Hart History
In 1943, Hartvig “Hart” Holmberg opened a carpentry shop in St. Paul, Minnesota, specializing in designing and manufacturing customized cribbage boards, chess sets and wood or metal card games. Word of Hartvig’s ability to create fine crafted goods quickly spread. Soon, the shop began to take on custom jobs using a variety of commercial manufacturing techniques, primarily custom painting and sheet metal work. This work led to fabricating runners for Ski-Doo snowmobiles.
Hartvig's brother Harry worked as a ski engineer and designer for Gregg Skis in St. Paul. Knowing that the addition of a seamless metal edge would revolutionize ski design, Harry called upon Hartvig’s manufacturing skills and together they began working on a prototype. After three years of creating and refining, Hartvig, Harry and friend Ed Bjork were ready. In 1955, the first "Hart" metal-edged ski was introduced.
By the mid-1960s, Hart Skis dominated the ski market with an overwhelming U.S. market share and global brand recognition. At its peak in the late 1960s, Hart shipped 144,000 pairs of skis a year, achieving revenues in the tens of millions. It also was during the 1960s that freestyle skiing became a global phenomenon.
In 1968, the three original partners sold the company to Beatrice Foods, a conglomerate. Beatrice cut back on R&D, falling behind the competition as fiberglass skis were introduced. With sales plummeting, Beatrice sold Hart Ski in 1980 to an investor group, one of at least three groups that tried to revive the business in the next 18 years. By 1998, only 5,000 pairs of skis were shipped and the line was abandoned, until 2003, when another investor group led by the Grandson of Hartvig Holmberg, Bill Holmberg Jr.
Hart skis are currently manufactured on an outsource contract basis in Colorado (Never Summer production facility), Washington State (Snow Board Parts Inc.) and Italy.
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