• For more information on how to avoid pop-up ads and still support SkiTalk click HERE.

Muleski

So much better than a pro
Inactive
Joined
Nov 14, 2015
Posts
5,243
Location
North of Boston
How about Obermeyer. Didn't Klaus start making some of the first ski specific clothing, or is that just a meme?

This is in hardgoods. If we go softgoods, there is a whole separate list.

I would start it with W.L. Gore and Assoc., throw in Yvon Chouinard {Patagonia}, Dave Jacobs of Spyder, CB Vaughn, Klaus, Willy Bogner, list can go on quite a bit.

Having said that Obermeyer had a lot of innovations, pretty much based on his being a ski instructor. I think of him with soft shell fabrics.
 
Last edited:

clong83

Stauffenberg!
Skier
Joined
Aug 22, 2017
Posts
180
Location
New Mexico
You jest, but there is something to be said for Bogner targeting women in the early days of ski resorts. Making fashionable ski-specific clothes that women wanted to wear (whether they skied or not) did help to popularize the sport in the 50s. Not exactly an 'innovation', but some credit where credit is due. And I don't see how it is really all that different from the modern day version of this that you mention.


White Stag and Roffe stretch pants. I have to admit that pretty girls in shapely ski clothes was a factor in me being so enthusiastic about skiing in my teens and early 20s..
 

fatbob

Not responding
Skier
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
6,288
Dynafit and BCA.

Mike Douglas at Salomon for the twin tip/ proto mass market fat. Solly generally for taking chances in a very conservative mkt.

Burton, Winterstick et al for really changing skiing for the good.

K2 I guess not for being innovators but the first big boys who got it and went all in.
 

crgildart

Gravity Slave
Skier
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
16,329
Location
The Bull City
I'm going to shout out for what Lange(?) did to boot design evolving from shorter cuff leather with laces then metal buckles to more flexible higher cuff plastic with flexible but also supportive boots that were WAY more comfortable, warmer, dryer, etc.. I know some others were innovative evolving out of leather but Lange seems to have been the best at it..
 

Muleski

So much better than a pro
Inactive
Joined
Nov 14, 2015
Posts
5,243
Location
North of Boston
I agree that Bob Lange was a real innovator.

My brother was one of the ten or so racers in the USA that got into his original Lange race boots. The ones with the locked hinge. My first pair were a few years later, when I had my "adult foot", and Lange had just introduced Lange Flo liners. The "comp" model with the yellow liner.

The performance was a huge leap forward. But man, there was no comfort in an early Lange. It was doubly apparent because the boot of the day, for top level racers was a Heierling 5 buckle boot, which was hand built {custom built}, and was an absolutely amazing piece of craftsmanship. Brass reinforced soles. They had the red white and blue chevron in the back...at least for US skiers. It also could not hold a candle to the Lange......and that became important with ski innovation.

After the 1964 Olympics, boots changed forever. We lived in Europe, and were on a ski vacation after Innsbruck, and many athletes were there skiing in "plastic" boots. I can't remember where we were, but a a 10 year old, I was bug-eyed looking at those boots. My brother stuck with the leather boots for one year.

As I recall, the innovation in boots was almost lockstep with ski changes. Particularly when Dynamic introduced the VR17, followed by Rossi, Kneissel, and others, they just skied better with a new boot. So companies like Trappeur, Caber, and others developed boots following Lange's lead.

For example THE SL ski of the day through those 1964 games was the Kastle. Wood. Pretty much gone after those games.

In our house, we had a number of Hierling and Molitor boots....beautiful boots made obsolete pretty fast. Seems like huge change in the mid to late 60's. I still have one pair of lace Molitors. Laces on the rear spine, double boot. Can't imagine skiing in them these days!
 

Muleski

So much better than a pro
Inactive
Joined
Nov 14, 2015
Posts
5,243
Location
North of Boston
I'm pretty sure he invented the down jacket? For which I will always be grateful. And for which my wallet will always be empty.

Funny, this made me check Wiki. It mentions that he made the first "quilted down ski jacket", which it says he made from the down quilt on his bed!

I was curious, and there is no date mentioned, as I KNOW that my dad had an Eddie Bauer down coat that was older than I am. I bet it was made in 1950-1952. And I recall that both my mom and dad had big puffy Gerry down coats in the early 1960's. Then mom started rocking the Bogner down coats, with the fur lined hoods. Pretty stylish, made better because she could rip.

The other inventions listed for Obermeyer are neat:

-the wind shirt
-T-necks with elastic in the collar
-mirrored sunglasses
-high altitude suntan lotion

Should have been obvious that he was living and instructing in Aspen!

Fun stuff!
 
Last edited:

Tom K.

Skier Ordinaire
Skier
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Dec 20, 2015
Posts
8,402
Personally, I'd give the first and second place awards to Bob Lange and Howard Head. They could arm wrestle over who gets which place.

For third place, how about whoever did the first fiberglass skis. Anybody know who?

Burt, Cubco and Miller come to mind.

Yikes, ever skied a Cubco, Doug? I grew up on the things. I suppose they brought in some safety, but at my young age at the time, all we could notice was how often they pre-leased. Sometimes mid-air while jumping! The arrival of the Salomon 505 Equipe was a godsend.

White Stag and Roffe stretch pants. I have to admit that pretty girls in shapely ski clothes was a factor in me being so enthusiastic about skiing in my teens and early 20s..

I hope to live long enough to see this fashion return. Everything comes back around, right? Right?!?!

Also, high quality stretch pants breathed well, dried quickly, and helped hold my knees together. Bring back the Colmars!

For marketing, it would be very hard to argue with K2...and Lange for posters.

Monique St. Pierre. Just wow. I met her at a ski function once. Talk about being a tongue-tied teenager. Aaarrrggghhh!
 

DanoT

RVer-Skier
Skier
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
4,788
Location
Sun Peaks B.C. in winter, Victoria B.C. in summer
Was it the Hierling boot that had leather reinforced with fibre glass, making them as stiff as any competing plastic boot, late 60s or early 70s?

Also in the early 70s, I think it was the Dynamic VR17 that you could order with a different flex, tip and tail making it almost a custom ski.

In the mid 70s Dura-Fiber came out with a ski with no wood core, instead there were hollow channels about a 1/4" wide running almost tip to tail. I had a pair of these and when I changed the bindings myself I didn't have any plastic plugs to fill the old holes so I filled them with bit of steel wool and glue. Over time some of the steel wool fell into the hollow channels so when you turned the ski upside down you could hear the steel wool going "tinkle, tinkle".:eek:
 

Doug Briggs

"Douche Bag Local"
Industry Insider
SkiTalk Tester
Joined
Nov 9, 2015
Posts
7,484
Location
Breckenridge, CO
Yikes, ever skied a Cubco, Doug? I grew up on the things. I suppose they brought in some safety, but at my young age at the time, all we could notice was how often they pre-leased. Sometimes mid-air while jumping! The arrival of the Salomon 505 Equipe was a godsend.

Innovative does not have to mean effective. ogsmile They sure were different and leveraged off a metal to metal interface.
 
Last edited:

graham418

Skiing the powder
Skier
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Mar 25, 2016
Posts
3,460
Location
Toronto
The performance was a huge leap forward. But man, there was no comfort in an early Lange. It was doubly apparent because the boot of the day, for top level racers was a Heierling 5 buckle boot, which was hand built {custom built}, and was an absolutely amazing piece of craftsmanship. Brass reinforced soles. They had the red white and blue chevron in the back...at least for US skiers. It also could not hold a candle to the Lange......and that became important with ski innovation.

This stirred a memory. In my neck of the woods, all the racers were using the Heschung Racer. Pretty much the last leather boot I think. It had a cable system for the buckles.
heschung ski boots.jpeg


And then I thought of the Nordica Astral's , which I think were the first plastic boot that was comfortable. ( Compared to Lange-Flo, anything was comfortable)

214808dfd942ddbbc5a8ff54e3190d44.jpg
 

Muleski

So much better than a pro
Inactive
Joined
Nov 14, 2015
Posts
5,243
Location
North of Boston
The ski boot that I recall as being leather with the "plastic" reinforcing plates on the inner clog and inner cuff was the Molitor. And that was later on. Cable bindings. Brown boot, black plates, Mid 70's.

Never recall any of our Heierlings having the plate, and my older brothers were very much the real thing. I was a real equipment geek as a kid, too, and don't recall seeing them on the boots of any of the big guns.

Could be on the Dynamics. Ordering or procuring was my dad, or my coaches' deal.

My dad was involved with Graves ski for a while, as an investor and "sage." What a terrible ski. Lasted forever. Unskiable, pretty much. Mounting them was a challenge, too.
 

Doug Briggs

"Douche Bag Local"
Industry Insider
SkiTalk Tester
Joined
Nov 9, 2015
Posts
7,484
Location
Breckenridge, CO
I was kind of partial to these Graves. They skied the 4 inches on top of packed powder effortlessly.

20160117_124214.jpg

I might have to reevaluate that opinion on New England 'powder'. ;-)
 

Muleski

So much better than a pro
Inactive
Joined
Nov 14, 2015
Posts
5,243
Location
North of Boston
I was kind of partial to these Graves. They skied the 4 inches on top of packed powder effortlessly.

View attachment 29948
I might have to reevaluate that opinion on New England 'powder'. ;-)

Classic!! They might be the only pair around!
And maybe the secret was having your skill to ski them!

They tried to hook up all sorts of deals with the National Ski Patrol, but they were not so universally loved. I also don't think many made it outside of New England, and mostly MA and NH!
 

Muleski

So much better than a pro
Inactive
Joined
Nov 14, 2015
Posts
5,243
Location
North of Boston
This stirred a memory. In my neck of the woods, all the racers were using the Heschung Racer. Pretty much the last leather boot I think. It had a cable system for the buckles.
View attachment 29945

And then I thought of the Nordica Astral's , which I think were the first plastic boot that was comfortable. ( Compared to Lange-Flo, anything was comfortable)

View attachment 29947

This is a great thread. When I was in college, in the spring on 1973, I think, I was asked to try a pair of Nordica boots. They made that boot in the Nordica banana yellow, and in red. I got a red pair. First this I noticed was that the boot cuff was higher than I had ever seen. Very tall. And of course the liner had it's own buckle. Kind of odd? Pre Boosters?

When I skied the things, there was no HINT of a flex. NO hinge. The picture shows that they were basically locked in place. I felt pretty guilty when I returned them, but the Nordica wanted honest feedback. I simply could NOT ski the boot. "Would a foam liner make a difference?" Heck, no! Locked even more in place!! But....they looked cool.

Back into a Lange....as the liners were finally getting bearable.
 

Tom K.

Skier Ordinaire
Skier
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Dec 20, 2015
Posts
8,402
And then I thought of the Nordica Astral's , which I think were the first plastic boot that was comfortable. ( Compared to Lange-Flo, anything was comfortable)

View attachment 29947

I had some of those, or close to it. And you're right -- coming off Lange Comps the Nordicas felt like slippers!
 

Sponsor

Staff online

  • Andy Mink
    Everyone loves spring skiing but not in January
  • Dwight
    Practitioner of skiing, solid and liquid
Top