Article:  Territories for the making of winter sports products: the trajectories of french alpine groups (late 19th-early 21st century)

Régis BOULAT

Université de technologie de Belfort-Montbéliard

Abstract

In the early twentieth century, the rise of winter sports gave birth in the French Alps to workshops producing skis, boots and bindings. Later, in the favorable context of the post-World War II boom and through strategies combining innovation, building of high-performance industrial tools and support to international competition, Rossignol-Dynastar and Salomon gradually emerged as global leaders. After a period of turbulence in the 1990s, these companies seem to be rediscovering the virtues of the Alpine territory where they now coexist with many specialized SMEs and distributors which became manufacturers.