Erwin Stricker

Sportservice is a South Tyrol group active in the rental and sale of sports equipment, with a focus on ski and bicycle.

Founder, inspirer and charismatic leader of Sportservice for many years, was Erwin Stricker, a professional athlete who is a member of the “Valanga Azzurra” Alpine Skiing, a fun-loving inventor and far-sighted entrepreneur. Today, his wife Linda Stricker keeps driving the company.

Sportservice is present in several locations in South Tyrol with over 20 rentals and shops where you can hire ski or bicycle equipment and buy the best outfits for your free time in the mountains!

Erwin Stricker was born in Mattighofen (Austria) in 1950 by parents of South Tyrol origin. The family returned to South Tyrol in 1955, where he lived in Colle Isarco, before, and in Varna, then.

In 1969 he became part of the Italian National Alpine Ski Team, with which he achieved success in all disciplines of world cups. In 1972 and 1976 he participated in the Olympic Games; In 1976 he earned the title of Italian Champion in downhill and, in 1976, in the combined.

In World Cup he climbed twice on the podium and placed 15 times in the top 10 positions. In 1979 he completed his sports career and began his career as an entrepreneur, destined to mark an epochal turn in the world of winter sports.

As a sportsman, Erwin Stricker left the mark, but also he made a huge contribution to the technological development of skiing as we know it today. Among the technical innovations born thanks to his fervent imagination:

• Curved rackets for fast disciplines;
• The aerodynamic helmet for the descent;
• The hook for slider skis;
• I skip the slalom;

Not to mention that he was a driver and precursor to the use of the helmet, and he was the first in 1979 to install the first snowmaking cannon.

In 1978 he married the Dutch Linda Esser from whom he had 2 sons, Nina and Tim.

In 1996, together with his wife Linda and friends and colleagues Kurt Ladstätter and Gerhard Königsrainer, Erwin set up the famous Rent and Go ski rental group. Today Rent and Go is the first italian group of quality ski rentals, with 70 rental franchises in all of Italy’s most popular ski resorts.

Not yet satisfied for everything that he had already done, Erwin Stricker also gave birth to the bike rental firm “Alto-Adige Bikes”along the railway line of Val Venosta: nowadays national and international reference for the thousands of tourists wishing to cross the beauties of the Region on the two wheels.

Erwin Stricker spent his last years in Meran and died on September 28, 2010 at the Bolzano hospital due to an incurable illness, leaving an unmistakable void in all the people around him.

Erwin’s name, in addition to being indelible to ski enthusiasts, continues to be lifted by his wife, Linda, who over the years has not only maintained, but increased her husband’s activities. Heil am Seil Erwin!