Retail Giant Decathlon Steps Into   Rollerski Business

Retail Giant Decathlon Steps Into Rollerski Business

Gear News, Newsfeed
It finally happened. The rumours were galore in the skiing world for the last year that the French retail giant Decathlon has discovered the great sport of cross country skiing - and wants its slice of the ( growing) pie. Decathlon, with its 1400 stores in 45 countries, is, quite simply, the largest sporting goods retailer in the world in 2018. As many would attest, it sells no-brand products at knock-down prices. Quality? Design? Ain't gonna win coveted ISPO awards, but decent for most time. Welcome first-ever Decathlon rollerskis! The main feature of the new skis is, of course, its price: with 115 euros for classic model and almost unreal 99 euros for skating one, the new brand is surely going to bring new people into skiing. No word as…
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IDT. Possibly Most Talked About Brand In Cross Country Skiing This Year.

IDT. Possibly Most Talked About Brand In Cross Country Skiing This Year.

Gear News, Leaders, Newsfeed
If there is a story of rapid rise in the world of cross country skiing that should be the one of IDT rollerskis. Mere three-four years ago practically nobody heard of the brand – but now, in 2018, it looks like anybody who is anybody in the world of skiing is being seen training and/or competing on IDT skis. Both Norwegian xcski and biathlon teams, Russian xcski team, personally Charlotte Kalla, Federico Pellegrino – the list of IDT users is long & growing. Ingvild Flugstad Østberg, Martin Sundby and Johannes Høsflot Klæbo lent their names directly to the brand promotion – and , if you read the interview on the Daily Skier , it's not just names – but hours of their work as well. We have looked into the…
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Why Blink Skifestival Provides Glimpse Into Future Of Skiing.  And Reasons Why It Might Not Happen

Why Blink Skifestival Provides Glimpse Into Future Of Skiing. And Reasons Why It Might Not Happen

Newsfeed, Travel & Mass Sport
A short intro for those yet uninitiated: there are international skiing competitions i.e. World Championships ( hello, Seefeld'2019!) and World Cup stages. Those are held - you guessed it - in the winter, when the Northern hemisphere gets some snow ( more of which later). Which means that the skiing as sport is suffering from a major competitive disadvantage in ever toughening field of battle for media attention and sponsorship - it's seasonal. [caption id="attachment_8222" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] Same ski stars, same poles & boots - the only difference are rolellerski. IDT Solutions models are developed with Ingvild Oestberg who is actually seen in this photo - and are identical for all the participants [/caption] You might adore Klaebo, Nillson, Ustiugov, Diggins or Pellegrino - but you naturally start forgetting about…
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Norway, Biri, Madshus – Part 1

Norway, Biri, Madshus – Part 1

Gear News, Newsfeed
Martin Madshus produced his very first pair of skis in his barn in 1906 beating Abel Rossignol by a year  ( the Frenchman began making skis in Voiron “only”in 1907) Madshus as a company has been continuously operating ever since, thus making it the oldest ski manufacturer in the world. It likely also is the world's most modern – at least one of, considering the amount of ( hugely expensive ) robots employed at the production line in Biri, some 30 kilometers from Lillehammer. https://www.instagram.com/p/BkxUS18Azdp/?taken-by=daily_skier When you purchase Madshus, you become an owner of much more than a pair of skis. Norway is one of the most expensive countries in the world for manufacturing – that's the price the business pays for highly skilled work force and stringent ecological regulations.…
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RIP One Way

RIP One Way

Gear News, Newsfeed
One Way as we know it is no more. An ambitious Finnish company, best known for its world-class ski poles,  used at different point in time by such greats as Martin Fourcade ,  Charlotte Kalla, Dario Cologna, Alexei Poltoranin, Ragnhild Haga to name but a few, have succumbed to the pressure of its debts and went bankrupt. Things looked very promising for One Way Sports Oy as recently as 2014,  when their net sales topped 12 million Euros and they've signed a very promising deal with the Chinese ski association. https://www.instagram.com/p/BcUl1lvgeCn/?taken-by=kalla_87 But a combination of several snowless winters in continental Europe and a sharp fall of the value of rouble ( with Russia being OW's most important market) doomed the Finnish company. At the end of March this year Vantaa District…
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