From SIA: Artisanal Skis

Jan 29, 2007  ·  09:30 AM  ·  permalink

One of the things I love about trade shows is visiting with small manufacturers. These are the people who are pursuing their dream and they’re personally proud of what they do and will talk your ear off. It’s a different experience from talking to a sales rep in a big corporation.

I saw lots of small ski manufacturers while in Vegas, here are a few:

Annelise Loevlie from Icelantic AT Boards told me how founder Ben Anderson had started making skis in his teens and had grown that endeavor into a business. Icelantic’s fat boards are all covered with the artwork of Travis Parr—evocative and intricate works of fantasty.

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Ellison Skis based in Westminster, CO, is the work of Matt Ellison. Matt told me that he makes every pair of skis, noting with pride that his hands had touched every piece of the super-fat ski he held up for me to shoot.

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Line Skis founder, Jason Levinthal, started building skis as a college project. Now they’re churning out larger runs of skis, but they’ve stayed true to their artisinal roots by featuring the work of a variety of artists on their ski lines, such as the Prophjets pictured here.

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Like Line, 4Frnt skis is using an entire lineup of a ski model to display a larger work of art. Although manufactured by Elan, 4Frnt’s skis are designed in house.