Norwegian, Martin Madshus, started making skis in his barn at a place called Vardal in Norway around 1906. In those days all skis were made from a single piece of wood but in the 1930s Madshus was one of the first to produce laminated skis which made them lighter, stronger and more versatile. It also helped with the diversification into the ever growing Alpine ski market.

The lovely set of Madshus Clipper skis that we have here in the collection are beautifully laminated and date from the 1960s. The Gresshoppa binding is made by another Norwegian company called Asnes.

A Norwegian friend of Mick Tighe’s, called Jon Sommerseth, put an advert in his local paper up in Narvik, asking if folk had any old skis that they could donate to the Scottish Heritage Collection and he got several pairs of which this is one – thanks to Jon and the good folk of Narvik in North Norway.