The big name on the World Pro Ski Tour from 1978 – 1981 was Andre Arnold who won the overall championship in each of those years. Andre Arnold initially skied for Fritzmeier skis which at that time were not available in the U.S. However earlier in the 1970s they had been imported to the U.S. which leads to this week’s trivia question:
What distributor first imported Fritzmeier skis into the United States?
February 7, 2013 at 7:30 pm
i remember the downhill, it was run on mainstreet. one of the racers threw his speed suit into the trees. it was brought to the ski club where my mother was working and she salvaged it for me. it was leperchaun green and i was way to skinny for it.
February 10, 2013 at 9:06 pm
The distributor was Raichle Molitar, and they had a joint distribution agreement with Tyrolia bindings…. The ski, at least for GS, (Super G wasn’t invented yet!) was the Fritzmeier Supercup 560……
February 10, 2013 at 9:43 pm
Greg:
I am quite sure that the Fritzmaier skis came into the USA under licence to Barrecrafters US — properly known as Shelburne Industries. Dick Snelling owned and operated the company. In the mid to late sixties plastic ski boots came into the marketplace. As leather boots disappeared it took out one of their most successful products — the boot press. They had a good line of roof racks and had begun to have success with their line -up of Barrecrafters poles. Dick felt that there was room for more skis in the market. He saw a future for Fritzmaier as well as a second line — the Maxel ski.
While both were good skis (I skied the Maxel for years until 1978) they never had a chance against the more established companies.
Dick Snelling and the company survived however and Dick went on to be one of the state’s most succerssful and admired governors.
Kim Brown