You’re running a successful super-niche business within
an already tiny industry - what’s your value proposition to
your customers that is creating success?
Cranson: Everyone’s success, including ours, comes from countless hours of hard work. One thing that separates us from the rest of
the industry is the massive collective knowledge of the past, present
and future of the ski and snowboard industry. To know not just how a
ski was made but to know why. To understand the entire journey that
ski has made up to its conception helps us as servicemen know how
to make it exceed its capabilities. By understanding how to make
the ski perform past its peak helps us know what we need out of our
equipment. Almost everything, from our file guides to our machinery,
has been custom designed to meet our demands so we can consistently send out the best product possible.
Wiltz: I think being up front, honest, ourselves, and educating the
public on how to increase their personal fun meter while skiing or
boarding. As far as equipment, tuning, waxing, why we check our
snowboard binding screws every time we ride, etc. — verification on
our shop’s test track, on our preps, grinds, waxes, work that comes
out of the shop in general. Being at the forefront of knowing why
something works in any given condition. And constantly making adjustments, with the ever-changing conditions, to make it right.
Elite Fleet
What motivates you to face a wall of skis in need of tuning,
day in and day out?
Cranson: We have J5s who were crushing it last year and J0s who
were taking down nationals. We have masters racers who have
fallen back in love with ski racing. It’s such a great feeling when
anyone, from an 8-year-old to a professional athlete, comes in with
a big smile and a story to tell about that day’s race. That’s why we
wake up at dawn, brush skis out in a blizzard, or scrape wax till our
shoulders lock up.
Wiltz: My passion for what I do. And seeing lots of smiles.
Willi Wiltz and Ben Cranson partner
up at the Podium in Sugar Bowl.
