Vanishing ski-boot species

Modern ski boot companies had to be in Italy to benefit from the industry specific infrastructure (mold making technology, buckle manufacturers and liners cottage industry.) This, in grand part is why those that were located outside of that country simply didn’t make it. Even more than for skis, small-volume output was a killer as a high cost of mold was a major barrier to entry in that segment of the industry.

Hanson, K2, Olin, Rosemount:
Just like their ski counterparts, these boot companies offered radically new designs that would have needed a very long incubation time and burnt all the company resources before they could survive. At least, Hanson retained the honor of being the inspiration behind Salomon’s early success with ski boots.
Dachstein, Dynafit, Kastinger:
Being Austrian-based was their main curse and they were always one buckle style too late and a fit too hard to make it. Wasn’t Dynafit nicknamed Do-Not-Fit?
Raichle:
A true tragedy as its Swiss owner died in a car accident and his wife couldn’t handle managing the company in spite of remarkably good U.S. distributor; out of its demise however, DalBello came on to the scene to somehow salvage some of the brand ground work.
Henke:
Was at the forefront of the buckle age, got infatuated with its “parallel sole” but couldn’t make the transition to hard plastic shells.
Heschung:
The all-racing French boot couldn’t broaden its high-performance and limited niche.
Growhill:
This Japanese boot brand also suffered from isolation, small volume and a range of small boot sizes to make it to the big leagues.
San Giorgio (aka Heierling), San Marco:
Scooped up in the nick of time by some big brands (Salomon and Head) to be miraculously salvaged and revived…
Caber, Koflach, Trappeur:
Went bankrupt, but were also saved in-extremis by Atomic and Rossignol, which through their huge horse-power re-branded them successfully and were able to give them a new lease on life. True, there can be resurrections in boots!
Dolomite:
A less successful resurrection attempt by Vaccari, Nordica’s former owner, who ended up instead focusing his attention on Tecnica, before he grabbed Nordica back from Benneton

There would still be more to say about Baudou, Lowa, Roces, Molitor, Montan or a host of others, but frankly who cares anymore?