Nordica

The cradle of the modern ski boot

The beginnings of the company go back to the 1930s. The two brothers and experienced leather dealers Adriano and Oddone Vaccari founded Nordica in 1939, initially as a factory for leisure shoes. After the war, the company from Montebelluna, near Venice, increased its focus on ski and cross-country skiing shoes. Climbing shoes, however, were still part of the product range. The first successes were not long in coming. Already in 1950 Zeno Coló won the downhill and giant slalom at the world championship in Aspen - in Nordica ski boots.

The 60s were particularly formative. In 1963, Nordica was the first manufacturer in Italy to use buckles as the closure system for its boots and only five years later, it introduced another revolutionary innovation: the first ski boot made entirely of polyurethane. Thus the modern hard shell ski boot as we know it today was born. Before that, ski boots were usually made of leather and then coated on the outside with PVC or polyurethane.

After the expansion with new branches in the USA, Austria, France, Japan, Switzerland and Germany, the production volume also increased strongly in the 70s. With a volume of 2 million pairs of shoes per year, Nordica covered about 30% of the world production. The Italian manufacturer launched the first own ski models in 2000. Since 2003 Nordica has been part of the Tecnica Group, which also includes other ski and outdoor brands such as Blizzard and Lowa.

Nordica in racing sports

With the focus on ski products for racing use, it is not surprising that Nordica is also popular with ski professionals. In the 1980s, Swiss skiing legend Pirmin Zurbriggen won several Olympic and World Cup medals as well as World Cup titles in Nordica shoes. Viktoria Rebensburg and Felix Neureuther also celebrated numerous successes with the Italian ski brand. Current Nordica athletes include Dominik Paris and Fritz Dopfer. With the expertise of the top athletes, the manufacturer is constantly creating new standards and uses the cooperation with them to develop innovative models - made by skiers for skiers.

Developing new technologies

What began with the introduction of the first hard-shell ski boot has continued. At the end of the 1990s, the Dobermann racing ski boot came onto the market and set new standards in the performance sector - for the next 10 years. Today, Nordica ski boots are true high-tech models.

For all mountain skiers, for example, the Speedmachine collection is the right choice. With power and precision, the boot offers the right fit for both a free and technically demanding skiing style. The Grilamid outer shell is particularly light, while the Primaloft filling in the inner boot ensures warm feet. The Promachine shoe is more suitable for narrow feet, while wider feet have a good fit in the Sportmachine. The ski boots are ideally adapted to the foot by Tri-Fit Customization. The shell is adjusted by infrared heating element and the Custom Cork Fit inner boot is also thermoformable.

Since 2000, skis have also been part of the Nordica range. The offer ranges from piste, racing and all-mountain skis to freeski. If you want to follow in the footsteps of ski stars like Felix Neureuther, then the Dobermann series is for you. However, these skis are not for beginners. But experienced skiers and racers can expect the Dobermann to be an agile, spirited ski that offers absolute stability even at high speeds. The Enforcer is particularly popular in the all-mountain and freeski sector. This versatile and sporty model easily delivers power and stability both on and off-piste.

(Photos: Nordica)