Obit of the Day

Obit of the Day: Inventor of the NordicTrack

In 1976, Ed Pauls took out a patent on an indoor cross-country skiing training device. Called the NordicTrack, Pauls, an avid skiier, wanted a means by which to train indoors while replicating the motion and feel of actual cross-country skiing. Investing $10,000 in his company, he began building the first NordicTrack’s in his garage.

On the recommendation of friends and family he expanded his company and began marketing the machines to a larger audience in ski magazines. It became apparent, however, that interest for NordicTracks would go far beyond skiiers. Advertising to a broader audience, NordicTrack, the self-proclaimed “World’s Greatest Aerobic Exerciser” with the “patented flywheel” became a big seller in the 1980s when the craze for home fitness first began.

Pauls sold the company in 1986 and retired to Utah. He died at the age of 80.

(Image copyright of NordicTrack and courtesy of nordictracktreadmillsreview.com…there’s a website for everything.)