Josef Loipführer is happy about the success of his athletes.
But business was bad.
Wambach - Josef Loipführer looks back on the alpine winter sports season with a laughing and crying eye: With the racing snowboards from the Wambacher's workshop, Germany's female raceboarders were “enormously successful” in the overall World Cup and at the World Championships.
In business terms, however, it was "a total failure" because of Corona.
The lifts were shut down due to Corona, the Brettl fans had to stay at home and did not need any new equipment.
Only the World Cup ski circus was on the way.
The boarders didn't have a World Cup race without German participation on the podium, said the cross-country ski guide, who is the official supplier of the snowboard women in the German national team and makes 60 of his boards for the squad every year.
The one-man company “Ski Sport Loipführer” has an excellent name in the snowboard world.
He started production seven years ago and kept improving the Brettl, he says.
He now produces up to 250 every year.
World Cup gold and World Cup triumph
At the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, Germany's national women's team already trusted the Wambacher's racing boards and won Olympic silver and bronze.
And this year it got even better.
Selina Jörg won World Cup gold in the parallel giant slalom.
In the parallel slalom there was silver and bronze for Ramona Hofmeister and Selina Jörg.
In addition, Hofmeister defended victory in the overall World Cup in Berchtesgaden two weeks ago.
This is astonishing, according to the trail guide, because there has never been a double victory for the large crystal ball in succession.
"It couldn't have gone better in terms of sport."
On the other hand, there were no reports of success from the men's team.
“They drive a different material,” says the trail guide.
Still.
Because during a recent visit by “officials” in Wambach, the race boarders had shown “great interest” in the trail guide special boards, it was said.
By the way, amateur boarders have no fun with the professional boards, according to the trail guide, as they would find it difficult to cope with them.
The great snowboard hype has noticeably decreased in the past ten years and has leveled off at a certain level, observes the trail guide.
Boarding is apparently "no longer so interesting, because you don't attract as much attention on the slopes as it used to be and snowboarding is also exhausting," suspects the Wambacher.
He noticed the decline in sales.
Instead, it can now be observed in Japan that there are almost more boarders than skiers there, and snowboarding is also becoming increasingly popular in Russia.
However, the main income of the Wambacher comes from the sale of his own ski production “Loipführer”, cross-country skis and winter sports accessories.
Nothing worked there this year, and as a pure winter sports outfitter he has no business in the summer either.
Misery bridged with own funds
Regarding the state Corona aid, Loipführer said: “What the government is doing is sometimes ridiculous.
Many of them still received no help in March. ”He calculated that if he had sold around 20 euros below the purchase price, then not only would nothing be earned, but it would still be 20 euros minus.
And only these 20 euros would have been replaced as corona aid.
To do this, you have to submit applications that are far too complicated, which is not possible without a tax advisor, the businessman is annoyed.
With the corona aid, many fell through the grid, not a few were facing the end of their business.
He himself was able to bridge the economic misery with his own resources, but “no amoi needs des ned”, says Josef Loipführer.
Looking ahead to the winter of 2021/22, he therefore wishes: “Snow like this in winter would be great.
That everyone in Europe is vaccinated and that more is possible on open slopes "
BY HERMANN WEINGARTNER
+
The board specialist: Josef Loipführer produces small series snowboards for professional skiing and his alpine ski brand Loipführer in his Wambach workshop.
© Hermann Weingartner