Being at home in NY the summer of 2014 after spending 5 weeks of my winter in Hokkaido, Japan... I was thinking of ways to combine my love of Japan, action sports, and creating things. I was avidly studying Japanese on my own time at home. This is when I recognized the Japanese kanji character 山 (mountain) looks perfectly like our English W. This is when the idea for 山ild flew into my brain. I love that it is a word recognizable to both Japanese and English speaking people. My true goal was to bring together our differences in culture and break down these language barriers, and I believe it worked while I was living in Japan in 2015. I have always looked at this brand as something bigger than just a skier only brand... I see it working in many different avenues such as a guiding service to Japan, production services and selling various artistic pieces, as well as a sustainable apparel line.