The Future of Skiing is... Wagner Custom

Thanks for the recognition, Skiing Mag.

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.

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.

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

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

The Edge of Never by William A. Kerig

The Edge of Never is a nonfiction book about a young skier, Kye Petersen, who travels to Chamonix to ski the run that killed his respected, big-mountain skiing father, Trevor Petersen. The story is about an older guard of skiers (including Glen Plake and Mike Hattrup) sharing their love and respect for the mountains with a younger skier.

I believe that skiing is an incredible way to share meaningful time, conversation, and experiences with friends and family. Ultimately, The Edge of Never highlights the selflessness, loyalty of family, tradition, and respect that grows the community and culture of skiing.

Bill Kerig did an excellent job with this book. It flows well and is a fast read. The book will make you contemplate and get psyched for the upcoming season, an upcoming trip, and/or your next day of skiing.

Check out www.theedgeofnever.com

Have you read it?  If so, let me know what you think.

Motivational ski shot of the day: Sven Brunso and his Wagner Custom skis earning some early summer turns on Red Mountain Pass.

Chason Russell earned a podium spot at the 2009 Subarau Freeskiing World Tour Qualifier. Photo: Brett Schreckengost

The competitors and audience were stoked to see the finals take place on Telluride’s 13,300″ Palmyra Peak. Mark Welgos of Aspen impressively won the event with Arne Backstrom of Squaw Valley taking second place. Chason’s protege, 17 year old Michael Gardner of Ridgway Colorado, finished in fifth place. Claudia Bouvier of Vail won the women’s event. Results and more information regarding the event can be found here.

Placing third in the competition earns Russell a spot in all 2009 Freeskiing World Tour events, as well as the honor of recognition as one of the top freeskiers on the big mountain circuit.

Congratulations Chason!

The next Freeskiing World Tour event takes place in Crested Butte February 19-22. For more information, check out www.FreeSkiingWorldTour.com.

For more info on Chason’s skiing, check out his summer of 2008 trip report from Lanin Volcano in Argentia

The American Solar Energy Society featured Wagner Custom skis’ ultra-modern, clean and green ski factory in its December 2008 issue of Solar Today magazine.  Solar Today recognized Wagner Custom for its industry leading energy and recycling initiatives.

Wagner Custom is by no means perfect.  However, the company has several energy and waste reduction initiatives in place that help reduce the company’s carbon footprint.

Regarding energy, Wagner Custom first focuses on simple energy efficiency and conservation measures to minimize their overall energy loads.  The company’s entire factory floor is heated by a large solar thermal array (see image above).  To offset its electricity loads, Wagner Custom purchases high quality wind-energy credits that support farmer-owned wind turbines in the Midwest (see Native Energy Farmer Distributed Wind Projects).

Regarding waste stream reduction, Wagner Custom recycles it’s steel and plastic scraps while reusing (and selling) its wood core scraps as kindling.

The Solar Today magazine feature can be seen on page 25 of the December issue at http://www.solartoday-digital.org/solartoday/20081112/

Day one was a sunny February day and I got bucked around on my new planks.  It often takes some time to adjust to a ski and there is commonly a break-in period with skis.  After a week, I still wasn’t skiing my best, but was adapting to the skis.  After 30 days on them, I didn’t really think about them.  I was having fun skiing and my boards had been to great spots in the Colorado backcountry, as well as some world-class resorts.    I finished the season with close to 50 days on my skis.  It had been a good season.

The next December I demoed a pair of skis and was amazed.  I could ski with greater speed, on more aggressive lines, with greater agility, using less energy.  I found a pair of skis that fit me correctly and the results were clear and impressive.  My fitness level and skiing potential had been unleashed.

I had spent several years working in the golf industry as a product designer and engineer.  One aspect of my job was developing fitting systems for matching a person with their optimal equipment.  These fitting systems and custom-made clubs worked for golfers.  In the cycling world, people were also realizing great performance benefits of custom-fit bikes.  I realized that a scientific-based approach to fitting people with their optimal ski equipment could also create performance benefits for skiers.  The top world-cup racers get custom skis so they can ski their absolute best.  Why not create a system so that recreational skiers like myself won’t make the mistake of buying the wrong set of skis?    I liked the idea of simplifying the ski buying process.  So, I began studying ski design.  Several years later I founded Wagner Custom and I’m still studying ski design.

One thing that I’ve learned is that every skier is different and that one ski design won’t be perfect for everyone.   So, how does a skier identify what product is right for him or her?    There are many paths.  I suggest starting with information about ski design and ski construction.   To help with this process, I’d like to present some information on these topics.

Seth Masia, a ski equipment gear guru, has offered to help demystify ski equipment.  Seth began skiing on the glaciers above Chamonix in 1968. After ski-bumming in Colorado, he joined the staff of SKI Magazine in 1974 and was technical editor there for two decades. He served briefly as product manager for alpine skis at K2 Corp., where he helped to design the first generation of deep-sidecut skis. He has taught skiing for 25 years at Squaw Valley, Beaver Creek and, currently, in the Vail Village ski school. Seth is managing editor of Solar Today magazine, in Boulder, Colo. He skis on two pairs of Wagner Customs, both 166cm, 119-72-104mm — one pair fiberglass with a maple-ash core and one pair aluminum with a maple-aspen core.

In the coming weeks, Seth will be posting some guidelines about ski design, ski construction, and ski materials.  Thanks in advance, Seth, for sharing some of your insight.

Keep watching the Wagner Custom ski blog….

If you’re looking for the ultimate powder snowboard (the Winterstick Swallowtail, of course) or a ride for steep big-mountain lines, do yourself a favor and check out the 2009 Winterstick snowboard line-up.

Winterstick snowboards are not available through shops.  However, you can buy them direct through the Winterstick.com store

Tom Burt is a great guy, incredible rider, and an invaluable asset for Winterstick snowboards.

Congratulations Tom!  I’m stoked to have the opportunity to work with you.

For more information, check out: Winterstick.com/news.php

You can now choose your ski graphics and complete the Skier DNA portion of our proprietary fitting system online.

The online snowboard store is under construction. Snowboarders, please give us a call at 970-728-0107 and we’ll go over our topsheet options and take you through the fitting system verbally.

Interested in getting a Winterstick board?  Visit www.Winterstick.com.  We’re currently accepting pre-season orders.