Monday, January 25th, 2010
Skiing Magazine just released a list of 28 people, products, and inventions that are revolutionizing skiing. Wagner Custom showed up on the list. Check out the article.
The Future of Skiing is... Wagner Custom
Thanks for the recognition, Skiing Mag.
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
2008 & 2009 US Masters Extreme Skiing Champion. Photo: Eben Wight/MSI
Wagner Custom Factory Team Rider, Scott Kennett, age 51 won the U.S. Extreme Masters Championship last spring, for the second year in a row. We talked to him about the Crested Butte competition.
Us: The competition was pretty tough there.
Scott: Well, some of these guys have just turned 40 and are just out of the pro class. And they’re Crested Butte locals, so they know the terrain cold, and I’m coming in from Telluride.
Scott Kennett airs Cheeseburger Rock during the 2009 US Extreme Skiing Championships
Us: What keeps you going?
Scott: I have the passion. I’ve competed all my life, starting with motocross at 11. And by now I feel I have to compete at something, have something to train for. I need that goal or purpose. Besides, it’s healthy to get involved in competition. It’s a reason to get up earlier, eat healthier, get in the extra run. If you just sit around on the couch, you rot.
Us: How do you prepare mentally for an event?
Scott: I still get just as nervous as I did as a kid. I used to use Rolaids to settle my stomach. Now I channel the nervous energy. I visualize winning. I focus on this idea that “I love this and live for this.” It turns into that feeling like you’re in love. I stay focused on the goal, and go there saying I’m going to win. That way I don’t stress out. I visualize the perfect run and never have a negative thought – think positive thoughts all the way. It works if you have the desire and mindset to win.
Us: What’s your training routine?
Scott: I ski a lot in the backcountry. In Telluride that requires some hiking. It means working hard at higher altitudes, and skiing varied conditions. I try to get a lot of runs – I do long days with two or three runs, skinning up radical terrain. Meanwhile, Telluride keeps opening up more and more radical terrain, like Lower Bear Creek.
Us: Isn’t that where you got hurt sometime back?
Scott: It was six years ago, and it was out-of-bounds then. I hit a tree and did a compound tib-fib fracture. The patrol guys had to haul me out of deep heavy avalanche terrain, and they kicked me off the mountain for two years – about how long it took to rehab. And now it’s legal. The Forest Service said “Maybe we should open this up.” Maybe I opened it.
Us: What else about training?
Scott: I watch the diet. I eat pretty good. I drink mostly alkaline water to counter lactic acid. I have a machine that treats the water through electrolysis at the sink. It changes the pH level and filters it. I eat elk meat a lot – we all hunt. Each year someone in the family gets an elk and we share it out.
Us: You’re still coaching freestyle?
Scott: It’s fun to go to events and coach kids. If I’m going to be there anyway, I feel I can compete.
Kennett Freeskiing near Telluride
Us: What gear did you use at the Extremes?
Scott: I’m in the Lange Banshee Pro Freeride. I’m an oldschool bumper. I used to use the Raichle Flexon Pro. Now I get boots from Lange and try to get the flex and lean of the old Raichles. I hate to get in back seat so I put shims behind calf and crank the boot forward. For bindings I have the Salomon DIN 16. The track for the heel binding is reinforced with steel so it won’t deform like plastic. In the backcountry I’ve been on Marker Dukes, but I’m going back to the Fritschi Freeride this year. It’s better in crucial situations because you don’t have to take off the skis and your glove to convert. You can do it with a ski pole and go right into sidestepping.
In the contest I’ve used the same Wagner Custom skis for two years and they’re still holding up. It’s my best-friend ski. I might have worn the bases off from tuning but the ski still has plenty of life. I’ll have a pair made just for backcountry powder, really wide with normal sidecut and camber but a rocker tip. But I’ll compete on the original Wagner skis.
Us: What’s next? If you win a third time, do you retire the trophy?
Scott: I’d like to win five, and then call it quits. I need to keep that passion for competition. I don’t know many people who’ve done as many extreme events as I have – Alaska, Colo, Argentina, France, all over. Even if you don’t win, it’s great fun to be involved.
Friday, December 4th, 2009
Countervail is a visco-elastically dampened carbon fiber material
After 2 seasons of product development and testing with the Materials Sciences Corporation, Wagner Custom is pleased to announce that Countervail® (visco-elastically dampened carbon fiber) construction is now available as an upgrade on all of its designs.
The patented material, available for use in skis and snowboards only from Wagner Custom, is a structural fiber used to supplement fiberglass. It provides the smooth ride and stability of an aluminum or Titanal structure without the weight. In fact, Countervail® has the lightweight characteristics of carbon fiber.
Countervail®, developed to forestall flutter in the carbon-fiber control surfaces of supersonic aircraft, consists of a thin viscoelastic polymer cloth, with fine strands of carbon fiber woven along its length in a sinusoidal or serpentine pattern. Because the stiff carbon creates a two-dimensional pattern, it provides strength in both flex and torsional axes. The harsh reactive stiffness of the carbon is moderated by the viscoelastic fibers. The result: it’s a light, strong, whippy but self-damping structural layer. To get the same flex and vibration characteristics you’d need a heavier layer of aluminum backed up with a neoprene damping layer, or an even thicker sheet of very hard prepreg fiberglass.
The hyperperformance Countervail®, in short, gives you the speed and buttery smoothness of an aluminum or titanal ski, at considerably lighter weight and – this is critical – without the fatigue, bending or delamination problems common with metal skis.
Friday, November 20th, 2009
Peter Kray is a great guy and prolific, talented writer (check out The God of Skiing series). You might know his work from The Mountain Gazette, Ski Press World, or one of many other cool publications. Recently, Peter has been working on a new project called Shred White & Blue which celebrates surfing and skiing in the United States.
Shred White & Blue did a quick Q&A with me recently about Wagner Custom’s American Made skis. Check it out here and take some time to look through the Shred White & Blue site. As you’ll see, the content is impressive.
Click Here for Shred White & Blue Q&A with Pete Wagner
Thursday, October 15th, 2009
Guess the location of this image, win a pair of Wagner Custom Skis
How to participate? Visit the Yellow Line Gallery which features images of some of the best road-side skiing in North America. Three different locations (identified as X, Y, and Z) are shown in the gallery of photos. Send your best guesses for Locations X, Y, and Z to goggletan@skiingmag.com. Please include the highway number, resort or pass name, and state.
Identify the locations of the images to win
Why should you participate? The contest winner gets a pair of Wagner Custom Skis with a solid color or topsheet design graphic. The custom skis include: Bomber vertical sidewall construction. Clear grained, all-wood core for lively feel, responsiveness, and great durability. Oversized steel edges and extra thick bases for longevity. Custom-fit and optimized for YOU according to length, width, sidecut, camber, tip/tail shapes, overall stiffness, flex pattern, and material layup.
Where to get clues and see the photos? Here.
Visit www.skiingmag.com/yellowline for contest rules
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