Hillary Lindh scored silver in Albertville in 1992.

Another notable moment in Spyder's history came in 1994, when company founder David Jacobs was granted a patent on SpeedWyre, a revolutionary technology that enhanced race suit performance. A "trip wire" formed by a narrow seam on the surface of the legs and arms of the suit streamlined the surrounding air flow, significantly reducing wind drag by up to 40%. This technology was so effective that US Ski Team members wearing Spyder suits enhanced with SPEEDWYRE captured gold, bronze and fifth place in world championships over the next two years, including two World Downhill Championships by Hilary Lindh and Picabo Street. Rarely do apparel innovations create international controversy for performance-enhancing benefits. However, the FIS banned SpeedWyre in 1997, claiming that it gave skiers an unfair advantage, effectively retiring the technology from skiing.

In the late-nineties, a new genre of skiing formed. Nothing less than a ski revolution, the freeski movement began as a ripple and surged into a tidal wave. Restless with the shackles of conservative, conformist attitudes, young skiers incorporated moves from freestyle/mogul skiing and snowboarding. Skiers infiltrated half pipes and terrain parks, rode rails and launched off cornices. New tricks, unique to athletes on two planks without time constraints or governing rules, morphed and were improved upon. To separate themselves from being lumped in with the old-school ski populace, they had to give the movement a name. Freeskiing took root. From this new sport, products adapted to function, a lifestyle fashion developed, even a new vocabulary surfaced. It's a subculture that's determined to progress the sport, support others in the movement, and create their own scene. Spyder recognized the new ski genre and in 1998 introduced the Kreitler apparel line, eponymous for pro skier Kent Kreitler, a member of the freeski vanguard. That collection became Venom, a brand that integrates the features, functions, and fashion inherent to this mountain-based lifestyle.

With an expanded product offering and loyal consumer following, Spyder's growth exploded, and the company is now the largest ski-specialty brand in the world. In 2004, Apax Partners, a global private equity group, acquired Spyder. The partnership allows Spyder to continue to expand its product line and build on the brand's momentum. David continues to direct the company as Chairman of the Board. Jake, his eldest son who penned our trademark spiderwebs, serves on Spyder's board of directors.

Currently, the company sells products in the United States and Canada to over 550 high-quality specialty retailers. Spyder is sold outside North America into 50 countries through its Spyder-Europe office and through independent distributors around the globe. Spyder's vision remains focused on performance, fashion, and function. Our passion for our product is matched by our love for sport. We dedicate our past and our future to creating the ultimate performance experience for you, the athlete.