The mountaineer who invented the five-toed climbing shoe tragically plunged 1,000 feet to his death after losing his grip on a Tyrolean peak in Italy.
Robert Fliri had been descending the 10,000-foot-high Punta d’Oberettes ice wall with two friends in Val di Mazia, near the Swiss border on Tuesday.
The 48-year-old slipped and disappeared over the edge falling more than 300 metres (984 feet) as his horrified friends watched on.
Rescuers were able to locate his body in a remote position, and needed a helicopter to get him out and fly to a nearby hospital in Malles.
Benno Simma, an Italian designer and artist, posted in tribute upon news of his death, describing Mr Fliri as a ‘brilliant designer and enthusiastic climber’.
‘Now you continue to walk in the endless celestial pastures.’
Mr Fliri was best known as the designer behind the ‘barefoot’ FiveFingers shoes, which he created while he was still a student at design school.
He went into partnership with Virbram who now sell the toe-hugging shoes for £130.
The South Tyrolean once told Italian media how he learned to love walking barefoot while growing up in the mountains, and had worked on replicating the feeling in a protective shoe since 1999, before going to market in 2006.
Mr Fliri, based in South Tyrol, was hiking at some 3,400 metres altitude when he slipped from the Punta d’Oberettes on Tuesday.
His two companions raised the alarm shortly before midday when they could no longer see him.
They promptly called mountain rescue, who arrived with a helicopter.
The teams were able to locate the body in a remote area and move Mr Fliri to a hospital in Malles.
Mr Fliri’s brand went from strength to strength in the United States after being named one of the best inventions by Time magazine in 2007.
They went on to be used at the New York marathon in 2009, and even found use among medical professionals rehabilitating patients in Britain.
The South Tyrolean told Italian news agency Ansa at the time that he was ‘a son of the mountain’.
‘I was a lumberjack, and I have spent long periods on the farm of my grandparents.
‘I have always sought more contact with nature, and so, a little at a time, I started walking barefoot, even in the mountains,’ he said.
The ultra-thin socks made from hard-wearing neoprene are said to help prevent injuries including ankle sprains and sore knees.
They act like gloves for feet that give the sensation of being barefoot while still protecting the skin
Manufacturers say they act like a second skin and force the wearer to land on the centre of the foot and not the heel which fits with natural balance.
Vibram is an Italian company and when they first designed the ‘shoes’, they were aiming them at sailors, yoga fans and kayakers.
But they have proved hugely popular with runners and even professional athletes as the idea catches on.
MailOnline revealed in 2011 that the shoe even received Royal approval, as Prince Harry picked up a pair while shopping in California.