Jason Levinthal is the founder of LINE skis, and a pioneer of modern skiing. Two years ago, he left LINE to start a new company, J Skis.
In our conversation, Jason pulls back the curtain on the ski industry—he pulls it waaay back, actually—and talks very bluntly and transparently about how the ski industry works, what isn’t working, and what he thinks needs to be done to fix it.
(Buckle up—there’s a lot of real talk in here.)
And in addition to brass tacks and gory details, J and I also talk about some of the new ski designs he’s experimenting with, what the hardest and easiest things have been about starting his new company, and J reveals what his next company might be. (Spoiler alert: it involves sleds—the plastic kind—and he thinks I ought to go in on it with him.)
Jason has always been known to speak his mind, but I doubt you’ve ever heard him be this unfiltered before:
[powerpress]
I will join the JSLEDS team!!
I spoke with Jason on the phone quite by accident last season, his answers to questions I had were thought out and respectful. Really fun to listen to this interview. As part of the industry, the consumer, investing the time to listen to a journeyman lay down how some parts of the game are played is time well spent. Much of the ski industry would seem to be a victim of itself. Thank you Jason and Jonathan.
pertaining to the sled company, look up mad river rockets. were kinda big around 2010, not sure if they are still a company though. I had one, it was pretty fun in powder. There were kids doing cork 7s on them and stuff too
Cool podcast. Hope you’re doing well brother. – Wes
Great podcast. Now I want to build skis. I am already brewing beer in my garage. I’m ready to start the first ski factory/ brew pub/ mountain biking company. Profitability probably isn’t an option. I’ll have to sell some New Belgium and offer free demos on the Blister Bibby Pro to pay homage. The question is weather to set up at the top of the hill or the bottom. Nevertheless, small companies keep America Great! That’s the question for the consultants. How do we keep it small? That would be big!
Any chance Jason might be willing to provide further comments and perspective on boots? We can see a ski designers thoughts about skis in the products they develop. What is interesting is how these products interact with other parts of the system: Bindings and boots. If the skis are amazing, they are only as good as the other parts of the system (and vice versa).
This is what I’m looking for too after listening to J. What’s the deal with boots?!