New Ski Company: Croc Skis

[Philpug]

About Croc (from their web page):

The Croc Story​

As adrenalin sports enthusiasts we have always searched for the best performing products from the market in the sports we love – including alpine skiing, mountain biking and beyond. After doing that for years we felt that it’s really hard if not nearly impossible to find competitive, reasonably priced skis or bikes coupled with personal service. Or having the capability to impact on product specifications to make sure it would match with capabilities of individual athletes, so that the equipment itself would not hold them back in a search of their personal limits. This just simply was not available for outsiders of the championship “elite”.

Time went by and nothing changed on how the industry operated.

The urge to change things was growing and becoming an obsession and passion for us. Sometime late in 2014 things started to move on - various people within the ski - and MTB racing industries were aware and also shared our frustration. These people knew we would like to to start a totally different racing focused ski - and bike operation. Some of these people shared our vision on a deep and meaningful level.

By May 2015, after many many discussions and think tank’s we had 2 professional teams in place. One for changing the way we think about racing ski manufacturing and one for doing the exact same for the mountain bike racing scene. Three highly regarded ski design and manufacturing pro’s joined forces with us in order to form the basic platform of Croc ski operation. As many times in life, one thing leads to another and in June 2015 we welcomed our 3 bike pro’s into what could now be called the Croc family. It was time to get Crockin!

Croc promise

We are in this with full hearts and full hearts only. We know that it will sometimes be difficult to outperform the industry behemoths, but it is in our DNA and definitely possible.

We know that when we stay among the forerunners and never stop exploring many good things will follow to you as a Croc customer – or like we often say Crocer – as well as to our people making all these products we are so proud of and who have made all this possible in the first place.

We will always do only the very best we can. No compromises – just performance with a reasonable price tag available to anyone serious about their sport and performance.

Team

We are proudly working equally with national pool teams, racing teams, sport schools as well as lonely riders. All our customers are in our team. At the very highest levels of our sports we believe that the future lies in professionally managed manufacturer teams.

Link: http://www.crocsports.com

 

[Philpug]

It looks like they are jumping into the deep end of the pool by signing Tim Jitloff, the No. 2 US GS skier, behind Ted Ligety. From Croc's Facebook page:

We are proud to announce that Tim Jitloff, second in the US World Cup team to Ted Ligety and currently one of the world’s top 25 giant slalom skiers, has signed an agreement with Croc Sports.

Jitloff had this to say: “After last season not going according to plan, the aim for this coming season is to improve and reach the top. It was clear after the ski tests with Croc during the spring of 2016 that I felt quite comfortable from the very beginning, the dynamics and stability of the materials were excellent. With the support from the Croc Sports service staff, I would like to place among the top 15 giant slalom racers overall again in the World Cup with these materials and fight for places on the podium in the coming season”

The foundation of Croc's line consists of FIS level race skis, Masters skis and a sampling of all mountain and touring skis all built in their own factory in Austria. I am not sure what their plans are for distributing skis in the states, but I will be reaching out to them to see if we can get some test products.

 

[Wendy]

Nice understated graphics on their stuff. There doesn't seem to be enough technical info on skis and bikes...I like to see the profile of a ski if I can, or at least a statement about the amount of rocker present, if any. Bikes don't seem to have any measurements either, except for frame size. A serious cyclist (even just an enthusiast buying one of their bikes for fitness, not competition) would want to see those specs. I know this is their initial website launch, but I think it's important to provide that vital information to the consumer.

This is definitely not a specific critique of ski industry writing, as it's ubiquitous throughout all media, but I'm weary of the improper use of the possessive form of nouns in place of what should be the plural use (as in "pro's" and "tank's"). I know, sounds picky of me, but just as I expect professionalism in the design and manufacturing of products, I expect it in industry media, too. ;-)

It will be interesting to watch how Croc starts out this season and how they progress in the years ahead. If you get your hands on a few pairs, Phil, I'll be interested to read the reviews.

 

[crgildart]

^^If they are a really niche and exclusive product the only way to get them will be through a rep that can gladly provide all of that info. They may not be set up to handle the volume of demand stimulated by making that much detail readily available. Upping the production capabilities to meet such demand might compromise the quality and caliber of the end product.

 

[Mike Thomas]

This is definitely not a specific critique of ski industry writing, as it's ubiquitous throughout all media, but I'm weary of the improper use of the possessive form of nouns in place of what should be the plural use (as in "pro's" and "tank's"). I know, sounds picky of me, but just as I expect professionalism in the design and manufacturing of products, I expect it in industry media, too. ;-)
.

How is your Austro-Bavarian? I get where you are coming from, but when it is a translation, I cut some slack. When it is someone who, more than likely makes 5x more $$$ than me, yet thinks 'alot' is an actual word in the english language, and english is their native language? That's when I get a bit 'bothered'.

 

[Mike Thomas]

Leaving Stockli for Crocs... hmmm.

 

[ScotsSkier]

They should have good edge bite and be pretty snappy...


If you can get any test pairs Phil I would be happy to do a comparo......

 

[VickieH]

Can't help but imagine ... brightly colored resin skis with lots of holes in them.

 

[Tony S]

How is your Austro-Bavarian? I get where you are coming from, but when it is a translation, I cut some slack.

Fair point. Generally speaking we are quick to judge others on how well they assimilate all things Anglo-American, but hypocritically slow to learn others' languages and customs. However, I'm with @vanhoskier on this one. The writing strikes me as coming from a very experienced English speaker. The glaring errors distract from the intended message of sincerity and craftsmanship, substituting one of slapdash carelessness.

 

[Mike Thomas]

The glaring errors distract from the intended message of sincerity and craftsmanship, substituting one of slapdash carelessness.

Weird, I got that from them naming a ski brand 'Croc'

 

[Mike Thomas]

do kind of like the concept of Manufacturer Teams, however.

 

[Philpug]

In quickly looking around the site, the first thing that caught my eye was a 77mm all mountain ski and thought, great, another line of skis being produced by Blossom. Then looking further into it, I saw that Croc says they have their own facility in Austria, good. I do like that they are using Marker plate where most all the other small little indy race ski producers are going either Tyrolia or Atomic. The Marker Piston Plate is something special, just ask Marcel Hirscher, he was willing to risk his relationship with Atomic to use it. I don't see any links to the U.S. ski pool...yet and if Jitloff wants to use them (or have them with him up on the podium), I beleive they will have to pay the U.S. Ski Team

 

[Tricia]

They look really clean. I'd like to see them in person.

 

[Wendy]

How is your Austro-Bavarian? I get where you are coming from, but when it is a translation, I cut some slack. When it is someone who, more than likely makes 5x more $$$ than me, yet thinks 'alot' is an actual word in the english language, and english is their native language? That's when I get a bit 'bothered'.

True. Stuff gets lost in translation. But most Austrians speak pretty darn good English (putting Americans to shame in our lack of linguistic expertise).

 

[mishka]

lot of pictures and the story…however very little information about skis construction and technical stuff.....I got more lol. imo Croc should describe better their products

 

[oldschoolskier]

http://www.crocsports.com/

Doesn't look like the shoes, should be interesting in the copyright and trademarks for the US market.

Bikes are from Finland, Skis from Austria.

It also looks like they only ship with the EU at this point.

 

[VickieH]

Heard on the lift ... "so what kind of wax do you use on your croc?"

 

[VickieH]

should be interesting in the copyright and trademarks for the US market.

Looks as if "Crocs" (with an "s") and the logo may be registered as trademarks.

 

[skibob]

Can't help but imagine ... brightly colored resin skis with lots of holes in them.

Ought to have great damping qualities if you go that route . . .

By the way, not all Crocs (shoes) have lots of holes. I have a friend who delivers a lot of babies who special orders crocs with no holes. "You don't want to know what I get on my shoes" he says . . Holes would definitely be bad.

 

[ARL67]

I see the rental shop in St. Anton that I like has a few Crocs for sampling, when I go there 3 weeks
I may give the AM77 a go as that type of ski is in my radar, and the available 175cm length is good.

The Laser AX 175 has set the bar very high for me.
I did have the Blossom Whiteout 176 and passed it. The Pivot 14 binding on it had me back of centre a wee bit, whereas I'm usually +1cm on most skis. The White Out was a very solid ride, more in the Kastle MX camp of feel. And at 176, it was probably a bit too long for me as its rocker is minimal, so longer running length. I didn't want to bother putting on a demo-binding so sold it off to a local Toronto Pugski'r. The Laser AX's softer tip and shovel is a winner for a skinnier all-mountain ski with great groomer chops.