incl. 20% VAT
incl. 20% VAT
incl. 20% VAT
Petzl is the world market leader for products in the fields of speleology, work at heights and mountain sports. You can buy a huge selection of them in our Climbing Shop & online store in Innsbruck – Tyrol.
Many athletes may only know the pioneering innovations by their model names. For example, the world’s first semi-automatic belay device, the GriGri.
The company is based in Croll in the “Val d’Isere” near Grenoble. Today, the company employs more than 4,000 people worldwide. Turnover is an unknown, but probably high 9-digit figure. In other words, several hundred million euros.
The countless products in our range are indispensable. They reflect the high market penetration that the global market leader has absolutely earned thanks to its high quality, constant innovative strength and excellent dealer service.
If you can’t find what you’re looking for in our store, you can also order it from us.
Simply send an e-mail to: office@bolting.eu
Company portrait
Below you can see a pretty cool video. It shows the Petzl product range, the production as well as the employees and the team of athletes. Have fun!
History
The company founder at the drawing board.
The company was founded by Fernand Petzl. The enthusiastic speleologist first explored the caves around Croll in the 1930s. He remained true to his great passion and became a fanatic of the subterranean world.
Over the decades, he decided to do something about the inadequate gear. In 1968, he produced his own rope clamps and descender under his own name for the first time.
In 1975, his son Paul finally founded the company under the current family name. He studied mechanical engineering and recognized the incredible potential of his father’s business idea.
Petzl product milestones
In the year the company was founded, only speleology gear was produced in Croll.
It was not until 1977 that the first “safety belt” was added. A step that subsequently leads to continuous further development in the area of harnesses and straps. Equally logical is the entry into the production of climbing carabiners.
Overall, however, the company is still on a par with many of its competitors.
1981 – the first headlamp
The French market leader established its outstanding position in the headlamp sector back in 1981, the year in which the first ever headlamp was produced.
It is called “Zoom” and still works with a normal 9V light bulb and a large battery block at the back of the head.
1986 – the first R&D department
For a production company in the speleo and alpine sports sector, the company makes a decisive move very early on. It establishes a Research & Development department.
While many companies retain their usual products and methods, they express their innovative spirit. A mantra that still defines this company today.
1990 – the first Petzl work at heights products
Completely logical today, but a bold step in 1990. The expansion of production into the “work at heights” sector.
The company recognized this for its products. Anyone who is familiar with vertical terrain also understands the requirements of rope access activities. And anyone who already manufactures rappelling and ascent equipment can also apply their know-how to work at height.
On the one hand, you have correctly analyzed your own strengths. On the other hand, the company was able to recognize the needs of the market. This led to many innovations and patents, such as pulleys with progress capture, self-braking descender or a traveling fall arrester.
Products like the ASAP are THE standard in gear for work at heights!
1991 – the GriGri
1991, the year the GriGri was invented. This Petzl product makes the company famous in climbing circles worldwide. With the first semi-automatic device, the company revolutionized the belaying technique for rock climbing.
Previously only belayed manually with HMS or abseiling eights, the self-locking device represents a quantum leap in terms of ease of use when belaying.
The GriGri + will follow in 2017, and the latest “Neox” device has been announced for 2024.
The original GriGri from 1991 made the company famous in climbing circles worldwide! Source: Creative Commons Wikipedia
Further innovations
Many of the products we use all the time when climbing or at work at heights were invented by the world market leader.
The following is just a brief outline:
In 1998, the world’s first ultra-light rope clamp “Tibloc” is launched on the market
The world’s first LED headlamp, the Tikka, is built in 2000
2002 sees the launch of the Quark Ergo, the world’s first “kinked” ice climbing axe without hand straps
2017 Introduction of the revolutionary “reactive lightning” technology, e.g. in the Swift headlamp
2000 – Petzl buys Charlet Moser
The year 2000 is a very decisive one for the company. The nearby company (only 40 km away!) Charlet Moser is taken over.
On the one hand, this move brings a company with around 40 employees to the Group. On the other hand, it gives us the opportunity to offer crampon, ice climbing axes, ice axe and ice screws.
In addition, the newly acquired plant manufactures using the hot forging method. This means that much higher quality shapes are possible. Carabiners are given the innovative, lightweight H-profiles. An absolute quantum leap!
Today, the workforce has roughly tripled. More than 120 employees produce around 8,000 karabiners such as the Spirit Schnapper, Willam Ball Lock karabiner or Freino Z- karabiner per day!
Ice shovel darts such as Laser or Laser Speed Light also come from this factory. The popular crampon Lynx, Dart and Sarken, as well as the Ergonomic and Nomic steep ice tools and ice axes such as Summit Evo and Gully.
The acquisition of Charlet Moser brought crampon, ice climbing axes and hot-forged carabiners into the portfolio!
New production sites
The undisputed technology leader in the field of gear for vertical security applications has plants on three continents.
Three sites in Europe – France mainly produce hardware, do R&D and also manufacture some headlamps. A new factory in Hungary was built in 2022 specifically for the production of high-quality headlamps such as the Actik Core or Nao.
For many years we have had a production facility in Asia – Malaysia. This is where the labor-intensive climbing harnesses, work at heights harnesses and webbing slings are manufactured. This means that models such as the Aquila, the Sitta and the Avao Bod harness for work at heights are manufactured there.
And in 2024, a new production site is set to open in Mexico to cover more capacity for America and Europe.
The core of administration and production is still based in Croll near Grenoble. Picture: Company website
Petzl quality management
The French global market leader is a pioneer in quality assurance.
Since 2011, a particularly close-knit network of system procedures, manual and automatic controls and optimized processes has been in place.
The reason for the increased efforts was an accident with a via ferrata set. A complete seam was missing. This led to a rigorous quality management dictate by the company.
Today, there are no longer any production steps where a single employee is responsible for inspection. At least one inspector oversees safe processing at every stage of production.
In addition, state-of-the-art technologies are used for security checks. For example, lasers that can optically “scan” the products and recognize masses or shapes. This is the case with carabiners such as the Attache, SM’D or Am’D, for example.
Standard checks are also carried out manually and automatically. The density of random samples is extremely high. Samples are constantly taken and the work of employees is monitored by “inspectors”. A traffic light system in each department makes it visually apparent if there are any problems.
Big data has also found its way in. Where it makes sense, video surveillance evaluates data in the sense of quality management. For example, on the surfaces of climbing helmets such as the Meteor.
As a consumer, you can be sure that you are buying the best controlled products in the world. As a retailer, we can also confirm this. There have been no Petzl products among the countless product recalls in recent years!
You can see how it works in the following video!
2024 – the Neox comes onto the market
The belay device Neox was added to the range of belay devices in 2024. It is the logical further development in this area and is designed for quick rope deployment.
With this new technology based on sheave, the French manufacturer is once again making progress. Whether and how this innovation will change the market remains to be seen. But one thing is clear. The introduction of the Neox demonstrates the company’s constant innovative strength and courage to set new standards.
On the market since 2024, the Neox.
State-of-the-art logistics for our customers
The company’s state-of-the-art logistics is a huge advantage for us as a retailer and therefore for our customers.
This is because the 7,000 m² warehouse in France is equipped with state-of-the-art logistics technology. This means that even smaller orders can be processed economically. This means that we can quickly and easily reorder goods that are not in stock for our customers.
To do this, robots pick up the respective Petzl products from the 60 x 60 cm plastic boxes in the high-bay warehouses. There are 72,000 of these in total!
If an item is ordered from us, we usually receive it in Innsbruck 3-5 days later.
The high-tech high-bay warehouse with picking robots. This means that orders reach our customers extremely quickly.
Picture credits
Unless otherwise stated, the images are taken from our supplier’s company website or YouTube videos.
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