Eyolf started in 2001 when Igor and his wife Martine set up a small workshop in Fergus, Ontario to build safety equipment for people whose lives depend on their gear. Wind turbine technicians, rope access crews on the CN Tower, search and rescue teams, the Canadian military, and adventure parks where a single harness gets used hundreds of thousands of times in a season and has to take the abuse.
Igor came up through the rope access world himself and used to climb seriously. The Aino harness started as a side project over 14 years ago — designing a climbing harness with the knowledge and standards from the professional side. It's been tested by climbers putting up hard sport routes in the Canadian Rockies for the past four years. Now we think it's ready for everyone.
The recreational line isn't a new direction for us. It's the same team, the same workshop, and the same approach. We cut webbing from rolls, machine our own buckles on our CNC, sew every stitch in-house, and pull-test everything before it leaves Fergus. We just happen to love climbing too.