Who Really Makes Your Skis? 10 Big Brands, 4 Owners
Ten big ski brands belong to just four owners. Amer Sports owns Atomic, Salomon and Armada; Tecnica Group owns Nordica and Blizzard; Elevate Outdoor Collective owns K2, Völkl and Line; Rossignol Group owns Rossignol and Dynastar. Some factories also build skis for brands they do not own. So the logo tells you what a ski is for, not always who built it.
In short
- Four owner groups hold 10 of the big ski brands. Together those brands make 635 of the 1,374 skis in the pick-a-ski.com catalog: 46%.
- Atomic says Salomon and Armada skis are made in the same Altenmarkt factory as Atomic. Tecnica Group calls its Mittersill factory the main production site for both Blizzard and Nordica.
- In 2024, Völkl made 81% of its skis in Straubing, Germany, and 19% in Elevate's factory in Kaitai, China.
- Kästle's factory in the Czech Republic also builds skis for Movement and OGSO. Icelantic skis come from the Never Summer snowboard factory in Denver.
- Fischer, Head, Stöckli and Elan answer to no big ski group, and small brands such as Moment, ON3P and DPS build their own skis.
The video shows all four owners and the factories in just over 4 minutes. This guide adds the figures as a table and the sources.
The four owners and their brands
Most skiers know the brands. Few know the names above them, because those names are on no ski. The four groups below own 10 of the 41 brands in our catalog.
| Owner | Brands | Who owns the owner | Skis in our catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amer Sports | Atomic, Salomon, Armada | Listed on the New York Stock Exchange | 192 |
| Elevate Outdoor Collective | K2, Völkl, Line | Kohlberg, a US private equity firm | 160 |
| Tecnica Group | Nordica, Blizzard | Family-controlled, Italy | 156 |
| Rossignol Group | Rossignol, Dynastar | Altor, an investment fund from Sweden, since 2013 | 127 |
The groups own more than skis. Elevate also owns Marker bindings and Dalbello boots. Rossignol Group also owns Look bindings and Lange boots. Tecnica Group also owns Tecnica boots.
Amer Sports: three logos, one factory
Amer Sports is the largest of the four in our catalog, with 192 skis. Its ski brands are Atomic, Salomon and Armada. Atomic's own website says it plainly: Amer Sports manufactures Salomon and Armada skis at the same Altenmarkt factory as Atomic, in Austria. Atomic also builds skis in Chepelare, Bulgaria.
So three brands that hang on different parts of the shop wall can come out of one building.
Tecnica Group: two rivals, one building
Tecnica Group, controlled by an Italian family, owns Nordica and Blizzard. The group calls its factory in Mittersill, Austria, "the main production facility for Blizzard and Nordica skis" and says it makes about 230,000 sandwich skis there every year. Nordica and Blizzard compete for the same skiers in the same shops, yet they leave the same factory.
Elevate Outdoor Collective: K2, Völkl and Line
Elevate Outdoor Collective is a name you will not find on any ski. It belongs to Kohlberg, an American private equity firm, and lists 11 brands, among them K2, Völkl, Line, Marker and Dalbello. Völkl still makes most of its skis in Germany: 81% in Straubing in 2024, the brand says, and 19% in Elevate's factory in Kaitai, China. For the history of one of the group's brands, read where K2 skis come from.
Rossignol Group: one factory closed
Rossignol Group has belonged to Altor, a Swedish investment fund, since October 2013. It owns Rossignol and Dynastar, plus Look, Lange, Kerma and Risport. In July 2025 Rossignol announced the closure of the old Dynastar factory in Sallanches, in the French Alps. Dynastar production moved to Rossignol's main factory in Artés, Spain, where the group already built wood-core skis for both brands.
Factories that build for other brands
Owning a brand and building its skis are two different jobs. Some factories take on skis for brands they do not own:
- Kästle, an Austrian brand, builds its skis in Nové Město na Moravě in the Czech Republic. Movement, a Swiss brand, lists the Kästle factory as a partner since 2025, and OGSO says its skis are brought to life in the Kästle factory.
- Icelantic skis are made at the Never Summer factory in Denver, a snowboard maker, and have been for 20 years, Icelantic says.
There is nothing wrong with this. A good factory is a good factory. But the brand on top is the designer, not always the builder.
The brands with no big group
Some of the best-known brands answer to no big ski group:
- Fischer is owned by two Fischer family foundations in Austria, according to the Austrian company register.
- Head is a private company. Its own supplier list names its winter sports production site in Kennelbach, Austria.
- Stöckli builds its skis in its own factory in Malters, Switzerland.
- Elan builds its skis in one factory in Begunje, Slovenia. Since 2019 Elan has belonged to KJK, an investment fund.
At the small end, some brands build their skis in their own workshop: Moment in Reno, Nevada; ON3P near Portland, Oregon; DPS in Salt Lake City, Utah. There, the brand and the builder are the same company.
Does the owner matter when you buy?
Less than you might think. Atomic and Armada skis come out of the same factory, but they are very different skis. In our catalog, the typical Atomic ski is 76 mm wide under the foot; the typical Armada ski is 94 mm. Nordica (78 mm) and Blizzard (76 mm) are close; K2 (90 mm), Völkl (84 mm) and Line (100 mm) are not.
| Brand | Owner | Typical waist in our catalog |
|---|---|---|
| Atomic | Amer Sports | 76 mm |
| Armada | Amer Sports | 94 mm |
| Nordica | Tecnica Group | 78 mm |
| Blizzard | Tecnica Group | 76 mm |
| K2 | Elevate | 90 mm |
| Völkl | Elevate | 84 mm |
| Line | Elevate | 100 mm |
The owner decides where a ski is made. The brand decides what it is for. So do not pick a ski by the logo, and do not assume two brands are the same ski because one group owns both. Pick by the shape, the width and the length. Our guide to the right ski length helps with the last one.
Find the ski that fits
The Ski Selector compares the skis in our catalog on the things that matter on snow, whatever the logo. It takes about 2 minutes.
Sources
- Atomic, company profile: Amer Sports manufactures Salomon and Armada skis at the same Altenmarkt factory as Atomic; production also in Chepelare, Bulgaria. atomic.com, read on 9 November 2026.
- Armada, imprint: "Armada is part of the Amer Sports Group". armadaskis.com, read on 9 November 2026.
- Tecnica Group, Mittersill: the main production facility for Blizzard and Nordica skis, 230,000 sandwich skis per year. tecnicagroup.com, read on 9 November 2026.
- Elevate Outdoor Collective, brands: K2, Völkl, Line, Marker, Dalbello and others. elevateoutdoorcollective.com, read on 9 November 2026.
- Kohlberg, investments: Elevate Outdoor Collective listed as a current investment. kohlberg.com, read on 9 November 2026.
- Völkl, sustainability: 81% of skis made in Straubing in 2024, 19% at the Elevate factory in Kaitai, China. volkl.com, read on 9 November 2026.
- Rossignol Group, brands: Rossignol, Dynastar, Lange, Look, Kerma, Risport. grouperossignol.com, read on 9 November 2026.
- Altor, Rossignol Group: a current company since October 2013. altor.com, read on 9 November 2026.
- Snow Sports News, 12 July 2025: Rossignol to close the Dynastar factory in Sallanches; production consolidated in Artés, Spain. snowsportsnews.com, read on 9 November 2026.
- Movement, factories: the Kästle factory in Nové Město na Moravě, partner since 2025. movementskis.com, read on 9 November 2026.
- OGSO, about: skis brought to life in the Kästle factory. ogso-mountain-essentials.com, read on 9 November 2026.
- Icelantic: skis made at the Never Summer factory in Denver for 20 years. icelanticskis.com, read on 9 November 2026.
- Austrian company register, Fischer Beteiligungsverwaltungs GmbH: shareholders J. Fischer Privatstiftung and Sturmberger-Fischer Privatstiftung. evi.gv.at, read on 9 November 2026.
- Head, list of manufacturers and suppliers (April 2026): HEAD Sports GmbH, Kennelbach, Austria, winter sports. head.com, read on 9 November 2026.
- Stöckli, manufacturing: the ski manufactory in Malters. stoeckli.ch, read on 9 November 2026.
- Elan, about us: Elan is a member of the KJK Sports group. elan.si, read on 9 November 2026. KJK Capital: invested in Elan Group in April 2019. kjkcapital.lu, read on 9 November 2026.
- Moment, factory: "We own and operate our factory in Reno, Nevada". momentskis.com, read on 9 November 2026.
- ON3P, about us: the ON3P factory, ten minutes from downtown Portland. on3pskis.com, read on 9 November 2026.
- DPS, about us: relocated to Salt Lake City in 2013. dpsskis.com, read on 9 November 2026.
- Ski counts and typical waist widths: the pick-a-ski.com catalog, seasons 2025-26 and 2026-27, November 2026. They count ski models we list, not sales.
