The everyday skier is someone that I’ve always wanted to be. I love skiing and it’s fueled my desire to make it my career. But, I’ve never actually been the guy who has lived in a ski town and skied everyday, which I regret. To me those skiers are the core of skiing. We need to pay more attention to those skiers, that mountain town culture and how to keep it alive.
I get so damn excited when I see someone on a pair of LINE skis, stoked on the great time they’re having in the mountains. It’s what gets me to work everyday, focused on spreading the fun of skiing and developing the best possible gear for people to do that.
LINE is More Funner was a tagline that came about from brainstorming for our marketing campaign. It’s taken on a bigger meaning when it comes to LINE. We went in circles looking for something easy that represented the whole brand, including our vibe, our products, athletes and essentially where we want to be in the skiing world. It’s been really gratifying to hear people say it when they see something we make or are just talking about skiing in general. Plus, since funner isn’t a real word, when you Google it, a whole bunch of funny LINE stuff comes up. That’s what we’re all about and that’s what skiing should be all about because there’s far too much serious stuff in the world right now.
The LINE Team is a collection of unique individuals united by creativity and passion for skiing. There isn’t one “too cool” ego on the team and that inspires me. We just had our annual team shoot at Park City and it was full of personalities that make me stoked to go skiing. From Eric Pollard’s vision to Andrew Whiteford’s humble and talented approach to the mountains; Max Hill’s style to Rob Heule’s pure talent to Colter Hinchliffe’s unstoppable passion to explore; Sami Ortlieb’s general disregard for what is conventional to Tom Wallisch, Will Wesson, LJ Strenio and Andy Parry inspiring kids around the world. I could go on and on about all of them and it’s the most well rounded team of skiers I could ever ask for. I’m glad I’ve been lucky enough to call most of those people my friends.
Adding Tom Wallisch to the LINE team was a no brainer when the opportunity came up. I’ve known Tom, his influence and what he could add to the brand for a long time and it just fit. A lot of fans were blown away by it. But, if you look a little deeper and take Tom for who he is—a passionate skier from the East that made due with what he had and rose from nowhere—his story aligned perfectly with LINE. The LINE brand and Tom have both done things differently to get to where we are and it’s that connection that makes a great partnership.
The three piece boot should be the de facto design for all ski boots. Having a smooth flex derived from the tongue and cables that keeps you snug eliminates so much unnecessary pain and suffering. Therefore, it keeps you on the hill longer. Plus you can slip your foot in the damn boot like a slipper. And who can say they love prying their cold boots apart and breaking their foot when they’re just trying to go skiing?
Paperwork is my enemy but very necessary to keep the cogs rolling in the background. Our A/P lady gets gifts and smiles from me all the time because of the extra attention she has to pay to us.
The trade show circuit is a double edged sword and a necessary evil. You’re there to do work, make an impression and hopefully increase sales while partying your face off, meeting with old friends and making new ones everyday. The planning, production and execution of a good tradeshow is painful but once it’s rolling and over with you can look back and say, “damn that was a good time. Now get me back on the mountain.”
Managing website content has always had a soft spot in my heart. I think posting new edits, blogs or a product that I’ve been working on for the last three years to the world fires some satisfaction synapses in my head. It’s something you can point to and be stoked that you had a hand in making. It can hopefully have a positive impact on skiing or just brighten someone’s day a little bit. I’ve taken a step back from it and Dan Brown our marketing manager has been kicking ass at it.
