Blizzard is an

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

sports equipment Sports equipment, also called sporting goods, are the tools, materials, apparel, and gear, which varies in shapes, size, and usage in a particular sport. It includes balls, nets, rackets, protective gears like helmets, goggles, etc. Since th ...

company, based in

Mittersill Mittersill (; ) 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 west o ...

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

. 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 Ski binding, bindings, unlike other types of skiing (Cross-country skiing, cross-country, Telemark skiing, Telemark, or ski jumping) ...

equipment, including

ski Skis are runners, attached to the user's feet, designed to glide over snow. Typically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partially secured heel. For climbing slopes, ski skins c ...

s and accessories such as

backpack A backpack, also called knapsack, schoolbag, rucksack, pack, booksack, bookbag, haversack, packsack, 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; b ...

s and ski bags.

History

Blizzard was established in 1945 by Anton Arnsteiner (1925–2013, "der Toni"), as he returned home from the Second World War, and started producing skis besides wooden furniture in the family joinery workshop. 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, coinciding with 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, the company name was changed from "Blizzard Skifabrik Anton Arnsteiner" to "Blizzard GmbH". In 1976 a second production site was opened near

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. 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 producer of bicycles, winter equipment, motorsports gear and sportswear. The company's main office is in Givisiez, Switzerland, with branches in Europe, the United States, South Africa and India. History ...

. It was sold to Karl Hofstätter (33.3%) and Anton Stöckl (66.6%) in 2005, who sold it to the

Tecnica Group Tecnica Group is a sport equipment manufacturer in the market of footwear and winter sports equipment founded in Giavera del Montello, Treviso, Italy. Tecnica Group brands include Blizzard A blizzard is a severe Winter storm, snowstorm ...

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 FIS or fis may refer to: Science and technology * '' Fis'', an ''E. Coli'' gene * Fis phenomenon, a phenomenon in linguistics * F♯ (musical note) * Flight information service, an air traffic control service * Frame Information Structure, a S ...

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 Alpine Skiing World ...

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 surpri ...

. 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 thir ...

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 Raoul Célina André 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 is known for inventing the "Tuck" skiing position ...

(FR) fetches bronze in downhill. *

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

Christl Haas Christl Haas (19 September 1943 – 8 July 2001) was an Austrian Alpine skier. She competed at the 1964 and 1968 Winter Olympics and won a gold and a bronze medal, respectively. Biography Haas grew up in Hahnenkamm, Kitzbühel, known for its al ...

, Erika Netzer and Marianne Jahn: won 3-times victory and World Championship Gold. Silver at the giant slalom on the new EPOXI-Ski. * 1964: Gold at the Olympic Games in Innsbruck for Christl Haas in downhill. *

1983 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 TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

Franz Klammer Franz Klammer (born 3 December 1953) is a former champion alpine ski racer from Austria. He dominated the downhill event for four consecutive World Cup seasons (1975– 78). He was the gold medalist at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, ...

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

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

Petra Kronberger Petra Kronberger (born 21 February 1969) 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 Cup circuit in th ...

won three consecutive seasons, 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 an Austrian former alpine skiing, alpine ski racer who competed in the Olympic Games and FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, World Cup. Her specialities were both the downhill and the super-G disciplines, althou ...

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

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

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 Olympi ...

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 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

: 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 The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

, 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, also referred to as the FWT Pro or simply the FWT, is an annual series of events in which freeride skiers and snowboarders compete for individual event wins, as well as the overall title of Freeride World Champion in t ...

by Loic Collomb-Patton.

References

External links

*
Tecnica Group Website
{{Sports equipment brands Sporting goods manufacturers of Austria Ski equipment manufacturers companies based in Salzburg (federal state) Tecnica Group Austrian brands