Black Diamond Asia — FAQs

Why is Black Diamond manufacturing gear in China?

BD is 100% committed to building the finest climbing and freeride ski gear on the planet. Manufacturing in southeast China allows us to tap into a much larger pool of secondary processing than is available in Salt Lake City. It also allows our SLC operation to focus most of its energy on those components and products with the highest engineering content.

Is BD Asia a joint venture or is it independently owned by Black Diamond?

BD Asia is a wholly foreign owned enterprise (legal speak for 100% owned) by Black Diamond Equipment Limited. All employees at BD Asia are BD employees just like their counterparts in the US and Europe. By retaining total ownership of BD Asia, we are able to retain total control and thereby ensure the quality of every product made at BD Asia. We wouldn’t have it any other way…

What is the climbing like in China?

Rock climbing in China ranges from short sport climbs and bouldering in the southeast to large undeveloped granite walls in the northwest. In fact, much of the rock climbing in China are either undeveloped or still have a lot of room left for first ascents.The closest climbing to our facility in Zhuhai is in Hong Kong and Qingyuan in Guangdong, where most of the climbs are bolted and are either shore-side or a short hike into the hills behind the skyscrapers. Perhaps the most famous climbing area in China is Yangshuo where there are unique limestone pillars with numerous routes ranging from 5.5 to 5.14. This is settled in a unique little town where you can rent a “climbing van” or a bike to get to the crag. As far as weather, it is hot and humid for much of the year where the BD facility is located in the southeast and the most bearable time to climb is in the winter. In the northwest, climbing temps are best in the spring through fall.

Ice climbing and mountaineering expedition covers a number of areas in China, with North Beijing and West Sichuan ranking the top.

China is one of the largest and most geographically diverse countries in the world and possesses established world-class rock, ice and alpine climbing routes plus nearly unlimited potential for more. From the remote peaks of Xinjiang and Sichuan Provinces in Western China to the steep limestone sport climbing of Yangshuo and Qing Yuan in Southeast China’s Guangxi and Guangdong Provinces, interest in climbing and outdoor sports continues to grow at a healthy pace.

BD has always manufactured a significant portion of their products in their SLC-based factory. What is the future of that manufacturing operation?

BD Asia was not established to replace our Salt Lake City manufacturing facility. We’ve expanded our SLC facility and staff during the period since we established BD Asia. Even so, our SLC operation is fully maxed out while running two full shifts. Our global manufacturing plan is to have BD employees with the right skills sets and expertise making the right products in the right places. We view BD Asia as an extension of what we have been doing since Yvon started banging out pitons on his backyard anvil.

How does BD ensure the quality of the products manufactured at BD Asia?

The short answer: Exactly the same way we ensure the quality of the products manufactured in Salt Lake City. BD Asia operates under the identical quality policy, systems and parameters that the Salt Lake City manufacturing facility does. Both are ISO 9001 compliant, both have a qualified, trained quality assurance engineering staff, both perform raw material, work-in-process and final batch testing, and both maintain material traceability.

Is BD the only company currently making climbing equipment in Asia?

There is a very large amount of branded climbing equipment coming out of Asia; however, it is coming from OEM machine shops that produce biners and other products or components for a host of well-known brands. Our decision to build our own factory, filled with BD employees trained to BD standards by other SLC-based BD employees with a European ISO certified quality assurance system was because we did not want to trust the manufacturing of our climbing hardware to others. Also, much of this Asian OEM-produced product of our competitors does not have proper country of origin labels, in part because they are bringing it in via Europe where that is not required. Black Diamond is the only branded climbing equipment company with its own production operation in Asia.

What’s the work environment like in BD Asia?

One of the things that make BD different from many other companies is that we still make product with our own hands in our own facilities. The distance from the CEO’s office in Salt Lake City to the shop floor is less than 100 steps. It is half that far from the Managing Director’s office to the shop floor at BD Asia. We regularly give shop tours to visitors at both locations, whether they are customers, suppliers or fellow climbers. Quite simply, we are proud to show off our global facilities, our working conditions and the highly skilled and professional staff at each of our operations.

On January 2007, we built a seven-meter high, twelve-meter wide climbing wall in our Zhuhai facility for all of our employees. Slackline, Ping Pong tables, basketball court and the company climbing trips are certainly great additions to making this work environment as fun as it can be.