Figured I'd chime in on this since I feel like there's a lot of speculation around our product / marketing / "core-ness". This isn't Jason talking btw, I'm Taylor, I've been running sales and marketing with Jason for 2 years now.
JoeF2661I highly disagree. I dont ride j skis but know plenty of people who will attest to there quality. And I've never heard anything bad about j or customer service. I think this comes down personal preference. J isn't core so 95 percent of NS is going bag them.
Joe - first off, thank a ton for the stoke! What I'm about to say are reasons why you're right:
Product quality and performance is far and away the most important factor driving us to come into work every single day. If we weren't making a product we 100% believed could out perform the competition, we wouldn't be doing it. Our skis are pressed at a facility in Quebec that has a 20+ year history working with Jason and Francois (our engineer) dating back to the Line and Karhu days. This season our product alone makes up 65% of their business. Without us they could not continue to operate, meaning the attention to detail they put into every single one of our skis is every person's highest priority. Simply put, our skis wouldn't continue to win awards year after year if we cut any corners.
If you've never reached out to us for Customer Service help, please do! Jason runs this company super lean (himself, myself and 1 full-time CS person named Andrew), although we recently completed the process of hiring on 4 more full-time CS representatives who will each work 40 hrs/wk August - March to ensure there's always someone to help out with anything you need. We literally aim to give you the best purchase and post-purchase service imaginable. Seriously - hit us up!
I'm honestly not sure why people would consider us at J to not be core - whatever "core" means to you. Jason built one of the first twin-tips as a college project in '95 because he knew skiing could be better, launching LINE skis and building freestyle into the sport it is today. In 2013 he left the corporate world of K2 to return to his roots and launch another independent brand, J. Last year, Jason acquired 4FRNT so they could also stay independent, helping to ensure they stay "core" for many, many years. We're a small, nimble brand owned and run by skiers who couldn't be more stoked to provide the best product and experience in the industry.
RparrI have no doubt that they're fine skis, he is jason levinthal after all. It's just how he hasn't changed the actual skis he sells in years (correct me if I'm wrong), just the topsheets. Leads me to believe that he spends less time tinkering with and improving his skis than other brands.
Ray - you're sort-of right! Every year (or at other times throughout the year) we release new top sheets onto our existing skis (exactly the same as every other brand in the ski industry). The reason you don't see "brand new, next generation innovation" from us all the time is because a majority of the modifications we make are running changes that are never announced. The ski you buy from us tomorrow will be better than the one you bought from us last year, even if the specs on the website look the same. We're always building, testing, tweaking to make things better, whether it be at the advice of our engineer, our customers, or our own ski feel. Our new line of skis drops August 1st, here are some of the changes to expect:
- All skis have switched to a new "hardcap" top sheet because it has shown a significant increase in top sheet durability (i.e. no delam, scratching, chipping)
- The Whipit flex pattern has been improved
- The Vacation and Friend are 100% redesigned
- We're releasing a completely new model, called The Max
- The Metal and Masterblaster are 10% lighter
ColingarnesWhatever model Giray rides is getting an update "the vacation"? I think. Getting less directional.
Colin - yup, The Vacation has been 100% redesigned for this season and will be launching August 1st. The Vacation was never a directional ski, it was always a wide park / playful powder ski, similar to what the Vishnu Wide and ON3P Magnus 102 will be, however we felt it wasn't exactly hitting that market in terms of performance, so about this time last year we decided to start from scratch. What we came up with is a 104mm waisted, buttery, surfy, slashy ski that finds it's home making the entire mountain into a playground. I skied it all last season - park, pow, East Coast hardpack - and I can honestly say it was the most intuitive ski I've ever ridden. From the first run I was super comfortable and knew exactly how it would perform, something I definitely felt differently about before the redesign. We're really stoked on it!
.squirrely.J is about as "core" as you can get, the dude literally left big "corporate" Line to do his own thing the way he wanted to do it and sell directly to skiers
And it's been awesome! Getting to work directly with the skier has been absolutely incredible. Every single day we communicate directly with the end person riding our skis, getting their feedback to continually improve and tirelessly work to improve the state of the ski industry - so thank you for allowing us to make this happen!
If anyone has any questions, any time, always feel free to hit me up directly: taylor@jskis.com
