80 Years of Elan: Celebrating the People Who Shape Our Turns

Elan is at home in Begunje and present worldwide. Since 1945, we have been developing and manufacturing skis that have shaped generations of skiers and stories. Our identity is clear: expertise, innovation, teamwork, and responsible manufacturing, united in products that make skiers better. For our 80th anniversary, we celebrated that identity where our elan begins: with our people. Today, the Elan Group comprises complementing divisions that together deliver top-tier products and solutions: Sports, Composites, Elan Yachts, and Elan Inventa.

At our internal anniversary gathering, we thanked every team, from R&D and service to production, logistics, and offices. The celebration honoured the people who turn ideas into products every day, from skis to sailboats, from composite components such as wind turbines and ultralight aircraft to sports grandstands and basketball hoops. Group CEO Jeffrey Tirman, Sports Division Director and Vice President of the Elan Group Leon Korošec, and ski legends Ingemar Stenmark and Bojan Križaj held the event. It was an opportunity to connect the past and future: the experience of champions, the pride of our colleagues, and the energy that drives our next development cycle.

The day concluded with the retro band Cikcak, whose impersonations of ski icons such as Ingemar Stenmark, Alberto Tomba, Bode Miller, Franz Klammer, and others rekindled memories of races that live in the sport’s collective imagination.

In the informal part, we celebrated team spirit, recent achievements, and many small wins that often go unseen yet are decisive: new tools and moulds, improved processes, higher quality, reliable deliveries, a safe workplace, and sustainability gains in energy and materials. The common denominator is the responsibility for the product and for the people who create it.

This anniversary is not an ending. It is a new beginning. Our goals are ambitious: higher efficiency, a clear development focus, and faster sales momentum so that more skiers around the world ride skis made in our Alps. We know we can deliver because we have the best team. Thank you to all Elan colleagues for your commitment, precision, and trust. Thank you also to our partners who believe in our work and co-create it.

We remain committed to the values that have made Elan a byword for innovation and reliability: handcrafted in Slovenia, continuous learning, collaboration, and respect for the environment in which we live and work. With the same energy, we will continue to build skis and stories that inspire. Always one turn ahead.

For insight into life at Elan and career opportunities, visit the Careers section on our website.