Even as a child, Hanno Schwab felt a strong affinity with nature, and the mountains in particular. Born in the Allgäu region of Germany, he was already on skis at the age of three. His love for the mountains and the activities they make possible has been growing steadily ever since.

Whether skiing or ski touring, it is the desire for freedom and adventure coupled with the peace and serenity of the mountains that fascinate him to this day and bring an optimal balance to his hectic day-to-day life.

In 2007, Hanno Schwab suffered a serious paragliding accident. The doctors told his partner she should say her last goodbyes to him. Hanno himself was intubated at the time and could not respond – but he could hear the conversation and knew: “Hey, I’m not done yet!” He survived, spent ten weeks in hospital, and took over a year to recover.

But this difficult time also taught him some valuable lessons. From that point on, he attached less importance to the opinion of others. He learned to appreciate the little things in life and realised that life is too short to hesitate when you get an idea.

This attitude gave the young architect the confidence to follow his convictions. In 2012, ignoring all the critical voices, he produced his first pair of sustainable skis.

An early bird is someone who is among the first to enjoy a new experience, like an eager ski mountaineer or ski tourer who climbs mountains early in the morning in order to be the first to carve fresh tracks in the newly fallen snow.

Earlybird is also the name Hanno Schwab chose for his ski brand. “We wanted not just to be the first on the mountain, but also the first to lead our industry into a greener future,” says Schwab when asked about the name.

The idea grew from his need to build the perfect freeride ski. After just one day in the workshop, however, his nose was running and his hands were itching. Schwab was affected by the chemicals he was using, so he had to find different materials.

“As an avid ski tourer and mountaineer, I saw it as a personal challenge to build a highly technical product like a ski according to a new set of principles,” says Schwab. Despite critical voices from within the industry, he pushed through with his project.

Today, all earlybird skis are made from bio-based and recycled materials. The skis themselves are made from sustainably sourced wood, while Schwab and his team also use bio-based epoxy resin and natural ski wax.

Hanno Schwab is now respected and celebrated around the world for his product innovation. He sees this as an example of how technologically sophisticated solutions can also be achieved in harmony with nature, in the sporting goods industry and beyond.