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Fall Line
By Bob Cox Have you ever experienced the luxury of a custom-made suit, or shirts tailored just for you?
Pete Wagner started out designing customized clubs for professional golfers, and gravitated to hand-tailoring skis and believes it is not such a luxury to have customized skis.
He draws the parallel to boot-fitting, and the fact that most professional skiers, and a large percentage recreational skiers, take a factory-model boot and have it customized to their feet.
“Ten years ago, the average skier would not be talking about boot fitting, yet now it’s common for skiers to have their boots fit to the foot,’’ said Wagner, who lives and works in Telluride, Colo. “We offer the same benefits as custom boot-fitting.’’
Before you ask, Wagner Skis start at $1,600 a pair and your choice of custom options could add hundreds to the price. Consider that the price is possibly double what you might pay for skis at full retail.
An interview with Wagner, both in person at Telluride and over the phone a few days later, quickly turns into a reverse interview. He wants to know about the skis I rode at Telluride, those I have in the locker in Mammoth, and those I consider best for my personal skiing.
I gave a lukewarm review of the demo skis I had at Telluride, and that got the engineer in him talking about what type of ski might work best for me.
“I get the sense you didn’t love this ski, because it didn’t perform well off-piste,’’ he said. “That triggers some decisions for us. You’d probably want a little wider ski for off-piste, with more bearing surface; possibly a stiffer flex.’’
Wagner and I had talked for 20 minutes over dinner in Telluride, then again for about the same time on the phone. Later, I took the Wagner “Skier DNA’’ survey, which produces a profile of an individual’s skiing.
“We go through your profile to learn about what you like and how you ski and what your goals are in skiing,’’ he said. I thought it was significant that they don’t ask for a self-assessment of your skiing skills. Less chance of an inflated ego getting in the way, I figured.
“We know more about you from the way you answer the questions in the profile,’’ Wagner explained.
Questions like where you ski, how often you ski, what types of terrain you prefer, and whether you ski faster or slower than the people you normally ski with, are part of the extensive profile. The questions are not technical – which is a good thing, for I know not the engineering talk – but they link up to a database of technical information.
“We do intensive data collection of all manufacturers and all of their skis,’’ explained Wagner. “We have technical data: Sidecut, turn radius, flexibility of tip and tail, stiffness, torsional capability... real data. We can calibrate a model to virtually duplicate any manufacturer’s ski.’’
In one of our conversations, I’d mentioned an affinity for the Salomon Guns while skiing off-piste in Crested Butte two years ago. There was also a time when I raced recreationally. “Those two nuggets are the kind of useful information that we feed into the equation,’’ said Wagner.
Wagner will design custom skis for you, but you can’t demo them in advance. He has no product line on the hill, or at ski shows. Word of mouth and an increasing client base are producing customers who want to help design their own dream boards.
“We’re designing skis for people who want to simplify things and be a one-quiver skier,’’ he said. “Our customers are saying, ‘I want one ski that I can use every day and I want it to work in all conditions.’ That means whether you are in California skiing Sierra Cement, or in Colorado where the snow is often lighter, we want to fit your needs.”
“We believe we can make a more versatile ski than the manufacturers.’’
The engineer in Wagner kept coming back to the way Wagner Skis are perceived.
“No. 1, our product is about performance, and No. 2, it’s about durability,’’ he said. “We love to make a robust and durable product. By getting to know you and your skiing, we can make a more versatile pair of skis.’’
Wagner will make about 1,000 pairs of skis this year, which puts the company a little ahead of his business model, but still allows him to ski 4-5 days a week in Telluride. “We need to grow our business, but we need to continue providing a service and a high-quality product,’’ he explained.
Owning a pair of custom-made skis can’t help but play a little into your ego. For example, how do you want them to look? You have choices.
On the Web site (www.wagnerskis.com), you can choose from dozens of cosmetic applications, from plain to highly artistic, or you can work with the graphic designer to create your own look. That’s slightly extra, as are a few other frills, including World Cup Race bases, or durability protection. Each extra costs $100 to $200.
Wagner says his shop is like the manufacturer’s Race Room, “but available to the public. We have a dedicated team of engineers who can make a ski for you that only the top athletes in the world can get from the companies.’’
Is that an option you savor? It all starts with the Skier DNA profile on the wagnerskis.com Web site.
Reach Bob Cox with comments at
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The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent policies and opinions of the staff or owners of the Mammoth Times. Reader response is encouraged. –MT |
