Mr Swix and almost a million bamboo ski poles a year

By Fabian RimforsPole talk
Bamboo ski pole production at the Swix/Liljedahl's pole factory in Lillehammer, 1976. The following year, 900,000 pairs of ski poles were made from Tonkin bamboo. Here you can see how the bamboo was fed into the ovens from the back.

He is sometimes called “Mr Swix”. Harald Bjerke is the one who has worked the longest at the company, 50 years, and who still remains, now as senior advisor. He was involved when Swix in 1974 bought Liljedahl, a ski pole factory in Lillehammer, which then produced almost one million pairs of bamboo poles annually. Since Harald Bjerke has experience from large-scale bamboo pole production, I asked him what it was like to manufacture bamboo ski poles in the good old days.

What bamboo were you looking for? How did you reason about bamboo as a pole shaft, and what criteria did you have when you selected the canes?

— We imported Tonkin bamboo from China, from ports in the Gulf of Tonkin, and we traded through agents. The Tonkin canes were packaged in bundles and had a diameter of 16, 15 and 14 mm, and a length of about three meters. The diameter of 16, 15, or 14 was crucial to fit the plastic grips and ferrules, where the tips and baskets were mounted, explains Harald Bjerke and continues.

— It was also important to have a certain thickness on the cell walls, but that was rarely a problem. A short distance between the nodes was an advantage because the ski poles then became a little stiffer.

How was the quality of the bamboo? How much wastage did you have?

— The wastage of the bamboo may have been between ten and twenty percent. The agents did a good job of specifying what we wanted from China.

I’ve seen how bamboo has been straightened over open fire and with blowtorch. Did you heat up and straighten the canes too?

— We tried to buy as straight Tonkin canes as possible, but all bamboo must be straightened further. At Liljedahl’s ski pole factory in Lillehammer [which Swix bought in 1974], there were several heating ovens and “stamps” to straighten the canes.

— Then we sanded the nodes so that they would be as smooth as possible and get a nice finish when they were varnished. When we finally paired the poles, we based it on the similarity and the distances between the nodes.

How many bamboo ski poles did Swix/Liljedahl sell per year?

— We manufactured about 900,000 pairs of Tonkin ski poles at the Liljedahl factory in 1977.

Why did Swix, and others, cease making ski poles of bamboo?

— Fiberglass poles became cheaper to produce. There was a lot more production time and work behind a pair of Tonkin sticks. Bamboo was considered an ordinary ski pole that became too expensive to make compared to the colorful fiberglass poles. It has now been 35 years since Swix manufactured the last bamboo poles.

Note! Neither Swix nor Liljedahl made any alpine ski poles of bamboo in those days. Today, however, Swix manufactures alpine ski poles, albeit not from bamboo. And Liljedahl began making alpine ski poles in 1972, but from metal. Erik Håker, Norway’s first alpine World Cup winner, competed with those poles.

Fun facts about Swix and my great-grandfather Olle Rimfors. The system he developed with his waxing chart in the 1920s was the basis for the principles Astra and their subsidiary Wallco used when they launched the Swix ski waxes in the 1940s. Before Olle Rimfors published his waxing chart, the ski wax market, and how/when to use the waxes, was pretty much in chaos.

/Fabian Rimfors

Photos courtesy of Harald Bjerke/Swix.

Einar Brukvangen efficiently cuts tonkin bamboo to the correct lengths at Swix/Liljedahl's ski pole factory in Lillehammer, 1976.
Einar Brukvangen efficiently cuts Tonkin bamboo to the correct lengths at Swix/Liljedahl’s ski pole factory in Lillehammer, 1976.
The Tonkin canes were sanded before being varnished at the Swix/Liljedahl's ski pole factory in 1976.
The Tonkin canes were sanded before being varnished at the Swix/Liljedahl’s ski pole factory in 1976.
The bamboo sticks went through an oven that made the bamboo very flexible so that it could be straightened with a type of big stamp. Swix/Liljedahl's ski pole factory in 1976.
The bamboo sticks went through an oven that made the bamboo very flexible so that it could be straightened with a type of big stamp. Swix/Liljedahl’s ski pole factory in 1976.
The grips were sorted by diameter, 14, 15 and 16 mm, and were pressed onto the bamboo shafts by machine. Swix/Liljedahl's ski pole factory in 1976.
The grips were sorted by diameter, 14, 15 and 16 mm, and were pressed onto the bamboo shafts by machine. Swix/Liljedahl’s ski pole factory in 1976.
Bamboo ski pole production at the Swix/Liljedahl's pole factory in Lillehammer, 1976. The following year, 900,000 pairs of ski poles were made from Tonkin bamboo. Here you can see how the bamboo was fed into the ovens from the back.
Bamboo ski pole production at the Swix/Liljedahl’s pole factory in Lillehammer, 1976. The following year, 900,000 pairs of ski poles were made from Tonkin bamboo. Here you can see how the bamboo was fed into the ovens from the back.
Trygve Liljedahl in 1973. He was born in 1917 and started making ski poles under his own name in Lillehammer at the age of 23. Already the first year he manufactured 1,200 pairs of ski poles. When he started using machines in 1954 he increased the volume to 25,000 pairs annually.
Trygve Liljedahl in 1973. He was born in 1917 and started making ski poles under his own name in Lillehammer at the age of 23. Already the first year he manufactured 1,200 pairs of ski poles. When he started using machines in 1954 he increased the volume to 25,000 pairs annually.