Swix Ultra is a foldable running pole designed for elite ultra-distance runners, developed in collaboration with Swix, a Norwegian sporting goods brand with roots in cross-country skiing and decades of experience in pole design. The central question driving the project is how expertise from cross-country ski poles can shape a running pole built to be repaired, not replaced. The combination of Swix's technical foundation and my own interest in the tension between high-performance gear and long product lifespans resulted in a system consisting of a pole and a dedicated quiver, shaped by a faceted, stealth-inspired design language and built around a modular construction that allows broken or worn components to be replaced rather than discarded.

This tension between performance and lifespan is what drew me to the project in the first place. My design interests sit at the intersection of performance and what human-centred design calls super users, people whose professional or competitive use of a product exposes weaknesses ordinary users never encounter. Ultra-distance running is a clear example. The sport is growing fast, but existing poles are often adapted from ski or trekking poles rather than designed for the specific demands of running hundreds of kilometres through steep mountain terrain, where every gram matters. At the same time, carbon composite equipment carries a significant environmental footprint, and most poles on the market are treated as disposable once a single component fails. Swix Ultra is my attempt to address these challenges together, showing that low weight, performance, repairability, and a distinct visual identity can be compatible design priorities rather than competing ones.

Reaching that result required a practice-based research method, moving between prototyping and user feedback in iterative loops. I conducted in-depth interviews with elite ultra-distance athletes, bringing early concepts, sketches, and physical prototypes into these conversations and revising the design based on their responses. The pole components, handle, shaft, and basket, were developed in parallel under a shared visual and functional direction, with handle forms refined through multiple rounds of clay modelling and 3D printing. The shaft uses a three-part triangular carbon construction, the baskets are tool-free replaceable, and the quiver was developed through hands-on experimentation with different mounting methods and materials.