What is "swix"

Swix is a Norwegian company producing ski wax, ski poles and sportswear. The company is owned by the investment company Ferd AS, and has the head office in Lillehammer.

The company was founded in Sweden in 1946 by Börje Gabrielsson, based on experience with ski wax by Swedish skier Martin Matsbo. Swix was the first producer of modern ski wax, and had a scientific approach to the challenge. The wax was colour-coded according to type, a practice which has since been adopted by the entire ski wax industry. Production was in Skåne in Sweden and in Fjellhamar near Oslo, Norway. By 1964 all production had been moved to Norway. In 1974, Swix bought Liljedahls Skistavfabrikk in Lillehammer, briging the brand under the Swix name and becoming a leading ski pole manufacturer. Swix was bought by Ferd in 1978. In 1989, Swix bought Norheim, which was once owned by Gresvig AS, and has since been expanding into the technical sportswear market.