American Made: Telluride’s Wagner Custom Skis

Telluride, Colo. (Shred White and Blue)—High in the Colorado mountains in the storybook shred town of Telluride, Colorado, Pete Wagner is quickly building his own legend with a bomber brand of custom-built skis and snowboards.

In a craftsman-centered workshop powered completely by wind, sun and soul, Wagner Custom Skis and Snowboards are built to be tough, fun, and customer-centric in that every ride is built to the exact needs of the buyer. With fresh snow falling across the Rockies and the stoke starting to steamroll for the season just begun, we caught up with Pete to talk about his own personal mission to create a uniquely American ski and snowboard brand.

Shred White and Blue: So how did this whole custom ski idea get started?

Pete Wagner: While working as an engineer in the golf industry, I developed a custom-fitting system and software platform for designing, analyzing, manufacturing high-tech golf equipment. During this time, I bought a new pair of skis which received great reviews from various ski buyer’s guides, but never worked well for me. With so many choices when buying skis, how does one know that they’re buying the right product? I realized that I could apply my fitting system knowledge and design insight to help skiers find their perfect equipment.

SWB: With the big brands putting so many great skis on the market, why would I want a custom-built pair of boards?

PW: You want a custom-fit pair of skis because, like custom-fit ski boots, you’ll be more comfortable. This translates into skiing with better balance, control, power, and efficiency. Wagner Custom skis are ultimately about skiing your best and having more fun on the snow.

SWB: What role does Telluride play in the kind of skis you make?

PW: Telluride plays a big role in the durability and craftsmanship that is found in every pair of Wagner Custom skis. The terrain around Telluride is notoriously tough on skis because it’s steep and boney with lots of natural obstacles and features. In response, Wagner Custom skis are built by expert hands, in small batches, to precise tolerances from tough hardwood cores, oversized steel edges, and extra thick base material.  The results are incredibly durable, workhorse skis that can hold up to the abuse of the San Juan mountains, maintain their liveliness and energy over many seasons, and take more repairs and tunes.

SWB: Do you foresee a time when every major mountain or range has its own custom brand, as they seem to in Microbrews and often even apparel?

PW: My guess is that we’ll see a cycle similar to the shakedown of boutique snowboard factories in the 1990s. Many small custom companies will emerge and, overtime, the cream will rise to the top.  The best-managed companies will survive and the weaker operations will disappear.

SWB: By listening to what your customers are asking for, what have you learned about what skiers want most from a pair of skis right now?

PW: Simplicity is king right now. We talk to a lot of people who want one ski that can do it all over a broad range of terrain and conditions.  People don’t want to second-guess themselves about whether they’re on the right ski that day. People don’t want to travel with several pairs of skis. Many people are looking to simplify their quivers and fall in love with one ski that will work well in any situation.

SWB: What kind of boards do you build for yourself?

PW: I have 2 pairs of skis. My powder/AT skis are lightweight and floaty with a 172cm length and 110mm waist. My resort/hardsnow skis are versatile and nimble with a 175cm length and a 90mm waist.

SWB: What’s happening in the market right now that has you believing that you’re well positioned for the future?

PW: These days, people are being more thoughtful about the items they purchase. People want to be on equipment that will help them ski their best. People want to know where their products are coming from and they want to feel good about the companies they’re supporting.   Wagner Custom tries to be very transparent about who we are, what we do, and how we can help people have more fun skiing.

SWB: Bonus Question – Can I visit the factory?

PW: Yes! We’re proud of what we do and are happy to show it off. Because we don’t use molds, we truly create a new design for each customer (that’s a unique length, width, sidecut, tip/tail shape, camber, flex pattern , stiffness, materials layup, and graphic.) People are always impressed when they see our high-tech computer-controlled equipment, our ultra-premium grade raw materials, our solar-powered factory floor, and our precision-crafted products.

FOMO: Check out WagnerSkis.com

Chapter 1: The God of Skiing

The Sports Illustrated story was called, “In Search of Strau: What’s become of the daredevil king of collegiate skiing?” I was in high school when it ran. The photo on the page was the first time I ever saw him, standing on the stage at the NCAA Championships on the top podium.

He was golden and glowing like a statue in the sun. Like a movie star with his broad Swiss face, his white crooked smile and his wheat white hair blowing in the wind. His eyes were as blue as deep water and he stood out from the crowd like a sunflower he was so tall and tan.

He was the quarterback just come off the bench to win the game, except with something tattered and about to be broken. In the scar that cut from his right temple to his cheek. In the careless way he raised the silver trophy in his right hand. You wanted to be there to catch it for him. To tell him that his red speed suit was torn and his biceps showed through at the arm. To show him how his long black skis were both bent at the tips, and how the two other skiers on the stage, the posters, green, red and blue banners and people in the crowd were all falling out of focus in a swirl of color behind him.

The story counted up the long list of come-from-behind victories and heartbreaking wrecks in two columns right beside each other until they began to seem like the same thing: the stunning wins where he careened down the course and everybody forgot to breathe as he zipped by, or the quiet after the crash before the blood hits the snow and the skis are still sliding. From triumph to tragedy, one after another, they read like the made up rumors of some distant, crazy cousin.

His fluid, aggressive style in the downhill and Super G was described as ‘angry,’ ‘feral,’ and even ‘pathologically transcendent.’ It shocked collegiate racing. He skied so close to the gates that they would explode from their moorings. They were left flopping in his wake. Sometimes it seemed he skied right through them.

For two years at St. Lawrence University in upstate New York – where Bob Parker of the 10^th Mountain Division had gone to college, and where I would go too – he built his own East Coast legend. He won races from way back in the field when the spectators were starting home and the courses were rutted and rotten. He ran from the top of the mountain all the way to the bottom on icy blue pavement like tilted frozen lakes through the trees where it’s only glory or ruin; where only because of their balls, their fear or their fuck-it-all that skiers first see if they can survive, then win. And Tack won downhills by a whole second sometimes, which is good as a mile in skiing. Or he crashed so spectacularly that a hush ran up the hill.

“Is he dead?” “Will he ski again?”

They would rush back to the orange fencing when they heard his split-time come over the PA system. Those early East Coast drunks, leaving their beers on the bar as they ran outside for that glimpse of a shooting star – the vapor trail of snow as he was passing. Shouts erupted from the finish line as the adrenaline went through someone. Or there was a collective gasp as he sailed into the woods like a car off the road and everybody waited for the explosion; the blue and red fiberglass poles burst like fireworks, the horse breaking its stable and the raceworkers standing dumbstruck as it happened.

“Tack ‘Tornado’ Strau,” the announcer would say. “Let’s hope he’s not hurt too bad, ladies and gentlemen.”

But he never missed a race. No matter how badly hurt he was, he was always back the next weekend. He hid the bulk of tape around his fractured ribs with an extra turtleneck and told his coaches he was cold. His broken wrist with bigger gloves. He took off an eye patch on the lift and stayed off the drugs to pass the piss test, choosing alcohol over Percodan.

Between his ribs, his arms, his legs and hands he broke 17 bones. But it said you would have to look to see where it slowed him. It said, “He smiles like a joke he shouldn’t tell, with perfect white teeth and thick Swiss lips that are always burned and cracking. He laughs like coffee, like some party or fistfight about to happen.”

He drank after races with his growing legion of fans, the “Scarecrows,” who took to making phony casts, wrapping themselves like mummies in toilet paper and blacking their teeth with markers and charcoal to cheer him. At the NCAA championships in Lake Placid, he annihilated the field in both his disciplines. Then, almost as a joke, he entered and won the slalom. In the post-race interviews he revealed to a reporter that a week before he had torn the medial collateral ligament in his right knee during a training run. He said the doctor told him he needed surgery and at least four months off before he could ski again.

“Why risk it?”

“It’s like being pocket rich,” he said. “You spend it when you can.”

And then that immortal quote: “If it weren’t for gravity, I’d probably be in Nebraska building engines.”

The ECAC coaches couldn’t believe the U.S. Ski Team had never heard of him. The good ones are discovered by the time they’re 14, on the company dime, traveling and training. To make it onto the World Cup from college was like being born again. Tack Strau was discovered when most college racers are playing out their scholarships, deciding whether to take a job pimping skis or to go into investment banking. He was in talks with a ski manufacturer for a two-year contract, lining up his summer training schedule with the U.S. team at the glacier on Mount Hood, then Portillo and Europe in the fall, when he crashed at Whiteface during an early morning practice run. He lost an edge on blue ice and went into the trees. It was almost shtick with him. Except the ambulance came, and the other racers who saw the crash went to wait for news at the bottom.

His helmet was cracked in two. There were more broken bones. Doctors worried his brain might start swelling. But by the time his parents drove up from Pennsylvania, search parties were forming to try and find him. No one saw him leave the hospital. No one saw him in town. It was as if he jumped off a bridge and kept falling.

His teammates drove along the frozen lakes and rivers in their Jeep Cherokees and wood-paneled station wagons, staring into the ice for a glimpse of his beat blue parka, or that blown white paper of hospital cotton. They stopped at the dark little North Country bars, drinking Cokes and Genny’s and pinning up pictures of him. The police interviewed the doctors and orderlies. They put out an All Points Bulletin. For two weeks in the bone-chilling cold, firemen, police and ski racers led search parties into the woods on snowshoes and cross-country skis, following the white-breath of the German Shepherds and Bloodhounds.

It was after Christmas when the reporter drove to Pennsylvania to piece together what might have happened. In the narrow winding roads and the unyielding cold he found the farm in an open field beneath a hill, cloaked in that emptiness of fast December: “January’s desolation.”

Romeo, “Rom,” was from Saas-Fe, in Switzerland. He was handsome, dark and serious as a young priest in his high-collared wool coat except for the gray at the temples, the blue-eyed worry and the places on his face where the sun had been. As a boy he and his brother took the train to Zurich to see Giant and East of Eden. They listened to Hank Williams. They sold the family hotel to move to America and buy a farm, but the brother moved home when the crops first failed. When the mountains didn’t live up to his expectations. “Can you blame him?”

There was a picture of the wooded hill behind the house, up into the trees where Rom built a tow with a cable and an old Ford engine. Each summer he cut and burned the thick brush and saplings. When Tack was born they would wrap him in blankets and pull him on a sled. He was on skis as soon as he could stand. Sometimes they would run the tow until it was out of gas and dinner was on the table. When there was a moon they would go hiking. His legs grew strong on the snow. He learned to be light on the ice and to wait in the trees until he saw the opening.

“Sometimes he would fall so hard, when the cold makes you so sick, and he would get up and be laughing,” his mother said. “You knew you were in trouble when he started laughing.”

Elsa was like the queen of a Norwegian fairy tale, “as blonde as a winter morning.” She was a Scandinavian model that came to America with a farm equipment convention. She was fondling black and orange handled chainsaws in a silver evening gown when a tall young man in a green wool jacket and worn black boots stepped from the crowd and asked in Italian where she was from. Romeo wanted to know if she would have dinner with him.

“I don’t know,” she said, when the reporter asked, writing on the wooden chair on the well-swept wooden floor in the room where all the red and blue ribbons were fluttering like curtains.

“He always said skiing in the summer ruined it for him.”

// photo by Graham Gephart

The God of Skiing: Introduction

Their stories are trapped like butterflies under ice. And their exploits and adventures disappear over the years in the wind. In the high mountain towns they gather the sun on their faces like poor playboys, drunk in the bars at night, never worrying about anything except when it will snow and when they might feel the warmth of someone else’s skin. They travel through blue air and black clouds across the cold peaks of Montana, Switzerland, the Himalayas and Patagonia, alone and unknown, up against the sky like lost angels looking for their broken wings. Read more

Hit the Deck! Domestic Decks 2010 – USA-Made Boards, Round 2

Here it is Shred Nation, part two of the All-American star spangled snowboard test. This week, three more great reasons to put your money where your mountains are, and get some certified USA-made carve beneath your feet.

Unity Dominion

$480
Sizes [cm]: 159, 164, 168, 180 / 160wide, 165wide, 170wide
unitysnowboards.com
Made in Silverthorne, Colorado

Unity’s Dominion surprised testers with its ability to be nimble quick, but with a bulldog’s tenacity after tearing up everything from untracked steeps to blown-out crud. It’s stiffer in the tail than nose for better float, and features a carbon fiber wrapped core, creating carbon “X’s” under each foot that are aimed at increasing responsiveness. The Dominion had testers feeling downright subservient to its mountain muscle after a couple runs. They couldn’t believe how well it slashed powder up high, and then handled the crud down low.

TESTERS’ TAKE:

• “This board did almost everything better than expected.”

• “Very lively for a p-Tex sidewalled board, quick turning, even in the trees. Not the lightest because of its construction, but you’ll forget that after one turn.”
•“The board gets Ginsu in the crud, and is awesome in powder,” said another.

Gnu B Pro C2BTX [Women’s]

$499
Sizes [CM]: 146, 149, 152, 155
gnu.com
Made in Sequim, Washington

The B-Pro C2BTX (C2BTX=a new version of rocker, where there’s camber at the tip-and-tail but not between the bindings, paired with Magne Traction [serrated-like edges]) is an all-terrain machine. It’s also on the planet kinder side (which should make you smile), featuring a Bio-Plastic topsheet made from castor beans, and Mervin’s “Eco” aspen core. Barrett Christy donates of portion of the proceeds from her pro model’s sales to “Boarding for Breast Cancer.”

TESTERS’ TAKE:

• “I’ve never ridden a board with such an easy flex that holds up in the steeps.”
• “Holds a very solid edge, and keeps magnet-like contact with the snow.”
• “This board was like a mountain lion in the crud and variable conditions—great stability!”

Venture Euphoria Splitboard

$985
Sizes [cm]: 146-170.5
venturesnowboards.com
Made in Silverton, Colorado

Fully rockered for the first time, Venture’s Euphoria splitboard scored off the charts for soft-snow performance, due to a soft flex between the bindings and a fat nose and tail. Venture’s boards are tested in the sacred steeps hunting ground known as Silverton—even the local bar is named POW (Pride of the West). The results are meticulously manufactured decks built to endure.

TESTERS’ TAKE:

• “Strap in, put the iPod on Lionel Ritchie’s ‘Easy Like Sunday Morning’ and slash every piece of powder you can find.”
• “One thing is for certain, this baby needs some room to roam. For wide-open terrain and powder bowls it can’t be beat.”

Renaissance Rider: Shred White and Blue’s Jeremy Jones Interview

Tahoe, California (Shred White and Blue) — It’s no secret what huge Jeremy Jones fans we are around here at Shred White and Blue. From his unbelievably smooth big mountain snowboarding style to his visionary planning and implementation of the Protect Our Winters Foundation – already one of the coolest movements in action sports environmentalism – the guy’s been a hero for awhile.

But when we saw the trailer for Deeper, the turn-earned big mountain backcountry snowboard quest he’s developing with his brothers at Teton Gravity Research, we collectively said, “how does he do it all?” Then we got word that he’s about to introduce his own signature JONES Snowboard line, and had to give him a call.

Halloween Day, on his way to Antarctica, Jeremy took the time to talk. Here’s what he had to say:

Shred White and Blue: Jeremy, thanks very much for taking the time. It looks like you’ve got five different careers going right now, including being a dad, an extreme athlete, making a movie, building an action sports environmental movement, and now launching a snowboard brand? How do you stay focused on all those things, and make sure they’re all moving forward at the same time?

Jeremy Jones: It can be a little overwhelming at times but the key is the people I am surrounded by.  I have made amazing relationships over the years and I draw on those relationships to achieve success in all these different ventures. In order for my world to work I rely on a lot of people to do their job. Being a pro rider is job number one and I have no problems unplugging and losing myself in the mountains for weeks on end. This keeps me grounded and energized.

Shred White and Blue: Starting with the snowboard launch, it looks like you’ve already been riding some prototypes on some pretty big exposures – what’s different about what you’re going to bring to market? Why pick now to start a snowboard brand?

Jeremy Jones: The last few years I have had a growing desire to put more focus toward the freerider.  There are hundreds of park boards out there but a limited number of good freeride boards and I am seeing more and more people stepping away from the park and starting to explore more of the mountain. This is super important for the growth of snowboarding. We are losing a lot of older riders because all they know about is the park and they are getting sick of getting hurt so they are heading to the beach.  With this company and my new movie Deeper I hope to inspire people to keep evolving their riding.

We will have a strong focus toward freeride boards. Unlike most companies where freeriding is an afterthought, for us it is the primary focus.  This focus will hopefully lead to innovative products for people that like to ride the whole mountain – steeps, jumps, etc. and keep snowboarding.

Shred White and Blue: And I’ve got to admit that I already watched the teaser for Deeper 8 or 12 times. Not to put too much pressure on your filming for this year, but so far it looks awesome. Why does it appear so unique? What’s so different about what you’re doing?

Jeremy Jones: Hiking has always made up a large part of my winter but when it came time to film I often used heli’s and snowmobiles. These areas (where we film) have become over crowded and we had hit all the low hanging fruit.

I wanted to get back to solitude, adventure, and new descents. By hiking past boundaries set in place by helis and snowmobiles we are able to get into bigger mountains, away from people and back to first descents.

Shred White and Blue: On the environmental aspect, part of our mission here is to celebrate that inherent sense of soul and native soil in American boardsports, and we’ve drawn a lot of inspiration from what you’re doing with the Protect Our Winters Foundation. Why has this movement begun to gain so much traction?

Jeremy Jones: From the start all my energy was put toward making Protect Our Winters a legit organization. I have relied on experts in the field and 98% of the money we have raised has gone toward programs that show tangible results. Real front line programs were I can show people where their money is going and they can be confident that their money is going as far as possible to slow down climate change.

A lot of these projects are just getting completed now and are starting get some attention.  Our volunteers have really helped in are success too. Chris Steinkamp, our executive director, has been working nights and weekends the last three years keeping everything in line. I am proud to say he is now full time with Protect Our Winters and we are now expanding faster then ever on all fronts.

Shred White and Blue: Mentally and physically, what are you bringing home from all this time in the mountains?

Jeremy Jones: The mountains are my energy source. They make me the person I am and if I am away from them for to long I become lost.  So I am in this weird world where I do not want to leave my family but it is on these longer trips that I get inspiration and I bring that home and feed it to my kids.

Shred White and Blue: How are you sharing it with your children?

Jeremy Jones: I have been taking my kids into the mountains since they were born. I think my daughter’s first peak she climbed she was six weeks old because I needed to get out. Now they are getting older and starting to be part of the activities.  A day of skiing with my four-year-old is in many ways as fulfilling as a day in the backcountry for me.

Shred White and Blue: And last time we talked you said you were about to head to Antarctica – what have you got planned?

Jeremy Jones: We are focusing on the northern peninsula where the mountains rise right from the ocean. So we will be staying on a boat and riding these 2,000 to 4,000 foot peaks. The photos look promising but the weather is a crapshoot. As always we will take what the mountains give us. We will shoot a documentary about the trip and if the riding is legit a segment for Deeper.

Shred White and Blue: Thanks, man.

// Main photo by Bernhard Ritzerlow, Jermey Jones Portrait by Jeremy Jones.

It’s On! Mavericks Contest Window Opens!

Half Moon Bay, Calif. (Shred White and Blue) — On just 24 hours notice between November 1, 2009 and March 31, 2010, 24 of the world’s best big-wave surfers will be summoned to Half Moon Bay, home of Mavericks, one of the most majestic and infamous surf breaks on Earth.

There, they will test their individual skills and vie to be crowned champion of the 2009/2010 Mavericks Surf Contest Presented by Sony Ericsson. Competitors will face the dangerous elements of the frigid northern California waters in search of the perfect ride on waves reaching heights of 30 to 40 feet or more.

“The 24” make the call

And according to Mavericks CEO Keir J. Beadling, this contest seasons adds a new and exciting element:  “This season we’re embarking on a new chapter, as the Mavericks competitors will choose the day.  Once potentially contestable conditions are identified, ‘the 24’ will vote and determine whether to pull the trigger.  If they say ‘go,’ we go, and that’s exactly the way it should be at Mavericks.”   Commented longtime Mavericks surfer and Contest competitor Kenny “Skindog” Collins, “This Mavericks Contest combined with this season’s El Niño is going to be historic!”

El Niño in-play

Official Surf Forecaster Mark Sponsler of Stormsurf.com says there is good reason to be hopeful:  “The El Niño season, which has already begun, should bring a higher number of storms moving from the International Dateline into the Gulf of Alaska than in years previous. Those storms should have the potential to push larger and more consistent surf down the Pacific Coast into California. It’s likely there will be several good opportunities to hold the contest between now and March 31 when the contest window closes.”

Once the contestants receive the green light alert, they have just 24 hours to arrive for the event.  The international roster of invited surfers consists of, in alphabetical order: Matt Ambrose, Ben Andrews, Grant Baker, Ion Banner, Chris Bertish, Carlos Burle, Kenny Collins, Shane Desmond, Nathan Fletcher, Brock Little, Greg Long, Josh Loya, Peter Mel, Shawn Rhodes, Ryan Seelbach, Evan Slater, Tyler Smith, Jamie Sterling, Anthony Tashnick, Darryl Virostko, Grant Washburn, Dave Wassell, Tim West, Zach Wormhoudt.

Also named were the 15 alternates, in order of priority: Alex Martins, Danilo Couto, Mark Healey, Tyler Fox, Rusty Long, Nic Lamb, Jamie Mitchell, Mike Gerhardt, Russell Smith, Kealii Mamala, Garrett McNamara, Andrew Marr, Lawton Smith, John Whittle, Colin Dwyer.

Record Prize Purse

This year, the invitees will compete for a record-breaking $150,000 prize purse, including $50,000 to the Champion.  The purse is personally funded by Mavericks benefactors Moose Guen and Jane Sutherland of MVision, and Barracuda Networks. In addition, a $5,000 “Gnarliest Drop” award will be offered to the surfer who exhibits the most impressive drop-in of the day.