NordicTrack began in 1975 under the name PSI NordicTrack Inc. by Edward Pauls in Chaska, Minnesota. Pauls designed ski boots for Rosemount, Inc. based in Minnesota. Pauls had studied mechanical engineering, and when the Rosemark Firm closed in 1969 he began to focus wholly on his own inventions. He designed and patented outrigger skis for handicapped skiers. During a wet and nasty training session the idea for the NordicTrack ski machine was designed, according to Forbes Magazine. Pauls was an avid cross country skier, and he believed that he could duplicate the motion indoors so that others may train every month of the year. He then teamed up with national collegiate cross-country skiing champion and daughter Terri so that she may train with a device all year around and gain an edge against her competition. His design paired wooden skis with a patented fly wheel and one way clutch mechanism. After serious interest in his new product, he then invested his own money and began manufacturing the NordicTrack cross-country skier.
In 1986, after careful management from Ed Pauls and a national fitness craze, the family run business had an annual revenue of $15 Million a...