Snow holds a special fascination for people of all ages and backgrounds. It is often seen as a welcome distraction from the hectic pace of everyday life and has an energizing, invigorating effect at the same time. Snow forms the basis for all kinds of winter sports and therefore drives the economy of many regions. Our job is to turn the hope of snow into a reality by making snow a worldwide experience.
TechnoAlpin guarantees top-quality snow for unique snow experiences around the world.
Head office: Bolzano, Italy
Subsidiaries: 15 subsidiaries in 13 countries and 19 retail partners worldwide
Customers: approximately 2,400 customers in over 50 countries
TechnoAlpin Group:
Employees: a workforce of approximately 750 worldwide
2018/2019 revenue: approximately €250 million (as of 4/30/2019)
R & D investments: around €6 million
Number of snowmaking systems produced: since 2008, around 63,000; since 1976, around 115,000
Number of snowmaking systems produced in 2019: approx. 4,900, including 2,400 fan guns
The Southern Alps were plagued by a number of successive winters with very little snowfall in the early 1980s. So, in 1983, Walter Rieder and Georg Eisath, managers of the Obereggen Ski Resort in the South Tyrol Dolomites region, built a snow machine prototype to operate in the climatic conditions of the Southern Alps. The other ski resorts in the area were becoming more and more interested in this novel product, which led to the founding of the company WI.TE. in the mid-1980s. With Erich Gummerer on board, this business laid the foundations for the creation of TechnoAlpin in 1990.
Right from the start, TechnoAlpin was looking to operate in an international market. The first subsidiaries were set up in Austria, Switzerland and Germany in the mid 1990s. Today, TechnoAlpin has approximately 750 employees at 16 locations in 13 countries and a network of around 20 retail partners worldwide.
1983 | Walter Rieder and Georg Eisath develop the first low-pressure snow gun prototype. |
1985 | Creation of WI.TE. OHG (Winter Technology) by Walter Rieder and Georg Eisath. |
1990 | Creation of TechnoAlpin GmbH with the aim of becoming a global supplier. |
1991 | First sales partners for Norway, Poland-Slovakia-Czech Republic and Switzerland |
1992 | Head Office relocates to Bolzano. |
1995 | Market launch of ATASS 1.0 (Automatic TechnoAlpin Snowmaking System), the data control and planning software. |
Construction of the first fully automated low-pressure snowmaking system | |
1996 | Creation of the TechnoAlpin Austria, TechnoAlpin Switzerland and TechnoAlpin Germany subsidiaries. |
Market launch of the first CES snow lance. | |
1997 | TechnoAlpin has a workforce of 10 |
1998 | Market launch of the oil-free compressor. |
2000 | Market launch of the first lift. |
2002 | Creation of TechnoAlpin USA and TechnoAlpin France. |
2003 | First time annual sales exceed 1,000 snowmaking systems (1,461 units). |
Creation of TechnoAlpin East Europe. | |
2005 | Research and Development investments exceed €1 million for the first time. |
TechnoAlpin has a world-wide workforce of over 100. | |
2006 | Some of the races in the Turin Winter Olympic Games take place on TechnoAlpin snow. |
2007 | Market launch of the T60, the first gun with a specific product design, and the A30 snow lance. |
2008 | Record revenue of approximately €100 million (for the financial year ending 4/30/2009). |
2010 | The new headquarters are completed in South Bolzano. |
2011 | TechnoAlpin pro air solutions becomes a separate company known as EmiControls and focuses on solutions for fighting dust, fire and odors. |
TechnoAlpin takes over the indoor snow-making specialist, Innovag. | |
TechnoAlpin employs around 300 people worldwide, including 180 based on the Bolzano site. | |
2012 | TechnoAlpin purchases competitor Johnson Controls Neige, and sets up the MYNEIGE company. |
Market launch of the automated TF10 fan gun. | |
2013 | Creation of TechnoAlpin China. |
2014 | TechnoAlpin, MYNEIGE and Innovag join forces under the umbrella of TechnoAlpin. Three centers of excellence are created: Fan guns in Bolzano, snow lances in France and an indoor division. |
Market launch of the Snowfactory, a snowmaking system for extreme temperatures. | |
Some of the races in the Sochi Winter Olympic Games take place on TechnoAlpin snow. | |
2015 | Creation of 3 new subsidiaries: TechnoAlpin Nordic, TechnoAlpin Russia and TechnoAlpin Turkey. |
2016 | The workforce increases to 500 worldwide. 37 subsidiaries and retail partners make up the sales network. |
TechnoAlpin becomes an FIS product partner | |
Opening of the new headquarters of TechnoAlpin Austria in Volders All parts are immediately managed from here | |
2017 | Market launch of the TR8 fan gun - Revolution Inside. |
TechnoAlpin becomes an International Paralympic Committee partner | |
First time for over 3,000 snow guns to be produced in one year Overall, around 7,000 snowmaking systems (guns & lances) are produced. | |
TechnoAlpin Holding revenue exceeds €200 million for the first time. | |
2018 | engo GmbH, the technology leader for ice resurfacing machines, becomes part of the TechnoAlpin Group. |
Many of the snow sport competitions in the 2018 Korea Winter Olympic Games take place on TechnoAlpin snow. | |
2019 | Market launch of the TR10 fan gun and the SNOWMASTER App for ski resort managers. |
Opening of the new production site in South Bolzano. | |
TechnoAlpin becomes an IBU Partner. | |
TechnoAlpin Holding has a 750-strong workforce worldwide and generates approximately €250 million in revenue. |
From the start, TechnoAlpin has focused on optimizing existing snowmaking systems and developing new solutions for snow production. Every year, a budget of around €6 million is invested in the research and development of new technologies. Two centers of excellence guarantee an optimum focus on research into the development of fan guns and snow lances. By working in close collaboration with universities, research institutes and specialist partner companies, TechnoAlpin will also be able to continue offering improved snow solutions in future. Our snow guns and other components, such as pumping stations and software, benefit from this ongoing research.
Very few sports are as closely related to nature as winter sports. This is why TechnoAlpin cares so much about environmental protection and the environmentally friendly use of available resources. Our top priority at all times is to increase the efficiency of all components of the snow-making systems. Energy efficiency has improved significantly in recent years thanks to the intelligent snowmaking systems developed by TechnoAlpin.