Voilé is a ski and snowboard brand founded in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1980. It is headquartered in West Valley City, Utah.
The Voilé strap started out holding down a climbing skin that, by the company's account, "didn't glide at all." In the early 1980s Voilé cut small slits into polyurethane belting to make Snake Skins, which opened into teeth when stretched over a ski. There was no glue, so you had to crank the strap tight to keep one on. The strap soon found other work, and Voilé, founded in Salt Lake City, still makes it in Utah.
Mark "Wally" Wariakois founded it in 1980, and its early focus was the telemark revival. In 1991 avalanche forecaster Brett "Kowboy" Kobernik brought him a crude prototype of the first splitboard, a snowboard meant to double as snowshoes on the way up. Voilé started selling splitboards wholesale in 1994. Its patented clip and puck hardware, the company says, is now the industry standard. SLUG reports that Burton's own system kept failing, so Burton came to Voilé too.
Wariakois is still CEO, and Voilé is still privately owned. The boards and hardware are made on Constitution Boulevard in West Valley City. The name sounds French. "A microwaved burrito is way more common in our lunchroom than a baguette and brie," the company says.
Before ski shops caught on, the Voilé strap found work as the toe strap on the original Merrell Super Comp ski boots.
