We are of opinion that putting a face to a name makes a huge difference.
In this case, faces of people who play prominent role in cross country skiing industry.
Aside from the world championships and the Olympics, there is no better place to catch them than the annual Davos Nordic stage of the World Cup in mid-December.
It might be a Swiss air but we reckon it’s more about a unique layout of the Davos skis stadium: there a place where athletes prepare and where equipment-making dignitaries congregate is one & same, creating a sort of “mixed zone” where athletes could casually talk to producers and suppliers immediately before or after the race.
Bjørn Erlend Dæhlie is not just one the most legendary names in skiing – he’s also a true symbol of a successful businessman associated with the best of sports. Contrary to popular belief, Mr. Dæhlie long sold the Daehlie brand that he helped to launch – but keeps on supporting various charity initiatives run by his former company – like kids races in DavosNicolas Stamos in his tenure of Salomon Nordic Director had taken the French company from boots’ producer to all-around equipment supplierÅge Skinstad, CEO of Brav and former manager of Team Norway. Brav, formerly Swix Sport, has a number of outdoor brands under its wing, of which Swix and Toko are the most skiing related. Full admission: this particular photo of Åge was taken a few days earlier – in Davos Mr.Skinstad was too busy to stay in the “mixed zone” – he was dealing with something that is called 4.0 – but hush!, don’t tell nobody!Hans Hubinger is towering name in ski tech : the man participated in, later oversaw creation of every racing ski model from Fischer Nordic in the last quarter of a century. He probably does not know himself how many hundreds of golden medals were won on skis he designed!Vasja Rupnik (L), top manager of Alpina and Hans Hobi, long-time manager of Adidas Nordic who know a technical adviser to Team RussiaSimon Caprini, Rossignol’s racing manager, unlike most of the people mentioned here, could be met at virtually every World Cup stage. Very hands-on approach to making skis better while steering the ship!Unlike everyone else mentioned here, the gentleman on the left is not a senior manager of ski equipment-making company, at least not yet. His brand, however, is growing perhaps, the fastest: meet father and personal manager of Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, Haakan Klaebo
