Startup ski brand

animatorOooooook everyone next update for you.

First of all, huge thanks to everyone that has donated to the GoFundMe so far. It genuinely brought a tear to me eye to see people donating their hard earned money to my dumb ass. I’m working as much as I can so that I do not have to depend solely on the fundraiser, but every little bit helps!

Second, the first shape. We’ve updated things a little bit here and there and I think people will like what were cookin up. For those who are interested in the technical mumbo jumbo, here it is.

First shape (30 pairs early 2022 IF EVERYTHING GOES AS PLANNED) will be 124-96-120 nose-waist-tail. Aiming for an 18-20m turning radius. Core will be triaxial fiberglass reinforced poplar core with ash or maple stringers (we want to test both and see what works best). The stringers will be placed A. Optimally for better binding screw retention strength and B. To provide torsional rigidity without making the ski absurdly heavy. Now, for the park skiers here (which is almost all of you):
The ski is obviously not symmetrical per the measurements. The recommended mount point will NOT be center, it will be -3. HOWEVER, the -3 mount point will be the true center of the contact points (essentially, your boot midsole will be in the center of where the tip and tail touch the snow, in case I explained that poorly). The ski will also NOT flex symmetrically, but it will be set back -3 to match the camber set back (so it will feel symmetrical when mounted at -3). Sidewalls will be UHMW, and will be 3/4 (no sidewall in the tip and tail), as will the edges. IF DEMAND IS MET WE WILL HAVE AN OPTION FOR EDGELESS UNDERFOOT.

That’s all for now, I will be ordering the steel and everything else for the press in the next few weeks (depending on finances). If anyone has any questions or comments, as always please feel free to comment here or PM me. I am unbelievably excited for this project to come to fruition and stoked that you guys are on board! Cheers!

animatorOooooook everyone next update for you.

First of all, huge thanks to everyone that has donated to the GoFundMe so far. It genuinely brought a tear to me eye to see people donating their hard earned money to my dumb ass. I’m working as much as I can so that I do not have to depend solely on the fundraiser, but every little bit helps!

Second, the first shape. We’ve updated things a little bit here and there and I think people will like what were cookin up. For those who are interested in the technical mumbo jumbo, here it is.

First shape (30 pairs early 2022 IF EVERYTHING GOES AS PLANNED) will be 124-96-120 nose-waist-tail. Aiming for an 18-20m turning radius. Core will be triaxial fiberglass reinforced poplar core with ash or maple stringers (we want to test both and see what works best). The stringers will be placed A. Optimally for better binding screw retention strength and B. To provide torsional rigidity without making the ski absurdly heavy. Now, for the park skiers here (which is almost all of you):
The ski is obviously not symmetrical per the measurements. The recommended mount point will NOT be center, it will be -3. HOWEVER, the -3 mount point will be the true center of the contact points (essentially, your boot midsole will be in the center of where the tip and tail touch the snow, in case I explained that poorly). The ski will also NOT flex symmetrically, but it will be set back -3 to match the camber set back (so it will feel symmetrical when mounted at -3). Sidewalls will be UHMW, and will be 3/4 (no sidewall in the tip and tail), as will the edges. IF DEMAND IS MET WE WILL HAVE AN OPTION FOR EDGELESS UNDERFOOT.

That’s all for now, I will be ordering the steel and everything else for the press in the next few weeks (depending on finances). If anyone has any questions or comments, as always please feel free to comment here or PM me. I am unbelievably excited for this project to come to fruition and stoked that you guys are on board! Cheers!

animatorSorry forget to mention, sizing for the 96 will be 175, 182, 189!

animatorSorry forget to mention, sizing for the 96 will be 175, 182, 189!

weastcoastI’m not in unless you make them soft

skierman_jackpoplar is pretty soft. An option to choose between 2 flex setups would be cool but complicated

animatorHey all
I think there’s a good number of you by now who have seen my various threads and responses shitting on 12 year olds. I am here with my hat in my hand to ask for some advice.

Ive been thinking about this for a long time, but wanted to hear what NS thinks. I’m toying with the idea of starting my own ski company. Nothing large at all, just as a sort of side hustle if you will. I have a few shapes drawn up, and would attempt to make the skis as cheap and durable for consumers as possible. I am willing to front the cost of starting the company up (building a press, raw material) and I wouldn’t be doing it for profit. Skis would be listed at almost cost, and would be customizable to an extent. Very interested to hear any input, from anyone who has had similar thoughts, or has even built their own press which I know a few of you have. Cheers!
oh, and if anyone would actually be interested in taking a leap of faith and doing this with me, I’d love to work with a fellow NSer!

animatorAlso wanted to mention that for hoodies, we are thinking of the heavyweight rain defender carthartt hoodies. We get that a lot of you like to ski in cotton (us included) and the rain defenders are super nice for skiing in. Would people find 65-70 dollars reasonable?

DolansLebensraumWell, you gotta understand that ski racing is a religion in the alps. Its like formula one. The amount of engineering that goes into making head or volkl or atomic race skis is probably huge. i wouldnt say a race ski is as complicated as a car but its definitely well in between a car and a skateboard. You can make a good skateboard with 7 sheets of wood, some glue and some clamps. Skis, especially racing skis, have to check off many more boxes.

animatorSidewalls will be UHMW, and will be 3/4 (no sidewall in the tip and tail), as will the edges.

animatorIF DEMAND IS MET WE WILL HAVE AN OPTION FOR EDGELESS UNDERFOOT.

BradFiAusNzCoCaI was just reading this again to see what your value prop was. You mention the cheap cost and then I thought about how I heard once (could be a total lie) that Harley Davidson sells more apparel than it does motorcycles. You will need to fund your venture somehow because there are costs aside from the skis. So maybe you could bring in revenue with apparel and merch to subsidize the costs for ski production.

Maybe that was said somewhere else end I missed it. Idk.

hot.pocketAre you going to be using tip spacer, full capping the tips and tails, or what is your plan here?


Best of luck.

animatorHey everybody, just wanted to update you real quick about how the process here at Ballard Mfg. is going!
Per Scott's recommendation, we have separated our finances in order to avoid drowning immediately and going under before we can even drop our first batch of skis. After doing our math, we have decided to start a GoFundMe for $10,000. This will help us to purchase the raw materials to build our first press, and our first round of ski materials for R&D. Steel is super expensive right now (why, I have zero idea), and every little bit will help us. Seriously. Even if you can spare a dollar, I will be eternally grateful. Share the link with as many people as you can! Ballard Mfg. for the people!
http://gf.me/u/zqwxmm

DolansLebensraumWhy did everybody ignore this?

DolansLebensraumWhy did everybody ignore this?

NotaskibumSell pre orders or hoodies or something to get the initial cash, no body is gonna give you 10k to buy a ski press lmao

DolansLebensraumWhy did everybody ignore this?

animatorIs Edgeless underfoot gonna be tough?

hot.pocketYes.

I would also suggest reading as much of this forum as you can: http://www.skibuilders.com/phpBB2/

animatorWhat about an Edgeless underfoot ski is tough, is it getting the ends of the edges to bond to the base?

NotaskibumSell pre orders or hoodies or something to get the initial cash, no body is gonna give you 10k to buy a ski press lmao

Christian_BaleSelling preorders to get cash sounds like the revision business model lol. I agree though, selling other gear like hoodies seems like a smart move at this point

weastcoastScott is the man ^^



also I’ve thought I had my dream ski (Wets) but I think I’ve found a way to improve them for my liking. Keep in mind im an east coast rail rat who is a sucker for stupidly soft skis

-thicker bases: the bases are way too thin and wear out so easily once edge comes out

-more rounded tip/tail: it’s honestly a little hard to nollie on these guys since the tip and tail is so flat, which makes the flex super even

-make that bitch edgeless underfoot: I like ripping my edges out anyway for the sake of smooth rail skiing

-make tip and tail a little wider too. Maybe 92 underfoot with 120-125 tip and tail

other than that I can’t think of anything to improve the ski. Maybe thicker tip and tail but that would sacrifice the light weight of it and the softness. They can get clapped over time but I don’t mind it because the way they get damaged doesn’t affect my skiing whatsoever.

animator

Hey everyone,
just wanted to hear your thoughts on what I have in mind. As well as the fundraiser, we were thinking of printing both stickers and heavyweight hoodies with a super simple logo (like above) and selling them in order to raise some more money for the raw materials we need! Would people fuck with these for 40-45 bucks?

mitcheyDamn my mans really is running this. Power to you brother, can't wait to see the blister/roofbox reviews in a couple years

animator

Hey everyone,
just wanted to hear your thoughts on what I have in mind. As well as the fundraiser, we were thinking of printing both stickers and heavyweight hoodies with a super simple logo (like above) and selling them in order to raise some more money for the raw materials we need! Would people fuck with these for 40-45 bucks?

BiffbarfI'd be way down. Simple logos on black hoodies are my fav

DesertStixIt’s not bad but I don’t think I’d spend $45 bucks on that. Just here for constructive criticism cause I really like your idea and drive. In my experience with friends who’ve started clothing lines and their own creative endeavors, finding an image to associate with their brand has always been tough and they go through so many iterations. Do you have any other logo mock ups?

animatorI do have a couple people working on some other stuff! I want to keep the brand image relatively clean so it wont be anything crazy but i have some more stuff coming for sure! theres gonna be something on the back too

animator

Hey everyone,
just wanted to hear your thoughts on what I have in mind. As well as the fundraiser, we were thinking of printing both stickers and heavyweight hoodies with a super simple logo (like above) and selling them in order to raise some more money for the raw materials we need! Would people fuck with these for 40-45 bucks?

cypherscool design but if i saw someone wearing this i would have no idea what it was. especially if you're a new company that no one has heard of you're gonna need to spell it out for people and make it super readable.

good example is the on3p hoods that literally just say "on3p ski co" in large, bold lettering. people can see it from the lift and know exactly what to put into google if they want to buy their stuff.

once you're super cool and famous you could pull off this design but in the meantime you gotta make it obvious what your company is called

animator

Hey everyone,
just wanted to hear your thoughts on what I have in mind. As well as the fundraiser, we were thinking of printing both stickers and heavyweight hoodies with a super simple logo (like above) and selling them in order to raise some more money for the raw materials we need! Would people fuck with these for 40-45 bucks?

DesertStixCould just be me but reminds me a lot of wndr

ReturnToMonkeyGood, I think part of wndr's mission is to get other companies onboard with prioritizing eco-friendly construction. They're also now working on a split board I hear, so maybe they can inspire some snowboard companies as well.

skierman_jackThis is just the money he needs to build the press and do some r&d. We’re not even talking about products yet

animatorOooooook everyone next update for you.

First of all, huge thanks to everyone that has donated to the GoFundMe so far. It genuinely brought a tear to me eye to see people donating their hard earned money to my dumb ass. I’m working as much as I can so that I do not have to depend solely on the fundraiser, but every little bit helps!

BradFiAusNzCoCaBecause formula 1 is formula 1 in Europe lol

Go ask your average German or Austrian or Italian “who watches F1 and who watches alpine ski racing?”
Hell, go ask that in Finland.

It’s popular but nowhere even remotely close to F1 in terms of size, budget, or technology.
An F1 team has 200 engineers.

DolansLebensraumMaybe not all of europe but in switzerland and austria and slovenia (also northern italy, SE france, southern germany) ski racing is huge. It was on tv 24/7 in vienna austria (more than f1) and skiing is something every swiss and austrian kid does in their youth through school ski teams etc. ppl like herman maier are just as famous in austria as jenson button or louis hamilton is in the uk.



Also u said f1 teams have 200 team members.

if you look at it as a manufacturer team, like red bull renault or mercedes benz, then ski teams like head ski racing are on the same order of size as f1 manufacturer teams.

animatorWhy is there such a crazy outpouring of love 😭😭 I know one of you in person but this is genuinely so confidence inspiring and heartwarming. Scott’s knowledge and all of your belief in me has just cemented this in my head. First press will be built over this summer during my off time. Stay fucking tuned boys

r00kieMaybe skiing was on more cause you were there in the winter, when skiing is done but not auto racing? 'Dang Americans watch a lot of baseball but no hockey during July, they must not care about hockey.'

DesertStixThat takes critical thinking bro did you see who you responded to?

DolansLebensraum

MFW desertdicks tells me his iq is over 100.