Blizzard is an

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

sports equipment Sports equipment, sporting equipment, also called sporting goods, are the tools, materials, apparel, and gear used to compete in a sport and varies depending on the sport. The equipment ranges from balls, nets, and protective gear like helmets. ...

company, based in

Mittersill Mittersill ( bar, Mittasü) is a city in the federal state of Salzburg, Austria, in the Pinzgau region of the Alps. It is located on the Salzach River. It has a population of 5,408 as of 2011. Geography Mittersill lies approximately 25 km to the ...

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. Blizzard is currently a division of the italian Tecnica Group S.p.A. and is specialized in the manufacturing of

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 ...

equipment, more specifically skis and accessories (

backpack A backpack—also called knapsack, schoolbag, rucksack, rucksac, pack, sackpack, booksack, bookbag or backsack—is, in its simplest frameless form, a fabric sack carried on one's back and secured with two straps that go over the shoulders ...

s, ski bags).

History

Blizzard was established in 1945 by Anton Arnsteiner (1925–2013, "der Toni"), as he returned home from the second world war, in the family joinery workshop, and started producing skis besides wooden furniture. The "Blizzard" brand was registered in 1953. In 1954, Blizzard became the first manufacturer to mass-produce polyethylene ski bases. Blizzard's first expansion occurred in 1957 as well as the introduction of metal and fiberglass as new materials. 1963 saw a great part of the factory burned down. In 1970, as production reached 500,000 skis per year, company name was changed from "Blizzard Skifabrik Anton Arnsteiner" to "Blizzard GmbH". In 1976 a second production site was opened near

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

. In 1980 Blizzard introduced the "Thermoski", after 6 years of development. In 1996 Blizzard introduced its first Carving ski, but it also applied for insolvency and was bought up by US company

SCOTT Sports Scott Sports SA (formerly Scott USA) is a Swiss producer of bicycles, winter equipment, motorsports gear and sportswear. The company's main office is in Givisiez, Switzerland, with branches in Europe and in the United States, South Africa and In ...

. It was sold to Karl Hofstätter (33.3%) and Anton Stöckl (66.6%) in 2005, who sold it to the Tecnica Group in 2006 and 2007, respectively. Sales of Blizzard skis are now completely integrated in the sale organization of Tecnica Group.

Alpine racing

Blizzard's presence on the FIS Alpine World Cup circuit is represented by several racers, including Austrian

Reinfried Herbst Reinfried Herbst (born 11 October 1978 in Salzburg) is a retired slalom skier from Austria. Herbst won the silver medal for the men's slalom event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. On 11 March 2006 he won his first World Cup race in S ...

and Japanese racer

Akira Sasaki is a Japanese alpine skier. At the 2002 Winter Olympics, Sasaki ranked 34th in the giant slalom. He did not finish in the slalom event. His best result in the Alpine Skiing World Cup is from 2003 slalom in Wengen, where he finished in a surpris ...

. Throughout the years, Blizzard won many awards with its skiers team: *

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

Frieda Dänzer Frieda Dänzer (16 November 1930 – 21 January 2015) was a Swiss Alpine skier, successful in the second half of the 1950s. At the 1956 Winter Olympics, she won silver in the downhill event. At Bad Gastein in 1958, she became world champion in ...

(CH) wins the first champion title on Blizzard skis in the triple combination.

Roger Staub Roger Staub (1 July 1936 – 30 June 1974) was a Swiss alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist. Born in Arosa, Graubünden, Staub won the giant slalom at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley and also won multiple medals at the 1958 ...

wins silver in the giant slalom,

Jean Vuarnet Jean Vuarnet (18 January 1933 – 1 January 2017) was an Alpine skiing, alpine ski racer from France. An Alpine skiing at the 1960 Winter Olympics, Olympic gold medalist, he was born in Le Bardo, Tunisia. Career The high point of Vuarnet's ra ...

(FR) fetches bronze in downhill. *

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

: Christl Haas,

Erika Netzer Erika Netzer (23 June 1937 – 30 November 1977) was an Austrian alpine skier. She had a surprise victory in 1959 that garnered her attention. She went on to compete for Austria at the 1960 Winter Olympics. References Austrian female al ...

and

Marianne Jahn Marianne Jahn-Nutt (born 14 December 1942) is a retired Austrian alpine skier. She won two gold medals at the 1962 World Championships, in the slalom and giant slalom events.Olympic Games in Innsbruck for Christl Haas in downhill. *

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

: Franz Klammer wins the downhill World Cup and Blizzard is the most successful brand at the men's downhill 1982/83. *

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

Petra Kronberger Petra Kronberger (born 21 February 1969, in Pfarrwerfen) is an Austrian former alpine skier, who participated in all disciplines. She was the first female alpine skier to win in all five World Cup events. Career Kronberger entered the World C ...

won 3 seasons in a row, the Ladies World Cup. The Austrian athlete wins as the first woman all 5 disciplines in the World Cup. * 1992: Gold medals in the combination and downhill at the Olympics in Albertville. Kronberger is one of the most successful skiers in history. * 1998:

Michaela Dorfmeister Michaela Dorfmeister (born 25 March 1973) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Austria. Her specialities were both the downhill and the super-G disciplines, although she skied in and had success in giant slalom. Biography Born in Vienna, ...

finished the Olympic Games in Nagano with silver in the Super-G. *

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

Renate Götschl Renate Götschl (born 6 August 1975) is an Austrian former alpine ski racer. She is a two-time individual World Champion in the combined (1997) and downhill (1999), and has won a total of 9 World Championships medals. She also won two Olympic m ...

wins the overall World Cup and the small crystal globe in Super-G. The overall standings at the giant slalom goes to Michaela Dorfmeister. *

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

: the overall World Cup victory goes to Michaela Dorfmeister. As of February 25, 2007, Blizzard placed 10th in the overall World Cup points standings. In March 2007, Blizzard announced that former World Cup racer and US Pro Tour champion Bernhard Knauss would be taking over as Blizzard's race manager. In 2010,

wins on the new Blizzard Ski the Slalom World Cup and gets the small crystal globe. At the

2014 Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

, Blizzard won the first Olympic gold medal in the men's slalom won by

Mario Matt Mario Matt (born 9 April 1979) is an Austrian former World Cup alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist. Slalom racing career Born in Zams, Tyrol, Matt made his World Cup debut in December 1999. He claimed 15 World Cup victories: 14 in sl ...

and a victory in the

Freeride World Tour The Freeride World Tour (FWT) is an annually toured series of events in which the best freeskiers and snowboard freeriders compete for individual event wins, as well as the overall title of World Champion in their respective genders and discipli ...

by Loic Collomb-Patton.

References

External links

*
Tecnica Group Website
{{Sports equipment brands Sporting goods manufacturers of Austria Ski equipment manufacturers Tecnica Group Austrian brands