In 1946 the dream of two men became a reality. Borge Gabrielsson,
President of Astra Pharmaceutical Company in Sweden, and Martin Matsbo,
the famous Swedish racer, introduced the world to revolutionary Cross
Country waxes under the name SWIX. What made the waxes different from traditional
waxes was that they were scientifically formulated from synthetic raw material
rather than natural occurring ingredients such as bees wax, tar, pine resin,
fats and oils that were varying greatly in quality and difficult to duplicate
in production. They were also the first color-coded waxes: red,
blue and green.
When the Swedes won all the gold medals in the cross-country events
at the 1948 Olympics in St Moritz on SWIX waxes, the world took notice!
In
1949 Swix expanded by developing a line of glide wax for alpine skiing,
and eventually in 1987 introduced a revolutionary wax for all disciplines
called Cera F that certainly is the most successful single racing wax
in ski history!
In 1992 Swix introduced the CERA SYSTEM, as a total glide wax concept,
consolidating the leading position of SWIX in all Ski Disciplines.
As waxes continued their growth and development, Swix also bought the
Norwegian Liljedahl Ski Pole Factory in 1974 that was the largest manufacturer
of cross-country poles in the world. Today, Swix is making approximately
one million poles a year for alpine, cross-country and nordic walking.
In
1989 Swix added the Norheim outdoor and ski clothing factory. Today
the SWIX apparel line also includes sport-underwear, gloves, hats and
bags.
What began as a modest line of 5 ski waxes has grown into a world-leading
brand name for winter products. The goal is still the same however,
to bring enjoyment to recreational skiing and snowboarding and success
to racing through quality and performance.
Our Commitment
No other wax and tuning company works as hard as SWIX in order to keep
the Cera Nova System refinements at the highest possible level. The
SWIX Alpine, Nordic and Snowboard Service Team perform testing throughout
each season to provide accurate wax recommendations at the important events. In
addition, new formulas are continually being tested so that refinements
to the Cera Nova System can be made to keep its leading-edge performance
at the high level upon which the World Cup Technicians have grown to rely
upon. The World Championships in 2003, Alpine in St. Moritz and the Nordic
in Val di Fiemme proved to be a success for the Cera Nova system which
was by far the most used glide wax. 22 out of 30 Alpine medals in
St. Moritz were achieved with Swix waxes and most important Gold in the
Men’s Downhill! In Val di Fiemme 2003 the Nordic medals achieved
were 43 out of 45 with glide wax and 15 out of 24 for kick wax.
1966 World Championships
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