Wagner Custom Skis – The Design Process

My Thoughts

The initial design looked remarkably spot on. I wasn’t looking to get too funky with this particular design, but to build a durable comp ski that could handle steep lines and harsh conditions at big venues around the world.

Really, my only question had to do with the “medium” flex pattern that was suggested. I told Pete that I wanted a ski that would really allow me to load up the tail for power on hard pack and finish turns.

Pete countered by suggesting that we probably didn’t want to increase the longitudinal stiffness of the ski too much—that making the tips and tails too stiff would make it more difficult to billygoat through tight, technical lines. The key, he said, was to make sure the ski is torsionally stiff, hence the addition of titanal layers.

So I followed Pete’s suggestion, and we agreed on a “medium ++” flex pattern.

With the profile, flex pattern, and construction materials agreed upon, it was time to settle on the topsheet graphics.

Custom Graphics

Wagner offers a number of cool top sheet designs, including some really nice looking wood veneer options. And you can also choose to work with them to create your own custom graphic.

Since this ski is going to be spending a good amount of time in Europe this season, I decided  to honor my Austrian heritage by using an image of a Gustav Klimt painting, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I.

I coordinated with the Wagner “Graphics Girl,” Heather Baltzley, and submitted a mosaic I compiled from a high resolution image of the original painting. Heather provided a template matching the design specs of my ski, along with graphic design specs that included resolution and color profiles required for printing. The graphic is then pressed to the ski using a special ink designed to embed the graphic into the ski.

Typically, it takes three weeks to finish the ski once the design and graphics have been finalized. We are looking to have the skis in early January, and will have an on snow review upon my return from Europe.

Full Guarantee & Final Thoughts (For Now)

The process so far has been really fun and very impressive. (We’ll get even further into the details in a 20 Questions piece drawn from another conversation between Jonathan and Pete.)

Wagner’s philosophy is to design skis to be comfortable, enabling greater stability and higher performance. After completing the DNA process and consulting with Wagner, it’s clear that Pete and his crew are out to make a product that is not just a custom ski, but the perfect ski for each customer. And that’s not empty talk. Wagner has a Full Guarantee—if you are dissatisfied, you have the option of a full refund or a full rebuild.

But if the final product is anywhere as near as impressive as the process so far, that won’t be needed.

I’m psyched to find out.