Schwendener

In 1971, the sons of the founder, Hans and Fritz, build a modern factory with a yearly capacity of 100,000 pairs in 2 shifts at a cost of Swiss Francs 3,000,000 (over USD 5,000,000 at today’s value). During the bad years of the 70’s (oil crisis, little snow, fall of the USD), they cooperated with Kneissl to produce skis in Austria at a lower cost. As sales did not improve, the business stopped in 1979.

 

Schwendener’s most successful skis were the “Touring” (1953) as shown on the left, a wooden ski with a metal base, excellent handling in all kind of snow and the “Caravelle” (1954) their first metal ski, a sophisticated construction with a rubber layer between the steel edges and an aluminum plate for shock damping.

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Tell us about the founder of the Schwendener skis.

My father Johann was born in 1908. He was an apprentice carriage-builder from 1924 to 1927 in St. Moritz and learned to make carts for farmers, carriages for tourists and sledges. There, after normal working hours, he started to make skis for himself and for friends. The 1928 Olympic Games in St. Moritz apparently impressed him so much that he worked thereafter in ski manufacturing shops.

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When and where did he start his own production?

In 1931 in Buchs (close to the Eastern border of Switzerland) with 74 pairs of wooden skis made in the first season.

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How did it develop?

Extremely well, in 1942 he built 1500 pairs … with ten workers, in 1950 10,000 pairs with 30 workers. By the way, Schwendener already exported the first skis to the U.S. in 1936.

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When did you enter in this business and what was your task?

In 1954, together with my brother Fritz. He was responsible for production, I for sales and administration. We were lucky, as the years 1955 to 1970 were the booming years of the Swiss ski industry. In fact, we sold already 60,000 pairs in 1968 and exports to Europe, U.S., Canada and Japan developed extremely well. Even the U.S. army ordered in 1970/1971 a large quantity for their Alaskan troops ... and this after they tested some of our skis in all kind of situations and snow.

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How could you handle higher production?

We work up to three shifts. In 1970, we decided to build a new, modern factory with a capacity of 100,000 pairs in two shifts. The investment was heavy … about three millions of Swiss Francs (represents about $2 mio in 2012). Production started in 1971 with 130 employees.

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What was Schwendener’s best season?

No doubt, the 1974/1975 season with large sales in Switzerland, the US (Sears as biggest customer), Canada (Eaton), Chile, Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, Japan. Then, the oil crisis hit us, accentuated by seasons with little snow and the fall of the dollar. For all ski manufacturers, this was the beginning of a long … long hard time.

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How did you cope?

We started cooperating with Kneissl, at that time a prestigious brand. They produced our skis in Austria at a lower cost than ours. Unfortunately, the trend of hard times did not improve and we had to close our factory in 1979.

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Could you tell us something of the technical evolution of the Schwendener skis and of the racers who used them?

The skis of 1931 were entirely of wood, hickory or ash … all hand made. From 1933 onwards, we offered screwed-on metal edges, later also glued.

 

In 1953, we launched the model Touring, a wooden ski with a metal base, about 1 mm thick. It was successful due to the excellent handling of turns in all kind of snow. One year later, we produced our first metal ski, the Caravelle, a sophisticated construction with a rubber layer between the steel edges and an aluminum plate for shock damping. It became highly successful.

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Bernard Russi (at the time junior of the Swiss National Team, winner of the World Champion Downhill of 1971, and today known for designing downhill tracks), Jean-Daniel and Michel Dätwyler, Michel Favre, Gilbert Felli (now a director of the Olympic Committee), Willi Forrer, Robert Grünenfelder, Alby and Regis Pitteloud, Stefan Kälin (now in Aspen), Beat von Allmen (now in Salt Lake City) as well as two ladies of the Swiss National Team, Françoise Gay and Madeleine Felli, all won many races on these Schwendener skis.

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In 1970, we started manufacturing cross-country skis made of wood and fiberglass/epoxy. I went for the first time to the US and Canada … and sold 5,000 pairs!

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Can one still see some Schwendener skis?

Yes, we have some at the Sport Service factory of Rainer Geissmann, located in Eschen, 6 miles from our old factory in Buchs. If you go there, it is a must to also visit Noldi Beck’s Skiund Wintermuseum in Vaduz, 10 miles away. He has over 3000 pairs as well as many other winter sport equipment from early times to these days (both are located in the Fürstentum of Liechtenstein on the Eastern border of Switzerland, about 1½ hours by car from Zürich).

 

How about you?

I am now 70 and happy with memories of skiing and stories of places like Crystal Mountain, Washington, Colorado and Alberta as well as close to 100 resorts in Europe.

 

Unfortunately, my only son, Jean-Luc, died 2003 in an avalanche in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. He loved snow, mountains and cooking. My two daughters and their five children are all fond of skiing. That makes me happy. Life can be easy: ski, work, eat, drink and have fun.

 

P.S.: Hans (John for his U.S., Jean for his French friends) Schwendener died December 15, 2004 in Aigle, shortly after this interview. His brother Fritz died early 2009.