Although dalbello began producing ski boots in 1974, founders Alessandro and Giovanna dal Bello perfected their trade as ski boot building “artisans” at the Henke ski boot factory in Switzerland in the early 1960’s. upon returning to italy with their new, young, family, they started stitching leather ski boot uppers for Henke under contract. “Although we were happy to be back in Italy, as contract component manufacturers, we were limited in our ability to showcase our real talents as ski boot craftsmen.

We knew that our ideas and creativity were not being efficiently utilized, and we were confident that we could make a better business producing ski boots on our own” said Alessandro Dal Bello, ceo. “so, that’s exactly what they did. The first Dalbello ski boots were sold in austria in 1974”.

The 70’s was an incredible decade for the ski industry.
 

New ideas and breakthrough technologies were the norm as innovative new designs in skis, boots, binding, clothing, and after ski articles hit the market.

Dalbello and its engineers were key contributors to this technological revolution, as the times encouraged taking risks and pushing the developmental envelope. The defining moment of the ski boot business in the 70’s was the ultimate transformation from leather to plastic.

During the 80's, the high quality standards and the exceptional fit of dalbello ski boots gave rise to its presence in select international markets.

The first steps in racing

Dal Bello hired three internationally renowned skiers to promote its brand. They were Steve Mckinney (centre), whose victories included 2 world speed records in 1977 (195 km/h) and in 1982 (201 km/h), Simon & Busham, who completed the podium in 1982 in Cervinia.

It was, however, only at the beginning of the 90's that the company began to achieve strong commercial success in the most important international export markets: North America, Germany, and Austria. From there, Dalbello developed a homogeneous network of distributors in all the other countries of the world; from Japan to Australia and throughout the rest of europe.

"Our team of designers and sales managers worked hard together to develop a product which was different from all the rest in terms of technology, quality of the materials, comfort, lightness and easy fit". 1997 saw the arrival of the carvex series, which, in that year, was the market's first and only ski boot designed specifically for carving. Due to extensive research in collaboration with the modellers and testers of dal bello, the company was able to develop a ski boot which satisfied the main requirements of carving: smooth and progressive flex with greater lateral support.

The new millennium ushered in a new skiing attitude complete with a "freeskiing" lifestyle.

All the old rules were broken and dalbello's rider development project was born. RDP is the brainchild of the legendary freeskier Glen Plake. The rdp initiative brings professional skiers together with Dalbello r&d engineers with the sole objective of creating the best performing ski boots in the world.

Initiated to inspire innovation in ski boots by challenging all conventional assumptions that govern how ski boots need to look and function, rdp models are among the most radically unique and technically innovative ski boots in the world. Over the past few seasons, the project team has grown to include legendary freestyler and x-games champion Tanner Hall, the olympic medal Nick Goepper and Kevin Rolland besides Russ Henshaw, Mcrae Williams, Sean Pettit and many more.

Alessandro Dal Bello has never looked back, having grown the company by continually investing in new technologies and skilled personnel who have been challenged to develop better and more creative ski boot designs.

“The year 2014 marks a very special achievement in dalbello’s history” says Alessandro Dal Bello “This year, we will produce our 13.000.000 pairs of ski boots. And because consumer satisfaction is a key factor by which we measure our success, we challenge ourselves to bring the best products to the market. This is reflected in the wide range of awards dal bello gets every year”.