Dominic Haffner

Ünique Skis

Ski maker

©Markus Oberndorfer

©Marion Luttenberger

©Nadine Poncioni

The tailor of ski making

Dominic and business partner Clemens once built a house together
Dominic is the technical brain behind their ski making business
Innovation is his talent, craftsmanship his passion

It seems somewhat paradoxical to start a ski making business in a big city like Vienna, but that's what childhood friends and passionate skiers Dominic Haffner and Clemens Frankl did. After many years of studying and working in totally different fields, they came together in 2011 to lay the foundations for their company, Ünique Skis. Dominic left his job as a patent lawyer, received a pay off and so was able to buy his first CNC milling machine. Months of research followed; for nights on end the pair worked hard to figure out the perfect design for the modern ski market, until they came to an unexpected conclusion: there is no perfect ski. In fact the perfect ski would actually be a bespoke ski, tailored to the skiing style and stature of each individual.

Interview

©Juergen Knoth

©Nadine Poncioni

How long did it take to develop skis you could sell?: From our first experiments to our first skis ready to sell, it took more than four years. It all started with our discontent with regular skis after working as ski instructors in Japan and Canada. We cut up a pair of our ordinary skis and then started to work.
Why did you set up this business in a capital city?: I admit that we sometimes would like to be located in a ski area. But Vienna has its advantages. Firstly, we are close to our customers here – for passionate Viennese skiers it’s a luxury to have their ski maker on site. Also, all the big research institutions we’re cooperating with are in Vienna.
How do you analyse the skiing styles of your customers?: Like a bespoke tailor we take detailed measurements of a client's body and skiing abilities. Height, weight, stature and shoe size are as important as style, skill and fitness. Then we accompany our client for half a day's skiing in the mountains to watch and analyse them in detail.
What most surprises customers about your products?: My clients often can’t believe how much pure handcrafting goes into a pair of made-to-measure skis: more than 20 hours! Even if we are producing a high tech product with carbon, fibreglass or aramid, real craftsmanship is necessary to create the uniqueness the customer expects.

Dominic Haffner is a master artisan: she began her career in 2010 and she started teaching in 2013