History

Elan’s story begins during World War 2, when twelve craftsmen and engineers manufactured several hundred pairs of lightweight, durable wooden skis for partisan troops.  Elan was formally established in 1945 by Rudi Finžgar, a visionary and an audacious ski jumper, who jumped a world record 95 meters in 1941.

The 1950’s and 1960’s were marked by significant product range expansion, which in addition to skis, included boats, kayaks, canoes, tennis/badminton rackets, table-tennis equipment, ice picks, mountain rescue gear, sleighs and water skis. In 1963, Elan set up an “Institute for Innovation”, which yielded its first patented solution only two years later. Elan now holds over 50 current patents. By the late 1960‘s, Elan had mastered a brand-new technology, polyester-based construction, which then led to decades of systematic development of complex composite structures at Elan.

Now, with more than 70 years of experience and tradition, Elan has become a global brand for technical sporting equipment, and is one of the strongest and most innovative composite manufacturers in the world.