|
by Mitch Weber
April 14, 2006-- A
few weeks ago I got a call from my old friend ScottyBob, founder
of the rapidly growing ScottyBob's Handcrafted Skis in Silverton,
Colorado. "I'm about ready to open my custom shop and I
want to build you a pair of skis," said Scott. "What
dimensions and turning radius are you interested in?" The
question kind of threw me for a loop at first, I hadn't really
ever given much thought to what kind of ski I would make for
myself if I had the skills, the equipment and the time. I told
him I would call him back after mulling it over a bit.
Not long after I hung up the phone I remembered
a time back 5 years or so ago when we got that first pair of
BobTails from ScottyBob and Maz, the ones with the all-white
top sheets and sweet round flex. I remembered how much fun we
had on that pair and how BT and I used to sit around saying,
"I'd like to see how these skis would ride if they were
blown up into a way-fat." So the next time I talked to ScottyBob
I told him I wanted the same turning radius as the original BobTail
but with a 110mm waist. "Okay, I'll work out the dimensions
but it's going to be a really fat tip, probably somewhere between
150 and 160mms," he explained. "What length do you
want?" "180 would be nice." "Fine, let me
write this down..."
I thought that would be all he needed to
know. I was wrong, these are truly custom board ScottyBob is
interested in crafting so he had more questions to ask, "What
kind of flex do you want?" Hmm, that was pretty easy, I
was thinking of these as big fat powder, crud and spring mush
boards. "Soft and round, please." ScottyBob said okay
and once again I thought we were done. Nope. "What kind
of tip flex do you want?" "Stiffer or softer tail?"
The questions went on and on. "How much camber?"
Eventually we were done. I realized I had
just designed a pair of skis over the phone. Hanging up, I
quickly forgot all about our conversation and Scott's plans in
the hustle and bustle of this busy winter season we had here
at the Telemarktips HQ. Then one day a delivery truck pulled
up out front and the driver unloaded a larger than normal ski-sized
box. When I saw the return address I remembered ScottyBob's plan.
Excitedly I ripped the box open and pulled out the most strikingly
beautiful pair of handcrafted, wood topsheet skis I'd ever laid
my eyes on. Gorgeous inlaid wood, rich colors and a luscious
glossy finish. Appropriately, like fine art my new pair of skis
were signed by ScottyBob and numbered. They even came with a
slightly ribald nickname scribed into the topsheet by Scott...
This being a family website let's just say it's two words, one
of them being the plural form of my first name and the second
word a plural that rhymes with the first.
My new custom skis have a 155mm tip, a
110mm waist a tail that is 133mm at its widest point and 89mm
at its most narrow point. They are 180cm long and weigh 8 lbs
10 ounces... pretty darn light for that much real estate. I asked
for very moderate camber and that's what I got. The flex feels
perfect and I can hardly wait to try them out next week at Mammoth.
I'm going to order some skins tomorrow. I'll let you know how
they ski.... I've got a feeling they are going to be a blast,
I know the guy that designed them pretty well.
ScottyBob is now taking custom ski orders
starting at $850/pair. Visit the Custom
Shop page on the scottybob.com website for more information. |