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  Home > All Ski Photos >

  Groswold Ski Factory Making Skis in 1940's Photo (2 Sizes)
Making Skis in Groswold Ski Factory, 1940's Photo


 
Our Price: $31.95


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Product Code: PHOTO-VSW-GROSWOLD-WORKERS
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Groswold Ski Factory Making Skis in 1940's Vintage Photo

The Groswold Ski Factory was known for its state of the art manufacturing of skis.  Because Thor Groswold contributed so extensively to the manufacturing of skis, we have copy and pasted parts of a really interesting article about Thor, written by his son Jerry for ISHA.  You can find the entire article at www.skiinghistory.org/Groswold.html.

By Jerry Groswold
The Groswold Ski Factory was located in Denver, Colorado. from late 1932 until the spring of 1952. Thor Groswold grew up in Norway on skis and became the famous manufacturer of Groswold Skis.

"Thor acquired the License to produce Splitkein skis in 1939 and thus started a whole new concept of manufacturing. Laminated skis were constructed with thin layers of wood the length of the ski glued together in narrow strips called "cane". The process was called "split cane" or "Splitkein" in Norwegian. The lamination process allowed the ski to be shaped while the pieces were glued together. The development of camber became even more sophisticated and allowed design changes that enhanced the ease of turning the ski.. A laminated ski was lighter, stronger, didn’t warp and allowed each ski made to be the same as the next. Thor devised gluing ovens that enhanced the process and even experimented with microwave processes to set the glue.

Thor joined forces with Dan Holley, whose family manufactured carburetors for the Ford Motor Company, who had figured out how to bond aluminum to wood. The theory of the Holley Climatic Camber Ski, which had an aluminum running surface, was that when the snow was colder, more camber improved the ski. The metal running surface would contract in cold snow and increase the camber. Unfortunately while the bare aluminum surface could be incredibly fast in the right kind of snow, it was horribly slow and even impossible to move in the wrong kind of snow. What could have been the first metal ski failed for the lack of an acceptable running surface.

Through the process of lamination, Thor built a wooden ski that actually had on the same characteristics of the original metal skis. This involved a bottom running surface and a top surface that were thin single pieces with the shape of the ski being created by a wooden filler. The flex of the ski came from the expansion and contraction of the two surfaces. In Head’s case, these surfaces were metal. Thor used specially laminated pieces of wood for the surfaces. Thor even provided a guarantee against breakage for the skis he manufactured. Marketing wooden skis had to face the issue of the skis being broken. Thor had great confidence in the skis he made and backed that confidence with the unusual guarantee.

The Ski Company recognized the importance of the use of their equipment by excellent skiers and it became one of the first "official" suppliers to a U.S. Alpine Ski Team. Most of the 1948 Olympic Alpine team was equipped with Groswold Skis and Gretchen Fraser won the first Olympic Gold Medal ever won by an American in Alpine Skiing on a pair of Groswold Skis!

Thor produced skis that carried the names of many well-known ski pioneers. Each of these skis had characteristics that the person who endorsed them felt were important. The 1941-1942 Groswold Ski Company catalog featured skis carrying the names of, and quotes from, Otto Schniebs, Otto Lang, Dick Durrance, and Friedl Pfeiffer. Others who endorsed skis for Thor over the years included Barney McLean, John Litchfield, Toni Matt, and Fred Iselin.

Early on, Thor realized that it would be important to provide the skiing consumer with ski related products. The 1941-1942 catalog shows bindings and waxes as available through the company. Thor acquired a patent for and developed what was called the "Dual In-line Binding " which was a cable binding with the spring action free of friction in front of the toe piece. He manufactured the "Control Cable" that eliminated the toe iron and replaced it with a simple cable device. From that came the "Goodman binding" which used a control cable and a Bilstein heel spring. Additional accessories included an Airflow Ski Rack and an adjustable length ski pole that could be made shorter or longer, depending on the wishes of the user. For a period of time, the factory even made steel edges in the machine shop.

With the coming of the Second World War and the creation of the 10th Mountain Division, came the need for military ski and winter warfare equipment. As one of several companies that made ski equipment for the military, Thor made skis for the military, even though it was against his better judgment. Hence the production was far less than it might have been. Thor had definite ideas on how a ski should be made and unfortunately military skis had to be made to government specifications. Thor steadfastly maintained that no one, no matter how good a skier, could ski on what he described as "bridge planks." The company did manufacture lots of snowshoes called "Bear Claws" for the military."



Price displayed is for 8 x 10 inch size, 11 x 14 inches also available. Please use menu above to pick size.
Features
  • Price displayed is for 8 x 10 inch size, 11 x 14 inches also available. Please use menu above to pick size.

Average Customer Review: 3 of 5 | Total Reviews: 1 Write a review.


  0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 
Groswold Skis December 4, 2012
Reviewer: Mike Beard from Orofino, Idaho  
we own a pair of 7' 2' GROSWOLD SKIS THE SERIAL #C3796, we are curious what year they were constructed and do the have value.


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