A visit to the Salomon factory

About fifty years ago this week, I was invited – as a ski instructor – to visit the Salomon ski binding factory. No boots amd no skis yet in 1970! The main models they made were the S505 and the S404, but the company was already getting close to becoming the number one contender on the world market. 

My girlfriend, at the time, picked me up in Cluses, where I worked at the time, and we drove together in her Citroën Dyane to Annecy, at the original Salomon factory, rue de la prairie prolongée. I can’t remember how many ski instructors showed up for the visit, neither do I recall who met us there, it must have been some marketing guy. 

What I remember was the production area and its impressive array of noisy presses that were punching and bending the steel used in the production of their heel-pieces. We saw the assembly line but I can’t recollect if someone gave us a speech on how great Salomon bindings were. 

They were in fact quite mediocre in terms of skier’s safety, but were much more convenient than their competition, quality the presenters should have stressed at length to an audience of ski instructors. I can’t recall either Salomon offering us something to drink or eat, any cheap sticker, or better a yet, a free pair of ski bindings. 

They just wanted to make an forceful impression on us with their impressive line-up of presses (pardon the pun!) A missed opportunity for them and overall, an unimpressive visit to a company that would become my direct and formidable competitor three and a half years later...