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Made in the Alps, the history of MND is rooted in the Alps, in Savoy, the cradle of mountain tourism.

It began more than 20 years ago with the creation of a leading company in mountain safety.

Since then, the Group has continued to grow thanks to the integration of companies that are all pioneers in their core business, the diversification of activities, industrial innovation and experience acquired through projects in France and abroad. The mountains, an unspoiled playground of the heart, have become the showcase for a comprehensive offer: cable mobility, for ski areas but also for urban areas, snowmaking systems, mountain safety and sensational leisure facilities.

The history of MND is also a formidable entrepreneurial adventure that has seen a family business transform itself into an industrial Group of reference for the development of mountain areas while maintaining its values, its attachment to Made in France and its agility in terms of innovation and development.

  • 20 DATES that marks MND history

  • 1963 Revolution in the world of snow: MND SNOW, then called Linde, launches the first fan gun.

  • 1989 Peter Loipolder, an engineer specializing in ski lifts, creates the German manufacturer LST, which MND will buy in 2013, expand the range and repatriate production to France

  • 1988-1989 In the French Alps, the resort of Les Menuires tests and puts into service the very first solutions for triggering gas avalanches without the use of explosives. Barely a year later, California highways (CALTRANS) and Chilean mines (COMPANIA MINERA DISPUTADA) adopt this new avalanche triggering method to protect their sites.

  • 1993 In Valloire, a new type of leisure activity is developed, via ferrata, which will become a flagship activity for tourist sites in the Alps. Behind this new sensational activity is the company PRISME, which will become MND LEISURE in 2020.

  • 1994 MND SNOW designs and installs the snowmaking systems for the Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway (under the ARECO product brand)

  • 2002 Revolution n°2 in the world of snow: MND SNOW is the first snowmaker brand to develop an automated system for programmed snowmaking, the Global Snowmaking System (GSS) that allows substantial energy savings.

  • 2004 Creation of MND, a French industrial group, by Xavier Gallot Lavallée, whose ambition is to provide highly safe solutions for ski areas.

  • 2007 Birth of the Daisybell, the first helicopter-borne system without explosives for avalanche triggering, in the Chamonix valley, and thanks to the expertise of local players committed to greater avalanche safety on this mythical cradle of the high mountains.

  • 2008 MND LEISURE innovates with the new continuous lifeline system to secure sensational leisure activities.

  • 2013 In order to offer a wider range of services to assist its customers in the development of their 4-season sites, the MND Group is diversifying its know-how by integrating a global offer in snowmaking, cable transportation and leisure activities. MND goes public on the stock exchange.

  • 2014 MND equips the Sochi Olympic Games sites in Russia, with the installation of 130 avalanche release units, chairlifts and safety protections for the competition slopes.

  • 2014-2015 MND expands in China, equipping the pioneering resort of Wanlong and creates its local subsidiary.

  • 2015 MND SAFETY exceeds the 2000 installed non-explosive avalanche triggering systems, and the latest Obell'x of the range is an innovative solution.

  • 2015 Zip lines gain height and length in Norway. With the first braked zip line in Drammen and then the first zip line in the world with an intermediate pylon in Geilo, MND LEISURE positions itself as a provider of solutions for sites seeking to diversify.

  • 2016 On the American East Coast, the resort of Waterville (New Hampshire) chooses MND's global offer to provide its customers with a snow guarantee and new ski lift installations.

  • 2016-2017 MND ROPEWAYS moves the lines in the cable transportation industry with the implementation of an innovative disengageable system at La Plagne (Compagnie des Alpes, France) and its selection among the ADEME's Investissements d'Avenir projects to develop the Cabline®, a new system designed for urban mobility.

  • 2017 MND strengthens its position in Asia with commercial successes in China on the Beijing 2022 Olympic zone and the creation of a local joint venture company. In neighboring Japan, MND is also involved in the revitalization of ski resorts.

  • 2017 MND SNOW develops with La Thuile (Italy) the first snowmaking system able to produce hydroelectric power: a world first, which produces 20% more than the snowmaking system consumes annually!

  • 2019 The specialist manufacturers of MND cable transport systems and Bartholet are entering into a strategic industrial and commercial alliance to serve their customers as closely as possible and with a reinforced technological range, in a rapidly growing market.

  • 2020 MND launches its strategic plan Suceed Together 2024, strengthens its strategic partnerships, and simplifies its brand identity, to be closer to the territories where MND operates.

  • 2020-2021 MND accelerates its urban development with the inauguration of the Canton Tower skywalk, in China, and the Reunion Island cable car project.

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