Arne Backstrom
It was the mid-2000s when Blizzard Skis got a serious boost. The Austrian ski company was already one of the quintessential labels in the sport—it had been manufacturing race skis for downhillers since the late 1940s—but the brand, based in Mittersill, was reaching a plateau. Its skis were being held proudly above the heads of ski racers who’d reached the podium on the global circuit, but that was nothing new. Blizzard had been engineering winning racing skis for years. There was a burgeoning side to skiing that had attitude, spunk and was captivating a new generation of skiers. FREERIDING: Big-mountain skiing with a flowing, freestyle feel. Tight loose. Freeskiing’s underground beginnings had graduated to big business & earned global popularity—Blizzard Skis, looking to revamp its program, wanted to be a part of it. But the brand had to break into a side of skiing it had only yet seen from afar, and it was forcing ski-makers to reevaluate ski construction from the ground up…
