Brand Profile: Inside the Comeback of SIMS Snowboards

SIMS is one of the original names in snowboarding, known for its influence on the sport’s style, culture, and innovation. After years of ups and downs, the brand has regained momentum with new leadership, a standout team and strong focus on its roots. Ralph Sigrist of Sardona Trade AG, the distributor for Central Europe, talks to us about how the brand is reconnecting with riders, core shops, and storytelling to build the next chapter of its legacy.

How did SIMS’ resurgence come about?

Many people know that Tom Sims was also a pioneer when it came to licensing. The SIMS brand went through many highs and lows over the past five decades. After Tom’s passing in 2012, the brand drifted until ownership fully returned to Tom’s family. In 2015, Tom’s widow Hilary initiated a small relaunch with high-quality production at Never Summer. At the same time, there was a licensee in Japan who kept SIMS alive exclusively for the domestic market.

During a trip to Japan, Scott Blum and Keegan Valaika were riding with Shuhei Sato, who was on SIMS boards. From then on, the vision became bigger. Hilary became convinced to hand over the license fully to the Japanese team, who founded SIMS Collective Inc. to give the brand a global direction. Scott now plays a key role — not just as a rider, but also in driving marketing and product development, working with a tight crew that helps bridge the Japanese branch with the rest of the world. All boards are now pressed at Playmakers Factory.

What are the SIMS brand’s core values?

SIMS always had a gnarly team. The best graphics. Game-changing product. It shaped an industry and ignited global demand. Today, we look back and see we shaped history. It is a deeply held SIMS belief that the riders of the boards are the ultimate authority on product performance.

SIMS makes some very cool snowboard videos, how key is this media to your marketing?

Media is essential — snowboarding is about style, culture, and inspiration, and video is the best way to communicate that. SIMS uses film projects not just as advertising, but as a way to showcase the team, the lifestyle, and the creativity that define the brand. After our global

launch, we’ve been working on a two-year team movie project with Brown Cinema. With the premiere of Quasimodo, we knew that a 50-minute film is tough to compete with in a world dominated by 20–30 second TikTok and Insta reels — but it’s still the best way to show what the team and the brand are bringing to the culture.

Sims Origin Flyer

How is the brand distributed in Europe?

SIMS works with select specialty snowboard shops and trusted partners across Europe. We focus on core retailers who live the culture and can tell the SIMS story the right way — not on chasing mass distribution from big corporate brands. I’m based in Switzerland and oversee all the sales agents. Phillip from Endless Winter Shop in Germany has been a huge support in marketing and sales, and he’s a true role model for what an authentic core shop should be. Elmar is a skater who first started out on a Taperkick Skateboard from Tom Sims back in the ’70s. He represents the brand at the Longboard Classic in Stuben, where you can meet some of the legends who shaped snowboarding in its early years alongside Tom Sims. We love brick-and-mortar shops and can’t wait to catch up with owners, managers, and their crews at Shops First Try in January.

What European Riders are on SIMS ?

We are proud that we were able to support Florian Fischer on his breakthrough together with Beyond Medals in their movie Casino. He’s still a big inspiration and I can’t think of someone else that was smoother riding the park in Laax. RIP Flöru ! Isa Lötscher is stepping up to the global team and we hope to see a run full of her iconic methods when she’s competing in the winter Olympics in halfpipe. Kristoffer Lerand from Norway and Jaime Castro from Spain are other very true riders that we support. And there are plenty of other riders on SIMS that rip on a skateboard as good as on a snowboard from the dutch fridges to the glaciers of Austria.

What is the best selling board and why ?

The ATV — short for All Terrain Vehicle — pretty much says it all, and that’s why it’s our best-selling model. The re-launch of the legendary Noah Salasnek board, with the green and orange skate trucks, was a total blast. I knew from my own coming-of-age in snowboarding what kind of impact it could have, but seeing how this board still stirs up so many emotions was a big surprise — and proof that SIMS deserves a strong place in the future of snowboarding.

www.simscollective.com