(Denver, CO) While all eyes have remained focused on Australian skiers and snowboarders winning medals in Pyeongchang, an Aussie team of a different sort has brought home gold from another fiercely competitive international showdown. le bent, Australia’s beloved makers of high-performance and ultra-comfortable socks and base layers, has been crowned KING OF THE SOCKS of North America’s Outdoor Retailer Snow Show (ORSS).
Outdoor adventure podcast MtnMeister held the competition at the annual industry gathering due to a keen understanding on how under rated yet wicked important the sock category is. “Most people go to the show to geek out on the latest skis, boots, and bindings” says MtnMeister founder, Ben Schenck. “We wanted to focus on a category that reflected the edgy – some might say sexy – nature of podcasts, which is why we chose socks.”
Throughout the four-day trade show that showcased 1,500+ of the world’s most renowned brands in outdoor and winter sports, Schenck, Max Littlefield, and Hannah Van Wetter, pitted over 20 brands of socks in head-to-head testing. The outdoor gear gurus would wear a different sock on each foot from two brands as they attended meetings and navigated through the maze of booths. “Conditions were variable – heavy air conditioning in sections of the showroom floor mimicked long days on cold and windy slow-moving chairlifts, while lingering hangovers delivered unpredictable booze sweats.” After 1-2 hours of wear, the tester would remove and replace the lesser performing sock of the two with a new challenger, and the cycle continued that way until there was one sock remaining, which was named the king. That sock was le bent’s le sock.
“le sock was le clear winner. We were blown away by the breathability and softness the socks maintained after all that abuse,” says Schenck. “Have you ever walked a tradeshow floor? It’s brutal! How le sock performs in the wilderness is still to be determined but based on their team of athletes and trail running accolades, we’re optimistic!”
Introduced in 2012, le bent’s secret is their proprietary blend of merino wool and rayon from bamboo, resulting in a sock that boasts all the performance of merino without the itch. Their Definitive Fit System is like the switch backside double cork 1260 that seals the win.
“Yew!” says le bent co-founder, Simon Blondel. “Yeah mate, we are honored to bring home the gold for Australia, but more importantly – for the world to feel the difference le bent socks deliver. Ten years of boot fitting didn’t make Anthony or I rich in the traditional sense, but it did make us rich with knowledge on the relationship between feet, socks, and boots.”
“Trust us,” continues Anthony Symonds, le bent co-founder. “If you want to win gold in the Olympics, you need gold-medal socks.”
