Julia Pickering
A top woman extreme sports athlete and a female alpine climber are the latest recruits to Berghaus’s elite sponsored team.
Lake District-based Julia Pickering and Argentina-born climber Monika Kambic will join a line-up that included Karen Darke, Anniken Binz and Leah Crane.
The appointments come as the clothing and equipment manufacturer strengthens its position in the women’s gear market, with improvements and additions to its women-specific kit, led by female product managers and designers.
Ms Pickering is a proponent of snowboard mountaineering and has climbed and snowboarded the three highest peaks in the Arctic Circle during her 2009 expedition to Greenland’s Watkin Mountains. Only the second person to achieve the feat, she was the first Briton and first woman to make the ascents and snowboard descents.
She hopes to snowboard down her namesake, Mount Julia, in the Watkins Mountains – the seventh highest in the Arctic.
She said of her appointment: “I am delighted to be a part of the Berghaus team of elite athletes and have already enjoyed working with Karen, Leah, Anniken and Monika at the first Berghaus Athlete Camp in Chamonix.
“We were able to spend invaluable time with the product team, giving our input into the development of new kit and also testing the latest gear that has rolled off the production line.
“I’m really excited to have the support of such a well respected outdoor company behind me. I look forward to being an ambassador for the brand as I take on new challenges in 2011.”
Monika Kambic who now lives in Slovenia and has been given the accolade of best Slovenian alpine climber three times and has completed over 700 alpine climbs around the world. She took part in the first all-female ascents of Fitz Roy with Tina di Batista in 2004, and Cerro Torre in Patagonia with Tanja Grmovšek the following year.
She has three children and runs a rope access company. In the last two years, she has completed expeditions to Alaska, Chile and Pakistan while continuing to climb at the highest level closer to home in the Alps.
Monika Cambic
Ms Kambic said: “I’m already familiar with Berghaus and have used the brand’s products throughout my career, so I know that they can help me achieve my many climbing objectives. I look forward to working with the rest of the Berghaus climbers and the product team on many exciting projects.”
Berghaus marketing director Sarah Sculpher added: “Both Julia and Monika are very talented athletes who have excelled in their individual fields. We are delighted to have them on board as part of our team, and look forward to working alongside them, using their valuable feedback to help further enhance our women’s specific products.”
