As the alpine ski season kicks off, all eyes turn to the heart of the French Alps—specifically, the Isère region near Grenoble. This area, part of the larger Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, remains a critical hub for ski manufacturing. In the town of Saint-Jean-de-Moirans, one of France’s few remaining ski factories, the craft of building high-performance skis is alive and well, blending hands-on tradition with cutting-edge development.
The Rossignol Atelier: A Focus on Craft
We’re visiting the Rossignol facility, a legendary company founded back in 1907 by Abel Rossignol. Stéphane Mougin, the Race Director for the Rossignol Group, is guiding the tour and is quick to correct any misconceptions about their operation. “This is a workshop, not a mass-production center,” Mougin explains.
This distinction is crucial. Nearly 10,000 pairs of competition skis are produced here annually, primarily by hand. Established in 2009, the workshop was intentionally built adjacent to the R&D offices, a strategic move that defines their workflow. “We have a lot of connections that happen very quickly,” Mougin notes. “If there’s a problem or a question, we can interact immediately.”
The manufacturing process starts in the “element preparation” area. Here, technicians gather all the raw components needed for a single ski: the base, the core, the edges, rubber dampening, and fibers. Once these layers are assembled, Mougin says, “When the cover closes, we send the pressure,” referencing the critical step of pressing the components into a cohesive ski.
Salomon’s QST: Evolving for the Modern Freerider
While Rossignol perfects its race-room craft in Isère, other iconic French brands like Annecy-based Salomon are busy redefining the freeride market. This upcoming 2025/26 winter marks a major milestone for Salomon’s popular QST line, which is launching its fourth generation.
The QST family first hit the market in the 2016/17 season with five models (the 85, 92, 99, 106, and 118). Over nearly a decade, the line has constantly adapted to evolving skier demands, changing snow conditions, and the new criteria of professional freeride competitions.
A New Design Philosophy
The new lineup now features six models. However, trying to deduce their purpose just by looking at the waist width would be a mistake. In the past, wider QST skis generally correlated with higher performance capabilities. This new generation aims for something different: providing an equal level of high performance for each ski within its specific, intended terrain.
From Emotion to Technical Data
Quentin Boutry, the Category Manager for Alpine Skis and Bindings at Salomon, oversees this complex development, a process that typically spans two to two-and-a-half years. Boutry, who has been with Salomon for six years, says the work begins by defining a spec brief. The goal, he explains, is to “translate emotions into technical data,” which then guides the entire development process.
For this new QST generation, the core idea was to deliver that equivalent high performance across all widths, with versatility as the common denominator.
Prototyping at Speed
To bring these concepts together into a physical ski, development necessarily moves to the snow. The teams alternate between adjusting prototypes in the workshop and conducting intensive field tests, repeating the cycle until they have a ski that matches the initial brief.
To accomplish this, Salomon’s teams have a significant creative advantage: a vacuum press. This technology allows them to develop and build prototypes rapidly, freeing them from the significant time constraints and high costs associated with creating traditional, permanent ski molds.