We are a team of adventurers. What makes us unique is the passion and motivation we all share. We have the privilege of making our passion our daily work. This is what makes us a strong, motivated, ambitious and hardworking team. Here are our stories.
Department: Footwear and Technical equipment
Office: Montebelluna, Italy
Hobbies: Climbing, ski mountaineering, hardcourt bike polo, playing the piano, sewing
What should not be missing in my backpack: peanuts and beer (my main fuel), pen and paper (for drawing caricatures to people I meet), climbing shoes (there is always some rocks to climb!)
With a French mother and an Italian father, Julien Antonello grew up in Italy with an international outlook and a curiosity for how things work. He studied Aerospace Engineering because he loved inventing, exploring, and turning ideas into reality – skills that now serve him well at Oberalp when new testing methods need to be developed.
Julien’s role as Quality Control Specialist was established when he joined Oberalp and has evolved since then. At our Montebelluna site, where technical hardware is designed, he first mapped out the equipment and standards required to ensure flawless product quality. “Our products are exposed to great forces and heavy wear. To design meaningful tests, you need to understand materials, geometry, and, above all, how people really use them,” the young engineer explains. “That’s why we also developed our own strict Oberalp standards, going beyond existing industry norms. Only once products have passed these tests can they move into production.”
Do everything thoughtfully, without panic or haste.
What Julien enjoys most is that no two days are alike. He collaborates with R&D teams across various product categories, including footwear, ski touring boots, backpacks, tents, and is involved in certifications for via ferrata sets and carabiners. This variety gives him a broad knowledge of Oberalp’s entire product range. He thrives on learning new things, sharing knowledge, and being part of solving complex challenges together with colleagues.
Outside of work, Julien is just as versatile. Friends describe him as fun, balanced, and approachable – someone with countless ideas. Julien smiles brightly as he admits: “But there are not enough hours in the day to pursue them all.”
He climbs, goes ski touring in the winter, and has a unique passion for hard court bike polo – a form of polo played on bicycles instead of horses. Creativity also finds its way into his hobbies: he plays piano in a band with friends, enjoys experimenting with his sewing machine, and loves blending variety into everyday life.
Currently, Julien is also training to be admitted to the mountain guide selections, which will lead to a demanding four-year journey that requires mastering countless tours of different difficulty levels. Determined and calm under pressure, he takes pride in understanding problems and helping solve them – whether in the mountains, in the lab, or on stage.
