Our history

It all began in Izeaux, at the foot of the French Alps, where Rémy-Alexis Richard designed his own footwear in an attempt to sell them to buyers in the town. Seeing that this was successful, he decided to recruit several workers to manufacture his first shoes which he then sold to major Parisian clients.

Sent back from the front due to his injuries, Rémy-Alexis Richard was tasked with repairing military equipment, including soldiers’ boots. After the war, he bought his first factory in Izeaux and began manufacturing all kinds of footwear. To distinguish his mountaineering boots from dress shoes, he created the Galibier brand in 1922.

The company reins were now handed over to Julien Richard, the son of Rémy-Alexis. Keen to develop the business, he began to focus on footwear for working, skiing, mountaineering, hiking and climbing. This resulted in the introduction of the Super Guide and Super Rando models in 1950, quickly becoming classics widely used by high-altitude guides and mountaineers.

The brand’s models equipped the biggest names from the golden age of mountaineering, such as Maurice Herzog, Lionel Terray and René Desmaison, as well as the legendary explorers Paul-Emile Victor and Haroun Tazieff. These personalities helped cement the Galibier name in history by opening up the main climbing routes worldwide, from the North Pole to Annapurna, wearing their Galibier boots.

This decade saw the rise of plastic and synthetic materials such as nylon, Gore-Tex and polyester. These materials gradually replaced leather, offering lighter and more breathable mountaineering and hiking boots. Sales of the Super Guide and Super Rando models began to decline. With this in mind, Richard-Pontvert decided to discontinue the Galibier brand in favour of its other brands.

During its dormant period, Richard-Pontvert had continued to protect the Galibier brand. Everyone had dreamed of reviving it one day. In a market driven by the race for innovation, we sacrificed valuable interactions with the world around us. That’s why, 100 years after the brand was initially created, we are launching its return whilst maintaining its rich and contemporary DNA which will underpin the project. Galibier aims to reconnect people with the mountains through our expertise and offer them a new way to experience the slopes and peaks.

Red laces, a gridded sole and a monoblock construction: these are the key features of Galibier footwear. In fact, these are what makes it instantly stand out from the crowd. And so the Super Rando is reborn, echoing the brand’s hallmarks whilst incorporating technical materials to make it lighter and more breathable.