Snowboard Production In Europe: An Overview
By Michel Levin

Though historians and anthropologists have established beyond any doubt that skiing originated in Scandinavia, the same cannot be said for snowboarding. As with many other twentieth-century sports, Europeans gladly took up the American idea of surfing on snow in the early 1980s. Over the past ten years, myriad snowboard producers has sprung up in Europe, with Alpine countries like Switzerland and France leading the way.

Experimental Stage To Maturity After more than ten years of experimenting and about six years of explosive growth in Europe, the sport as a whole seems to have reached maturity. For snowboard producers large and small, the 1995/96 season is seen as a turning point. After several years of churning out boards to satisfy the ever-increasing demand from the growing snowboard community, reality is beginning to set in.

The days are past and gone when a handful of enterprising snowboard freaks could start up their own company equipped with little more than bubbling enthusiasm, a handsome prototype, and the resulting 50,000-dollar down payment from an eager Japanese wholesaler.

Market Glut

Up to now, the European producers could live well with only Burton, the pioneer of snowboarding who is held in great esteem by the snowboard community, breaking all sales records on this side of the Atlantic. But as the whole market started to run wild (a natural development wherever there are heaps of money to be made), established producers and outlaws alike found themselves sitting on a mountain of unsold boards that could rival the Alps in size. Among the newcomers, only the toughest—and those who have genuine innovations to offer—will survive. For the established few in Europe, market experience will be a decisive factor.

Solid finances, R&D, And PR

"What’s going to happen is that retailers and buyers will turn to the established brands that have a track record and the money to back up their brands with efficient marketing and PR," says Robert Etienne, a Swiss importer of American boards and representative for Morrow.

Furthermore, Rossignol Snowboards claims on its Internet home page that it invests more than any one else in R&D. Yes, investment in research and development is a trump in these competitive times, and a solid financial base will do its bit to separate the grain from the chaff. Large retailers confirm that they will concentrate on buying from fewer brands, and from those manufacturers who have nothing more to prove. Meanwhile many specialized shops will do their best to cater to the less-orthodox tastes of the hardcore fringe.

"Real" Innovations

Honeycomb, Microcell, vacuum, caps, torsion box: For the consumer, it’s often hard to tell the difference between a real technical innovation and a mere USP (unique sales proposition), which is marketing jargon for "how to make your product look like something totally new." The cap technology, known in Switzerland and France as monocoque, is a bit of both innovations and USP. It has been the subject of endless discussions in the apres-board pubs of Verbier and Chamonix.

This new production method, characterized by many real advantages and a rather handsome look, was first launched on Salomon skis a few years ago, and has recently been incorporated by Rossignol. Cap construction is the perfect example of a USP that can be good as well as bad, depending on how you make it.

Let’s take a closer look at the two European leaders in the business.

France: Rossignol Snowboards

Rossignol, an internationally famous French ski manufacturer that has its own snowboard division run entirely by snowboarders, manufactures convincing devices that disprove the idle claim that ski companies lack the soul to produce snowboards and are just jumping on the bandwagon to make a quick buck. Rossi boasts strong sales in France, but has a negligible customer base in Switzerland, at least for snowboards.

In the USA, the American World Extreme Snowboarding Champion Steve Klassen, winner of the King of the Hill in Valdez, Alaska, rides on Rossignol boards. He sounded more than convinced about the board’s performance in an interview on the Internet: "I test a lot of boards, but I’m always stoked to get back on my Rossi."

Distributors agree that Rossi is in a strong position to face the future: "Rossi has been making Alpine descending devices for more than 88 years. There is a lot to be said for experience," says one.

Switzerland: Nidecker Snowboards

Nidecker Snowboards is of quite a different mold than Rossi. This Swiss snowboard firm is definitely number one in Europe after Burton. According to Nidecker’s test-rider David Schenker: "Caps makes the board more forgiving. It’s a compromise that lets you have the best of both worlds, carving and freeriding."

How does Nidecker achieve this? Through its NC Damper (NCD), which retailers will best appreciate by testing the Tracer this coming season. The high-end Proto-Race are Alpine boards that remain stable at high speeds and dynamic in short turns, says Schenker, but still easy to maneuver.

Promising Euros

Promising newcomers like the French Swell Panik step-in powder boards, which are represented by Didi Haas, the organizer of the legendary Derby de la Meije in La Grave, and A Snowboards by Regis Roland, the hero of the Apocalypse Surf movies, will be one of the subjects of our next report from this side of the Atlantic. Stay tuned!