NEW YORK—Vancouver-based luxury outdoor retailer Arc’teryx is known for its high-end apparel and equipment, which might make it seem like it’s only for people with a pretty penny to spend. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth, which is why Arc’teryx shared its values with a free walkthrough experience dubbed “For the Love of Winter—An Arc’teryx Mountain Experience” at ZeroSpace in Brooklyn.

In an on-site interview with BizBash, Benjamin Dupont, the multimedia director at Moment Factory, the experiential company behind the event, said the goal was “to bring the coastal mountain effect [in Vancouver] to New York [with an] evocative experience much like an art installation.” The 2,500 guests that attended the event stateside (there was also an iteration in Vancouver) began their 30-minute journey in a shuttle. From Nov. 11-13, eight people embarked on the experience at once, with a new group beginning every five minutes.

And once inside the shuttle, there was “a multisensory portrayal of a helicopter ride,” Moment Factory’s creative director Pamela Schneider explained. “The guests put on headphones and sat on a bench evoking a helicopter, and watched as the multimedia landscape took us on a journey into the mountains.”Every five minutes, eight guests began their journey in a helicopter simulator. To kickoff the walkthrough, at the end of the video presentation, the helicopter’s captain said, “Visibility is limited; we need to land and continue on foot."Photo: Courtesy of Arc'teryx and Moment FactoryUpon exiting the metaphoric helicopter, guests walked into an all-white, smoky room designed to evoke the feeling of being caught in a snowy whiteout.Photo: Courtesy of Arc'teryx and Moment Factory

She continued: “The soundscape guided us to know more about the coastal mountain effect—surprising rain forests [and] fast-changing weather conditions [that are] awe-inspiring and peaceful while also thrilling and dangerous—and led us into the journey we are embarking on.”

In the final line of the simulation-style presentation, the helicopter’s captain said, “Visibility is limited; we need to land and continue on foot,” upon which the “passengers” exited the shuttle and entered what Schneider referred to as a “whiteout.” 

“Here, the all-white room was filled with smoke, and guests must find their way through minimal white trees. Balance and orientation were challenged in this new space, and guests must slow down and pay attention to find the next space,” Schneider explained. The exit of the whiteout space was a custom sleeping bag funnel that participants had to squeeze through before facing an inclined hill outfitted with “minimal cone trees of varying heights,” she added.

Projection mapping guided attendees through varying footpaths and inclines depending on which trail they wanted to take—very similar to the assorted trails and fluctuating difficulties of West Canada’s mountains.After making their way through a snowy whiteout, an incline hill outfitted with cone trees and projection mapping was modeled after the assorted trails and fluctuating difficulties of West Canada’s mountainsPhoto: Courtesy of Arc'teryx and Moment Factory"The Ridge" room represented reaching the top of a summit, and featured 260-degree projection with a six-minute video loop, lighting, and special effects depicting extreme weather conditions hikers often face.Photo: Courtesy of Arc'teryx and Moment Factory

Upon “climbing” the metaphoric mountainside, guests reached “The Ridge, which was an immersive video room with 260 degrees of projection,” Schneider said. “The projections evoked being at the top of a mountainous ridge,” and featured a six-minute video loop complete with lights and sensorial special effects that ran the gamut of extreme weather conditions a hiker is likely to face, including a blue-skied, clear day; sunset; and snowstorm where snowfall came in the form of soapy bubbles.

Schneider described the final space, called “The Lake,” as an “artistic portrayal of the après-ski experience,” which the Moment Factory team summoned with the use of mirrors, light beams, and an LED cube. “We hope guests felt similar emotions to those they would feel in the real mountains, on a hike or skiing or snowboarding. We wanted them to feel nature in all its beauty and intensity,” Schneider said, noting that creating a “museum-like art installation—different from what we often see as a brand activation”—was the greatest success of “For the Love of Winter.”

Marking the end of the experience, guests were then presented with items in Arc’teryx’s 2022 winter collection. “The guests got to experience the brand in new ways,” Schneider said, adding that “it was less about the product itself and more about the creation of the brand,” while also “creating an event that can be a reference for other creatives to refer to.”The five-room multisensory journey concluded around an artistic representation of a campfire, which Moment Factory evoked with an LED cube and mirrored floor.