Today we are honored to introduce our JP Auclair Signature Alpine Initiatives Blackbox Case. A large percentage of proceeds from these cases will benefit JP's non-profit Alpine Initiatives and the Auclair Fund. JP started Alpine Initiatives back in 2008 as a way to provide inspiration and funding for the betterment of mountain communities. Unfortunately on September 30th, 2014, we lost JP Auclair and Andreas Fransson, two of the largest and most respected names in skiing, in a tragic 700 meter long avalanche in Patagonia. Auclair and Fransson were collaborating with filmmaker Bjarne Salen and photographer Daniel Rönnbäck on a new film project they called Apogee Skiing. One of their first adventures took them to Chili where they ultimately perished while hiking up the face of Monte San Lorenzo.
JP was an innovator and creator. Everything he touched, he made better. JP was a long time Blackbox Case supporter... he easily had the most traveled Blackbox Case on the face of this earth. Every time we caught up I would intricately inspect his beloved Natural 17" MacBook Pro Case to see how it aged through all the traveling and backpacking — and I'm still blown away on how our cases hold up to intense use. We continuously talked about how great an Alpine Initiatives + Blackbox Case collaboration would be. I always told him there will be a day when we would finally have the capacity to support such an awesome cause... and it is unfortunate he isn't here to finally see it happen :(
In JP's honor, we laser engrave his autograph on the back of every Blackbox Case that comes with an Alpine Initiatives logo. The JP Auclair Signature Blackbox Case is only available in Natural Bamboo... which is what he would choose. We are sad to lose such a good friend through this process we call life... but I am happy to follow through with a passionate dream we both had.
To learn more about the awesomeness of Jean-Philippe Auclair, please take the time to view this video that was presented at his memorial service on November 15th, 2014 at Stoneham Mountain Resort outside Quebec City.
This video below is JP Auclair's world famous segment from Sherpas Cinema's 2011 film All.I.Can... This is one of the most recognized and most played skiing segments of all time. I asked JP once how it he felt about the success of this overly simple but beautifully shot segment, and he replied...
“Yeah.. pretty nuts.. the thing is going to hit 400 thousand views within the first week. The Sherpas and I are still trying to wrap our heads around why it caught on like that. Must be the back flip, can’t go wrong with a backie!”
