An extreme freerider and world champion of the Freeride World Tour 2019, Markus Eder has also been named among the watch brand’s team of ‘Alpinists’ for almost two years. This year, to kick off the season much anticipated by winter sports enthusiasts who dream of just one thing – sliding down snow-covered mountains – the Italian athlete has designed a limited edition of 100 of the famous Alpina smart watch, the Alpina AlpinerX Alive Markus Eder Special.
Markus Eder, an icon in freeriding
Thirty-year-old skier Markus Eder hails from South Tyrol in Italy and is regarded as a role model in the freeriding world. Despite starting out in alpine skiing, he could not help but be drawn in by the creativity and fun of freestyle skiing. From 2005, Markus focused on this discipline and his flair – combined with his artistic and competitive personality – soon allowed him to break onto the European scene and become a wellknown international freestyler after winning the Nine Knights competition in Nebelhorn in Germany in 2010. As a park skier, Markus won the SFR Freestyle Tour in 2011 and competed at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sotchi, Russia.
In 2011, Markus finished second in his first backcountry competition, the Red Bull Linecatcher (France). Before discovering the joys of freeriding and mountain exploration, this experience opened up new opportunities for his career, driven by an ambition to excel at freestyling and freeriding.
His vision for standing out among his freeriding competitors is to reinterpret steep ski lines by using his freestyle experience as an advantage. In 2012, Markus won the World Heli Challenge and took second place in the Freeride World Tour overall rankings 2018, before being crowned champion of the Freeride World Tour in 2019, the most prestigious title that a rider can obtain.
Between 2014 and 2018, Markus Eder starred in five films by Matchstick Productions (MSP Films), leading to a turning point in his career. In fact, two years later, he decided to move away from competitions so as to concentrate on making The Ultimate Run film, which received its world première at the High Five Festival in Annecy earlier this year. Acclaimed by his peers, the film is arguably one of the most impressive ever made in the ski world. Combining stunning sequences with absolute technical mastery in breathtaking routines, Markus demonstrates all his expertise and exceptional talent – not only a challenge, but an opportunity to inspire the future big names in freeriding.
A big thank you to planet Earth
To celebrate their collaboration and kick off the 2021/22 ski season, Alpina and Markus Eder have designed an exclusive 100-piece AlpinerX Alive limited edition, to the delight of watch collectors and freeriding fans.
Appreciative of the exceptional and almost infinite playground the mountains provided him with from an early age, Markus now pays a very special tribute to them, while conveying a powerful message. Adorned with a logo representing three Alpine peaks at 12 o’clock, an elegant grey dial reveals a map of the world filled with red and raised designs, denouncing the danger currently facing the planet – this rich and bountiful Mother Earth – now caught in the stranglehold of global warming. To reinforce its eco-responsible approach, the timepiece has been mounted on a vegetable leather strap, one of the first of its kind in the world of watchmaking, made from recycled apple waste. It also draws on the athlete and friend of the brand’s own ‘logo’.
As a little extra personal touch, the water-resistance mark has been signed by the Italian freerider. Characterised by subtle contrasts and shades of grey, luminescent silver-tone hands echoing the hour markers complete the dial, which is housed in a 44 mm steel case topped with a bidirectional bezel.
Connected in every way
Designed for outdoor enthusiasts, this watch features a new generation heart rate sensor developed by Philips Wearable Sensing, plus GPS and activity monitor, among many other functions. These new features are offered in addition to the perpetual calendar, second time zone, chronograph, sleep tracker and personalised notifications. All of this is now available on a new high-resolution AMOLED touch screen.
Its rechargeable battery provides up to seven days of complete autonomy. This model uses the Alpina Smartwatch app and sends data to the watch in real-time to help you improve your performance.
Alpina AlpinerX Alive Markus Eder Special Technical Specification
Reference AL-284ME5SSAQ6L – Limited edition Limited to 100 pieces, RRP 1’295€
Functions
- Always on-time (hours, minutes, day and date)
- Worldtimer (second time zone)
- Local time
- Chronograph (count up, count down, chrono split, chrono lap)
- Heart rate monitoring
- Heart rate notifications
- Activity tracking
- Get-active alerts
- Sleep monitoring
- Smart sleep alarms
- Weather
- Breathing exercise
- Messages review
- Notifications (calls, messages, emails)
- Workout with GPS tracking (integrated GPS)
- Hydration
- VO2 Max
- Cardio fitness index
- Dynamic coach
- Cloud backup & restore
- Movement AL-284 connected caliber.
- Heart rate sensor provided by Philips Wearable Sensing.
- Rechargeable battery & battery level indicator
Movement
- AL-284 connected caliber
Case
- Stainless steel 2-part case
- 360° bi-directional turning bezel
- Diameter of 45 mm
- Height of 16,30 mm
- Scratch-resistant and convex sapphire crystal
- Water-resistant up to 10 ATM/100m/330ft
Dial
- Dark grey (sea) and red (land) dial with mat finishing
- Silver color indexes with white luminous treatment (red
- luminous treatment for 4 o’clock index)
- Dark grey inner ring with red markers
- Silver hands filled with white luminous treatment
- AMOLED touch screen
Strap
- Black recycled appel leather strap
- Including an extra dark grey velcro strap
About Alpina
Swiss manufacturer of alpine sports watches since 1883
Founded in 1883 and famous for its iconic red triangle, Alpina is a Swiss watch manufacturer based in Geneva. The brand set out to design luxury sports watches offering exceptional accuracy and reliability in the most challenging sporting environments, like the Alps.
A true pioneer of the watchmaking industry, Alpina has been the source of numerous patents and innovative calibres over the past 138 years. At the beginning of the 20th century, Alpina became the official supplier of watches to military pilots, before revolutionising the concept of sports watches in 1938 with the legendary Alpina 4.
True to its long tradition of innovation, Alpina launched the first Swiss made Horological Smartwatch in 2015, creating a new segment in the luxury Swiss sports watch market. In 2020, the brand introduced the AlpinerX Alive, a new generation of connected watches equipped with a heart rate monitor and GPS, among other things. Also committed to protecting the planet, Alpina created the Seastrong Diver Gyre Automatic range using recycled plastic from the oceans. In 2021, the brand is doubling down on its promise to get involved with organisations fighting to protect the environment. Joined together by the unifying principle We Shape the Change – the environmental equivalent of Reach Your Summit – Alpina will undertake a variety of measures aimed at drawing public attention to current environmental issues.
Inspired by the Alps from the very beginning, Alpina has always been heavily involved in outdoor activities and mountain sports. The brand has established strong partnerships demonstrating its commitment to this world, as well as a team of ‘Alpinists’, including athletes and friends of the brand working in the most challenging environments.