"Dedicated to the preservation and enjoyment of cross-country skiing with wooden skis"
Wooden Ski Brand Names © Copyright 2005-2007, Wood N Skis
ARTIS - Made in the Czech Republic
ARVIDS
ÅSNES Åsnes Skifabrikk AS started the first commercial manufacturing of Åsnes skis back in 1922 when the four Åsnes brothers began the ski production on a small scale. Since then, the development has gone from production of solid wooden skis to laminated wood core, glass fibre and cap skis, with or without steel edges, on an industrial and high-tech basis. Åsnes went on to manufacture various other brands of skis for U.S. companies, including the brands Janoy and Holmenkollen.
BERCONTA TRACKER Imported from Norway to the USA by Beconta, Inc. of New York
BLÅ SKIA Minimal ski production of Blå skia’s occurred in Nittedal, Norway starting around 1900. The skis at that time just had a strap for a binding. After 20 years, ski production increased and another factory opened in Kruttverkveien, Norway. In 1930, hickory was imported from the USA to be used in ski production. In 1932 a patent was issued to Bjørn Ullevoldsæter for laminated skis. They designed and generated the first laminated skis in 1933. Ski production was halted during World War II and commenced in the autumn of 1946. Bjørn later sold the patent to an Oslo businessman who started making Splitkein brand cross-country skis. Ivar Halvorsen worked many years in the factory in Kruttverkveien and in 1950; he opened his own ski repair shop. He worked at this until 1954 and at that time he introduced the “blue skia”. With increased output a new factory was built in Eventyrveien. Odd Martinsen, winning the gold medal in the 1966 Nordic World Ski Championships in Oslo and the 1968 Olympics in Grenoble, helped to make the blå skia famous. Blå skia’s stopped being produced in 1984/1985 and the factories were torn down in the mid to late 1990’s.
Bonna Nor Turski
Bonna Snow Stars - Wooden ski with synthetic base and fiberglass top BONNA Narve Bonna (January 16, 1901) was a Norwegian Ski jumper who competed in the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix. He won the first Olympic Ski jumping Silver medal in the 1924 Winter Olympics. "Bonna models also include the 1700, 1800, 2000 and 2400. "My best experience has been with Bonnas, because they were so well constructed. The 1700 model warps easily in the tail, and is to be avoided. There are some excellent 1800s on the market, but the tails have often delaminated at the lignostone edges. I have a 25% success rate in buying 1800s in excellent condition. The 2000 model is more reliable - I have a 75% success rate with it. The 2400 is rarely on the market, and one has to pay attention which 2400 is listed. There is an extra wide and heavy 2400 with metal edges (I am 2 for 2 in buying terrific-shape 220 cm models), and there is a 2400 which is the same width and weight as the 2000. Perhaps this latter 2400 is an early version of the 2000. All of these models have lignostone edges. I have come across a 2200 - which is a larger 2400 without lignostone or steel edges. It is a beautiful ski, but it needs to avoid rocks because of the soft edges.".....Jim Pugh, Andover, MA.
EDSBYN Edsbyn is a town, and the seat of Ovanåker Municipality, in Gävleborg County, Sweden. In 1899 the craftsman Lars Fredrik Petterson started the small joinery shop that was to become AB Edsbyverken in Sweden. Wood was and still is the common thread running through
the company. Today Edsbyn make furniture.
EGGEN The Eggen skis are named after Gjermund Eggen (born 1941). He became a national hero in Norway in 1966 after winning three gold medals in Nordic skiing (15 km, 50 km and relay). A new ski factory carrying his name was established in his home county Engerdal Valley. However, the factory was closed in 1983 due to foreign competition. Gjermund Eggen works now as a sheep farmer and a builder of log cabins. If you read Norwegian, you can get his full story at: http://gammel.viover60.no/lesestoff/reportasjer02/eggen.html (magazine article, 2002) http://www.vg.no/vg/sport/ski/vm97/0220i.html (newspaper article, 1997)
EIGER
ELITE XT, XLT, and ASKJEM Skis manufactured in Norway. Logo appears to be the same as Atomic's today.
GRESSHOPPA FINSE Gresshoppa literally means “Grasshopper” in Norwegian, presumably to indicated hopping down the trail. Finse is an area in the Ulvik municipality of Hordaland, Norway. During the winter, Finse is popular for cross-country skiing, sail skiing (due to its location on the edge of a frozen lake), expedition training and Red Cross training.
HARJU Skis made in Finland and constructed mostly of birch with lignostone edges.
HEAD A U.S. company, HEAD imported cross country skis from Norway in the 1970's
HOLMENKOLLEN Holmenkollen skis are named after the famous ski area and ski festival in Oslo, Norway. Holmenkollen skis are manufactured by the Åsnes Skifabrikk AS company for US distribution.
JANOY
Floyd provided financial backing for the business venture, but retained his full time job at an electrical manufacturing plant in Minneapolis, Minnesota USA, while Jan quit his job at the same company to follow his dreams. Skiing was Haug's passion, and he did everything possible to promote xc skiing here in the U.S. He did not get rich by eating, living, and breathing XC skiing. But he sure got a lot of people hooked on it, as the folks at Finn Sisu will tell you, one of his best local customers. Karen Haug Osen from Minneapolis remembers some details from her father, Jan. "I remember him spending a lot of time promoting ski trails in county parks. He helped establish French Park in Plymouth. He even made tracks in the snow with a primitive wood block he built and dragged behind him on a rope, with us kids following along behind". After Janoy went out of business, Jan went on to sell Edsbyn skis (his middle name was Edward). Jan died suddenly at the age of 56 of an enlarged heart, in 1988 (just when L.L. Bean signed a contract to purchase Edsbyn skis). None of Jan's children knew enough about his business to take it over. Two years later, the four surviving children helped their mother move from her four bedroom house in Plymouth, Minnesota, to a town home. The youngest sibling was 20 by then. In doing so, multiple garage sales were held and at least a dozen pairs of skis were sold. "We didn't realize how much we'd miss Janoy skis, especially to feel connected to our dad in his absence" said Karen.
Racing ski JARVINEN Skis manufactured in Finland. Esko Järvinen was a Finnish nordic combined skier who competed in the late 1920's and early 1930's. He won an individual bronze at the 1929 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Zakopane.
KONGSBERG Kongsberg (literally "The King's Mountain") is a municipality and town at the southern end of the Numedal valley, in the county of Buskerud, Norway. The town is known for many great ski jumpers. Birger Ruud and his two brothers, as well as many other townsmen, such as Petter Hugsted, won numerous medals in Winter Olympics and other international championships in the 1930s and 40s.
LAASANEN These skis were made in the 1960-70's in a small town in Finland. An importer from Kenosha, WI imported the skis into the United States. Most of the skis were sold to people living in Wisconsin and Michigan.
LANDSEM & NORSPRINT In 1918, Ole Jonsen Haltli started manufacturing wooden skis in Rindal, Noway. Even Landsem took over production of wooden skis in 1946, naming his brand "Landsem". The first year of production, over 100,000 pairs were made. Landsem skis were the premiere cross country ski in the world until the Landsem factory was sold to K2 in 1989. Based in Rindal, Norway, Landsem used wood and wooden materials for cross country skis long after other manufacturers switched to plastics. They still hold the record for Olympic medals won --all of the champion skiers used Landsem skis through the 70s. In the skiing museum in Oslo there are pictures of everyone from Norway's many gold medal skiers to Norway's King Olaf using Landsem skis. Norsprint skis were manufactured by Landsem in Norway for U.S. distribution.
LAMPINEN Skis manufactured in Finland
MADSHUS The first Madshus skis were made from single pieces of wood, trimmed, carved and finished with hand tools. Some of the tools used in this traditional production are still found on display at the present Madshus factory in the town of Biri. Even in the earliest days of Madshus skis, with little distinction between Nordic and Alpine styles of skiing, Madshus was a leader in innovation. Major advances in construction came in the form of glued laminate skis in 1934. This multiple- layer construction gave more strength, lighter weight and more mobility to skis. Laminated skis allowed Madshus to produce more specialized skis, for alpine skiing, for the mountains, for trails, and eventually for specialized track skiing and racing. Cross country skiing became the backbone of the growing Winter Olympic Games movement, and skiing of all types spread around the world,. The Madshus factory flourished in the heart of Norway, where people know and love the benefit of fine skis. Madshus combined the traditional art of ski-making with continuing technological advances, new designs and materials. At Madshus, there was an inherent understanding of what
a good ski should feel like. In the 1950s there became more distinction between Nordic and Alpine skis, while Madshus continued Alpine ski production until 1964. Becoming a specialist after 1964, Madshus built a leadership role in the many types of cross country skiing. Popularity of cross country worldwide grew spectacularly in the 1970s, and the wood Madshus Birkebeiner ski, a beautiful and multifunctional touring ski, became a favorite symbol of the boom. Madshus created the Skilom brand name, and together with Norwegian boot, binding, pole and xc clothing manufacturers under the Skilom name, carried Nordic skiing to an unprecedented number of countries worldwide. Skilom skis were imported to the US by Anderson/Thompson of Seattle, WA. In 1968 and 1972 Magnar Solberg of Norway - with Madshus skis -- won Gold Medals in Biathlon at the Winter Olympics in Innsbruck and Sapporo, the only athlete to repeat as Olympic Biathlon Champion. Fibreglass skis created a revolution in Nordic ski production in 1974, the same year Madshus began fibreglass production in its new factory, opened in Biri in 1972.
NORDIC Made in Sweden
TROLL-NORMARK Troll was a startup company by Lief Loseth, ex production manager for Madshus. The company was located in the town of Rindal, Norway where the brand of Landsem skis was also made. The likenes of Troll and Madshus Birkebeiners was the result of Mr. Loseth. Nordic Ski Imports, from St. Paul, Minnesota USA was the original importer of Troll skis and it was finally acquired by Normark in the mid seventies.
SANDSTRÖMS - SILVA
SIGMUND RUUD Sigmund Ruud (December 30, 1907 - Apr 7, 1994) was Norwegian ski jumper born in Kongsberg, Norway, Sigmund Ruud, with his brothers Birger and Asbjørn, dominated ski jumping in the 1920's and 1930's.
SKILOM Skilom ski brand created by the Madshus company in the 1970's.
SPLITKEIN The truly complex laminated skis didn’t hit the market until 1939, when chemists invented a glue strong enough to hold the various laminations together permanently. These skis were constructed with thin layers of wood that were glued together in narrow strips called “cane” throughout the entire length of the ski. The process was thus referred to as “split cane” construction or Splitkein in Norwegian.
QUEST-STRIDE Imported from Norway to Canada in the 1970's
SUNDINS Made in Sweden
TELEMARK GAMMA
TOPPEN
TRØNDER Skis are beautiful and made in Norway.
TRYSIL KNUT Trysil is a municipality in the county of Hedmark, Norway and home to the world’s first official ski competition held in 1855. The Trysilgutten ski club, founded in 1861, is the world’s oldest ski club.
VISU Manufactured in Estonia. This is a very unique ski in that the marking of USSR is on the ski. The photo above is a racing ski from the mid-1960's.
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Contact us at- info@woodenskis.com
© Copyright 2005, Wood N Skis
Janoy
skis were made in Norway by Åsnes Skifabrikk AS for distribution
in the United States. Jan E. Haug started the company manufactured
with his company name on them, "Janoy". His name was Jan
(he was from Norway) E. Haug. His business partner who knew nothing
about the ski industry or the sport, was Floyd Hedding. They put their
names together to form "Janoy" back in the early 1970's.
