Starting a Ski Company from Scratch w/ Ellis Skis

There’s no shortage of skis on the market these days, yet we’re still seeing new brands pop up. So what does it take to start your own ski company, and why do it in the first place?

In this episode, Luke Koppa gets the story behind one of the newest brands out there, Ellis Skis, from their founder and engineer, Kevin Schaefer. We discuss why he started Ellis; how he went about prototyping the skis he thought could fill gaps in the market; what he has planned for the future; some misconceptions about ski design, and more.

Note: We Want to Hear From You!

Please share with us the questions, topics, or stories you’d like us to cover on GEAR:30. You can email those to us here.

RELATED LINKS:

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Ellis Skis

CHECK OUT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNELS:

Blister Studios (our new channel)

Blister Review (our original channel)

TOPICS & TIMES:

From Longboards to Skis (6:27)

Why Create Your Own Ski Company? (8:26)

Origins of the “Ellis” Name (11:06)

Prototyping Process (11:30)

Feedback From Testers & Customers (12:30)

Ellis Sabr 100 (26:27)

Ellis Meraki 112 (34:10)

Ellis Kanso 106 (40:52)

What’s Next? (48:46)

Clearing Up Ski Design Misconceptions (54:04)

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