Atomic (officially Atomic Austria GmbH)Atomic Company
/ref> is an Austrian company that manufactures and sells

ski A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partial ...

s and other

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IO ...

equipment, such as

boots A boot is a type of footwear. Boot or Boots may also refer to: Businesses * Boot Inn, Chester, Cheshire, England * Boots (company), a high-street pharmacy chain and manufacturer of pharmaceuticals in the United Kingdom * The Boot, Cromer Stre ...

, bindings,

helmets A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a policeman's helmet in the United Kingdom) without protect ...

ski pole Ski poles, also referred to as poles (in North America), sticks (UK), or stocks (Australia), are used by skiers for balance and propulsion. Modern ski poles are most commonly made from aluminum and carbon fiber, though materials such as bamboo are ...

goggles Goggles, or safety glasses, are forms of protective eyewear that usually enclose or protect the area surrounding the eye in order to prevent particulates, water or chemicals from striking the eyes. They are used in chemistry laboratories and ...

, bags, apparel and protective equipment. Atomic is a subsidiary of

Amer Sports Amer Sports Oyj is a Finnish sporting goods retailer and holding company overseeing equipment brands Salomon, Arc'teryx, Peak Performance, Atomic, Suunto, Wilson, Armada, ENVE Composites, Louisville Slugger, DeMarini, and Sports Tracker.

Corporation, since 2019 itself a subsidiary of the Chinese group

Anta Sports Anta Sports Products Limited is a Chinese sports equipment multinational corporation headquartered in Jinjiang. It is the world's largest purely sports equipment company by revenue and third-largest manufacturer of sporting goods overall, behind ...

Atomic, ''Owner update'', 2019 hina’s Anta Sports closes in on €5.6bn takeover of Finland’s Amer, https://www.chicagobusiness.com/consumer-products/wilson-sporting-goods-parent-be-acquired-52-billion

, https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/person/15393732 with sister brands Wilson Sporting Goods, Wilson,

Suunto Suunto Oy is a Finnish company that manufactures and markets sports watches, dive computers, compasses and precision instruments. Headquartered in Vantaa, Finland, Suunto employs more than 300 people worldwide, and its products are sold in over ...

Sports Tracker Sports Tracker, earlier Nokia Sports Tracker, was originally a software tool for Symbian Series 60 phones (particularly those that included a GPS facility such as the Nokia N95, or bluetooth phones with the addition of a bluetooth-compatible G ...

, Salomon, Precor,

Arc'teryx Arc'teryx is a Canadian high-end design company specializing in outdoor apparel and equipment headquartered in North Vancouver, Canada. It focuses on technical apparel for mountaineering and Alpine sports, including related accessories. The com ...

History

Alois Rohrmoser founded Atomic in 1955. In 1971, the company increased its production capacity by building a second factory in

Altenmarkt im Pongau Altenmarkt im Pongau is a small town in the Austrian state of Salzburg. Geography Altenmarkt is situated 65 km southeast of Salzburg. Economy The town is principally known for its winter tourism. It is also the location of the factory manufactur ...

, where the majority of their ski production still takes place. In 1981, Atomic started production in the Bulgarian city of

Chepelare Chepelare ( bg, Чепеларе ) is the principal town in Chepelare Municipality, part of Smolyan Province in Southern Bulgaria. It is situated in the central part of the Rhodopes, on the banks of Chepelare River. Chepelare is a popular wint ...

, becoming the first west-block company to open a plant in the eastern-bloc countries. Atomic continued to expand its range, and in 1989, it became the first one-stop supplier for skis, bindings, boots and poles. Ski production peaked at 831,000 pairs in 1991 and 1992. However, Atomic faced financial difficulties due to high products rejection when transitioning to the "Schalenski" technology (cap ski), and to failures in the booming snowboard market. In 1994, the

BAWAG BAWAG (German language: ''Bank für Arbeit und Wirtschaft'') was a bank in Austria founded in 1922. On October 1, 2005, it merged with the separate '' Österreichische Postsparkasse'' (P.S.K.) to form the "Bank für Arbeit und Wirtschaft und Öst ...

requested Atomic to be put in insolvency. In November 1994, the Amer Sports Group (which also includes Arc´teryx, Peak Performance, Armada, Enve,

DeMarini DeMarini Sports, Inc. is an American manufacturer of sports equipment headquartered in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. The company is known for producing baseball and softball baseball bat, bats and batting gloves.As well as getting baseball com ...

, Wilson Sporting Goods, Wilson,

, Precor, Volant and Salomon) acquired Atomic for 918.7 million schillings (66.8 million euros), and in March 2006 the insolvency procedures were lifted. Today Atomic manufactures around 600,000 pairs of skis per year.

Technology

In 2008 Atomic brough
Doubledeck
to market, the first technology to automatically adapt the radius and flex to the style of the skier and skiing conditions. Atomic developed th
LiveFit
(2009), a ski boot which automatically adapts to the shape of the foot. Since 2009, Atomic's skis have also been available with variou
Rocker technologies
Atomic has recently develope
Memory Fit
a heat fitting technology that adapts the boot to the users foot, which can be found on two of the market's top selling boots. Atomic is also committed to the development of mor
environmentally-friendly production
methods: the factory in Altenmarkt uses a wood pellet heating system during the manufacturing process. Th
"Renu" line
comprises skis and boots largely made of recyclable and renewable materials.

Sponsorship

Atomic currently sponsors male and female athletes in

alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...

freestyle skiing Freestyle skiing is a skiing discipline comprising aerials, Mogul Skiing, moguls, Ski Cross, cross, Half-pipe skiing, half-pipe, slopestyle and big air as part of the Freestyle skiing at the Winter Olympics, Winter Olympics. It can consist of a ...

, touring skiing,

Nordic combined Nordic combined is a winter sport in which athletes compete in cross-country skiing (sport), cross-country skiing and ski jumping. The Nordic combined at the Winter Olympics has been held since the first ever 1924 Winter Olympics, Winter Olympic ...

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

, and

biathlon The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not tim ...

References

External links

Official website
{{Sports equipment brands Manufacturing companies established in 1955 Sporting goods manufacturers of Austria Ski equipment manufacturers Austrian brands Clothing companies established in 1955 Austrian companies established in 1955 Economy of Salzburg (state) 1994 mergers and acquisitions