Lange

Lange is one of the most popular and well-known ski boot manufacturers in the world. Original and innovative, Ski boot and equipment manufacturer Lange has been tied in with the snowsports industry since day one. Through revolutionary technology, Lange changed the way people view ski boots, constantly pushing the latest and greatest technologies and creating new benchmarks in fit and performance. Lange has established a reputation for quality and ingenuity.

Lange was the first company to introduce the world’s first plastic ski boots back in 1962, improving them yet again aiming at the racing market in 1965. Bob Lange has been experimenting with reinforced plastic ski boots for years and years. The first few years there was a lot of trial and error, some of the first ski boots that Bob Lange produces included ABS (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) shells with laces for closure which was not successful. The design that they moved on to, included the familiar thermoplastic shell, latching buckles and a hinged cuff. These became the first successful replacement for the old school leather ski boots which didn’t have quite enough stiffness that the racers and competitors needed. By 1970, Lange ski boots were almost universal on the racing scene and becoming the world’s leading ski boot brand.

Just before their first release of ski boots in 1970, a gentleman by the name of Aiden Hanson of Dow Chemical contacted Lange to tell them about a brand new material that the company had just invented. The new material was a putty-like plastic that Hanson’s son had used in between a normal leather boot and a hard fibreglass shell. After a couple of tests, the decision was unanimous that this material was a perfect fit with Lange’s plastic boots, fitting seamlessly between the liner and the shell. The first ski boot for women in 1968, the first competition ski boot, the first easy to use buckles… Lange has been a pioneer for skiing technology and shaped the way for many other brands. Lange has been dominating the ski industry for years and certainly many more to come.