Tim Jitloff bets World Champs season on brand new ski company

A new, high-end ski manufacturer in the Salzburg-Pinzgau region of Austria, Croc Sports, announced the signing of U.S. Ski Team giant slalom ace Tim Jitloff to an endorsement deal for the 2016-17 World Cup season, including the 2017 World Championships in St. Moritz.

Jitloff, America’s second-best ranked male GS skier behind Ted Ligety, is optimistic about the new partnership which he hopes will help him rise above his current top-25 ranking in his primary discipline.

“After last season not going according to plan, the aim for this coming season is to improve and reach the top. It was clear after the ski tests with Croc during the spring of 2016 that I felt quite comfortable from the very beginning. The dynamics and stability of the materials were excellent. With the support from the Croc Sports service staff, I would like to place among the top 15 giant slalom racers overall again in the World Cup with these materials and fight for places on the podium in the coming season,” Jitloff said. “Two World Championships and the Winter Olympics are on the program in the next three years, in which I would like not only to qualify but to win a medal.”

Jitloff spent early April at a two-week training camp in Norway but is now at his German home in Bergen am Chiemsee, where he resides with his girlfriend, less than an hour from Salzburg.

“Preparations for the coming season are going well, everything is proceeding according to plan. I clearly notice my fitness levels increasing,” he said. “I can fully dedicate myself to my training and my new equipment.”

In August, he will travel to New Zealand for more than a month of on-snow training, followed by more preparation on the glaciers in Europe. Every opportunity will be used to find the best technique and the optimum setup for Jitloff’s skis to be well-prepared by late October for Soelden, the start of the new World Cup season.

The company Croc Sports was founded in 2015 by the experienced World Cup service staff of Michael and Albert Kogler, ski manufacturer Franz Angerer, and Finn Jukka Peltola. The Austrian-Finnish business is 50 percent owned by the Finnish company CSH Group Oy, which develops and holds the Croc brand and also manufactures road bikes, mountain bikes and other sports accessories. Croc Sports develops and produces high-end racing, touring and all-mountain skis that are handcrafted in the plant in Stuhlfelden and subjected to a high-performance finish.

“We would like ambitious skiers to also have the opportunity of acquiring this type of ski. Our long-standing experience in the World Cup is of major advantage here. We want to score points with the perfect materials and anticipate top racing results,” said Albert Kogler.

Although the brand had yet to sign a World Cup athlete of prominence prior to Jitloff, last season Eemeli Pirinen won the European Cup GS in Zuoz, Switzerland, on the skis and twice qualified for a second run on the World Cup tour, finishing 23rd and 25th in the Kranjska Gora races. Slovenian slalom skier Miha Kuerner and Finish slalom skier Joonas Rasanen are also also members of the Croc Sports team.

Croc Ski a member of the Finnish Ski Pool and a new member of the U.S. Ski Team Supplier pool. The entire product range – from skis to bikes – can be found online at www.crocsports.com.

Release courtesy of Croc Sports