Kästle

For decades, alpine ski racers have been racing to their victories on Kästle. Today, not only alpine racing stars rely on the innovative technologies, the traditional brand has also made a name for itself in the freeride and touring sectors. Kästle manufactures in an environmentally friendly manner in its own factories within the EU.

About Kästle

Why is Kästle a WIR DENKEN UM brand?

Since it was founded in 1924, the Vorarlberg brand has developed from a small manufacturer into one of the innovation leaders on the market. Today, the ski specialists mainly manufacture in the Czech town of Nové Mesto, taking into account sustainability considerations. As a WIR DENKEN UM brand, Kästle is characterized above all by the following points:

- The company is committed to responsibility throughout the supply chain and follows responsible purchasing practices.

- The company pursues an environmentally friendly, resource-saving production in the EU.

- Together with the specialist trade, Kästle offers repairs.

Responsible production

The brand was born in the Vorlarlberg town of Hohenems. Skis that made World Cup history were manufactured there for many years. Today, the Hohenems location is a manufactory for limited series and the Alpine World Cup models for Kästle athletes. Most of the production for the general market now takes place in the company's own factory in the Czech winter sports and mountain bike mecca of Nové Město na Moravě.

In the years 2021-2022, the brand invested heavily in the production site: A new, state-of-the-art sanding line minimizes metal and plastic particles in the air so that employees are optimally protected. The integrated filter system ensures that the water used for the grinding process is used several times. This reduces water consumption and avoids pollutants in the waste water.

The photovoltaic system installed at the headquarters in 2022 supplies a large part of the required energy from renewable sources. In addition, from 2023, wood waste from production will be used for self-sufficient energy production. The use of recycled materials for bases, edges, ski boots and top sheets saves resources. In addition, Kästle uses 80% local wood in its wood cores. All other woods come from FSC-certified sources.

Kästle: Tradition & Innovation

In 1924, Anton Kästle made the first pair of skis in his Hohenems wheelwright workshop, and a true success story began. Ski greats such as Toni Sailer, Pirmin Zurbriggen, Kjetil-Andre Aamodt and the Epple sisters achieved a total of 132 Olympic and World Cup medals on Kästle skis. High alpinists like Reinhold Messner also used Kästle in the 70s. With CPM technology (Compound-Plastic-Metal), Kästle introduces sandwich construction to skiing.

After Kästle had disappeared from the market for a few years in 1998, there was a truly brilliant comeback in 2007, in which a technological benchmark was set: the hollow-tech construction. This reduces the weight in the shovel and has several advantages at once: the ski runs more smoothly, the edges have maximum grip, turning is more precise and the weight is reduced overall. The patented technology is used in all Kästle ski models and, in addition to the Kästle arrows, is also the visual trademark of the iconic ski specialists.

The Kästle brand can now look back on almost 100 years of ski history. In 2019, the brand celebrated its comeback in both Nordic and alpine ski racing. The Kästle range now includes cross-country, alpine, touring and freeride skis as well as ski boots.