VIBRAM

VITALE BRAMANI

In 1935, a member of the Italian Alpine Club and the famous mountain guide Vitale Brahmani led a group of climbers who were to climb several peaks in the Italian Alps.
At first the weather favored the alpinists, but during the ascent to the peak of Rasika (Punta Rasica), a narrow crest of 3305 m in height, a strong and protracted snowstorm began.
In those days climbers used heavy boots with hard soles with nails for transitions on relatively flat terrain, and for steep sections - light boots with a flexible and thin felt sole. They allowed to feel the rock relief well, but did not provide sufficient protection against cold and moisture.
And if the soles were wet, then at negative temperatures the iced felt simply slid over the stone, so that ascent and descent became impossible.
It was the shoes that became one of the factors that killed six members of the group who died from frostbite.
It was precisely this question that Brahmani asked himself.
To replace felt it was necessary to make a sole that would satisfy a number of conflicting demands - it would be thin and flexible, well protected from cold and moisture and, of course, perfectly kept on the rocky terrain.
As a material, Brahmani chose vulcanized rubber, a material known by that time for about a hundred years. Almost a year he selected the composition of rubber in order to achieve the desired stiffness and resistance to abrasion, and developed a pattern that would be firmly held on any surface. In 1937, he patented his invention - the rubber sole Carrarmato, which translated from Italian means "ahead", and began the release of soles, using the help of the tire company Pirelli Tire Company.
As a trademark, the inventor chose an abbreviation for his name and surname (Vitale Bramani) - Vibram.
Shoes with Vibram soles quickly gained fame among climbers.
But the real world fame came to the company in 1954, when two Italian climbers, Lino Lacededelli and Achilles Compagnoni, ascended the second highest (but probably the first in complexity and danger) summit of the world - Mount Chogori, or K2: one of the main items of equipment of Italian alpinists were shoes with Vibram soles. Since then, boots with a bright yellow polygon and the inscription Vibram on the sole have left their marks on all the conquered peaks of the Earth, and the word itself has become almost a common name for tourist shoes.
Now the company produces thirty-five million soles of one hundred and fifty varieties a year, and more than a thousand manufacturers use them in their shoes.

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