20% off Sale

Folsom Customs is currently running a 20% off introductory sale for all ski shapes ordered. Get your orders in, its for a limited time.

Folsom Customs Cover Shot

Folsom Customs are on the cover of Mountain Time magazine for December 2008. The magazine will appear as an insert in mountain town newspapers across the country. Keep your eyes out for it.....

CO Springs Article on Folsom

Here is a recent article on Folsom Customs from the Colorado Springs Gazette.

CLICK HERE TO READ IT.

New Shapes

Here is a picture of three new shapes that we are testing.
From left to right:
181 Hyper Chunk 152-124-148
181 Giver 138-110-124
191 Super Chunk 166-134-154

Once we run these bad boys through our extensive testing process, we will release them....

Argentina!

We got word from Ryan Prentice who recently got back from Argentina while visiting team rider Jesse Durrance (whose been living there all summer). The first three shots are Jesse Durrance and the last three shots are Ryan.

Argentinean Trip Report: So I just returned back to Portland, OR from almost a month of skiing in Las Lenas, Argentina. This trip finally concludes my 07/08 ski
season. With over 215 days on snow this year from Whistler to Washington and Oregon to South America I am ready to take a two month break and try and make a little money. What a season this has been!! The snow pack was great at Las Lenas and I skied off the renowned Marte lift almost everyday I was down there. I had never been to SA to ski before and Las Lenas had better terrain than I could imagine. 3,500 feet of sustained 45 to 50 degree slopes just off the lift blew my mind. The lift accessible terrain at Lenas would never be open in NA ski resorts due to liability purposes and makes Whistler's steeps look like green runs. I had such an awesome time skiing and meeting new people. Some of the best and most passionate skiers in the world travel south for the summer and skiing with these rippers was a blast! I was down there long enough to start enjoying the local cheap drink of Fernet and Coke. If you dont know what that it is the best way to describe its unique taste is drinking coke right after brushing your teeth. I primarily skied my 191 Givers while I was down south and they performed beautifully. I skied a bunch of super tight couloirs and open bowls and I couldn't ask for a better balance of stability and maneuverability. Whether its high speed straightlining or hop turns these things work for me! The rocks at Lenas are all like shark teeth and tear your ski behind your head when you hit them. While I managed to obtain a few good sized core shots, everything is easily fixable with a base welder. After witnessing day in and day out other skiers equipment fail, I was stoked to have been on Folsom's. People were stoked on the skis too and asking lots of questions. I plastered stickers on everything in sight. While I was down there, fellow team rider Jesse Durrance came up from Buenos Aires to ski with me and talk about new ski designs. We both had nothing but praise for these skis and came up with some new designs and ideas that should be in the works soon. Some super cool things coming up in the next year. That about wraps up my trip down south, enjoy the photos and my next report will probably be from Whistler when I move back up there in a few months. Go Fast and take chances! -Ryan Prentice

Folsom Website is Up!

We just launched our new website! We will be taking orders soon! Check it out!

www.folsomskis.com

We Moved!

So to make our summer even more busy we decided to move to a new shop. Now while this means we will officially launch a little later than planned (end of August, hopefully). We are even better equipped to handle orders and build more efficiently.

The shop is almost twice the size of our last one and we filled it up with a lot of new presses and equipment.

We cannot wait to launch and start chatting designs with people. It won't be too long.

Folsom Skis Online with Powder Magazine

Powder Magazine online just posted an interview with Folsom founder Jordan Grano.

Click HERE to read it!

June 11th in the Rockies

So myself and a few friends set off for Torrey's peak (a 14er near A-basin) for some summer hiking and skiing down Dead Dog Couloir . The first picture is about an hour into our hike (yes that is the first Folsom splitboard prototype). Its sunny and 45F and Dead Dog is in the background just above the tip of the splitboard.

The next picture is half an hour later and we are on the way up Grays Peak (another fourteener adjacent to Torreys). I snapped it when we had a very brief moment of visibility. It was now snowing and the wind was a good 40-50mph sustained with gusts above 65mph. Our visibility was pretty much hovering between 10 yards and 2 yards most of the time. We drudged ahead hoping it would blow over as fast as it came in, but after an hour of pushing we decided to turn around figuring it wouldn't be much fun to ski Dead Dog's 50deg pitches for the first time in a whiteout. So we skied down Grays mellower slope dodging roller balls as they would appear from the white abyss.

Ahhh summer skiing in the Rockies..... roll the dice and smile.

Value and Cost

I've had a lot of questions about "what are these things going to cost?" We have worked hard to make our skis affordable, but they are custom built and worth every penny. We are still working out the prices but the skis will be in the $900-$1200 range. However, we will be running introductory specials and have discount programs. These skis are uniquely built to you and come with a two year warranty.

Remember there is a reason products cost more and a reason they cost less. Value should be measured on durability and performance and not merely the dollar amount. A $1200 ski that is custom built, has a two year warranty, and will last well beyond that is an investment in value.

One of our testers (6'2" and 205lbs IFSA competitor) has put over 100 days on the 191cm ski and it still rides the same as day one. He took a 30ft drop to a rock and barely had a compressed edge, no sidewall damage, no edge separation. Last season when he was riding for another pure freeskiing company he broke four of their skis. Our park skiers have never had skis last longer than 2 months of rail abuse until they rode Folsoms. Folsom Customs are built differently to last longer so you can charge harder.

We are looking forward to changing your expectations of what a ski should be.

A Preview of the Skis

We are working hard on our website and hopefully will launch it in August. You will be able to browse the shapes with their full descriptions and the graphic options thoroughly at that time (as well as place orders!). Until then, we just thought you might like a preview of the ski sizes and shapes. (click on the picture to view)

At Folsom Customs, the shapes will be fixed but the flex patterns are tailored to each rider. What we have done (and it took three years of testing) is come up with multiple flex patterns for each shape. This means when we build a ski for you, we not only fit you to a shape but also to a tested flex pattern that will be tailored to your personal goals as a skier and based off your personal specs (height, weight , skill level, background etc...).

If you would like to receive an e-mail notification of when the website launches please e-mail launch@folsomskis.com.

Pyramid Peak 14,018 feet

Jesse Durrance ascending and descending 14,018 foot Pyramid Peak near Aspen, Colorado this past weekend on a pair of Folsom Customs.

Last Friday

Chris Garcin getting in one more session at Freeway Park in Breck before closing day.

Air Jordan

Ryan Prentice, Air Jordan, Whistler, enough said.

Photo Shoot

Some of the Folsom crew just finished a two-day photo shoot. Here's some of the goods.

A Day at the Office

Ryan Prentice doing some testing in Whistler.

Whistler Trip

Some of our riders will be testing models in Whistler this week. (Skier: Mike McCabe)

Ski Manufacturing and the Environment

Folsom Customs is going to do all that we can to reduce our environmental impact, yet we humbly know we will always have one. One of the biggest problems in manufacturing is that for many industries we are forced to use materials that have a higher environmental cost. Currently, soy/bio based resins and plastics are not ready for the abuse skiing places on them, so we are still tied to petroleum based components.

However, the epoxy we use is as low impact as we can get and is 99% non-toxic. The plastics we use are recyclable and the manufacturing process we created was honed to produce as little waste possible. We are using only poplar and bamboo for our cores (no foam or composite cores which which rely on more petroleum and complex manufacturing). We have also decided not to use lacquers, topcoats, and silk screen inks because of their toxic composition.

Reducing the impact our manufacturing process is only part of our responsibility. For too many industries, the focus seems to be on how cheaply their products can be made with little regard to the impact of the actual product. One of the the worst, least friendly bi-products of ski manufacturing is the ski itself. They will be around for a while. So what can we do about that? The first step is to focus on making a product that has the longest useful lifespan as possible. Then, when that lifespan ends we need to usher that product into a new role, so it lives on. At Folsom Customs we will be actively involved in reusing our skis for outdoor furniture, sleds, track lighting fixtures, art, and whatever else we can think of. We cannot merely manufacture responsibly, we need to use and reuse responsibly.

I encourage all of you to read Yvon Chouinard's book "Let My People Go Surfing." He wrote a great chapter in which he articulates the dilemma environmentally-minded manufacturers face. We are planning on joining One Percent For The Planet, the organization Yvon founded, as our tithe to the earth.

Let's ski hard, but tread lightly.

Testing, Testing, Testing.

Testing has been underway all season. We have a team of incredible riders testing 12 ski designs on mountains across the country. Their mission is to ride hard and put these skis to the test, and so far they are the burliest anyone has ridden. We are all stoked on the way these skis are riding and are excited about next season's offerings. (Skier: Chris Peters)

About Folsom Custom Skis

Folsom Customs was born from the idea of a small freeski company that was not concerned with volume, but a custom-made product. We wanted to be based right here in the USA and provide skiers with the opportunity to be part of the design process. Instead of trying to find a ski that appears to meet your criteria, you tell us your criteria and we build a ski to match you.

We specialize in pure freeride and freestyle specific skis of uncompromising performance and durability. Skis are handcrafted one at a time and in limited quantities right here in Boulder, Colorado. We use only the finest and most durable materials available and we operate with an environmental conscience. Folsom skis are performance custom freeskis, not luxury custom skis. These skis are for pushing the limits and not merely for showing them off in the lodge. They're a skier's ski.

It has taken us three years, but each ski we offer has been thoroughly field-tested with multiple flex patterns. So when we build a ski for you, we not only fit you to a shape but also to a tested flex pattern. This flex pattern will then be tailored to your personal goals as a skier and based off your personal input. We don’t start building your ski until we take your order- they really are one of a kind. It may take a little longer to get a pair, but it will be worth it.

The benefit of ordering from Folsom Customs is that you not only get a custom-made ski, but you get a partner for the future. We are all evolving as skiers and our requirements for a ski often change as we evolve. What is unique about Folsom Customs is that your next pair can be built off of your personal notes from your current ski. Your ski can evolve as you evolve as a skier. It is an ongoing process.

Folsom is also committed to environmental sustainability. As a small custom shop, we are able to make the right choices when it comes to our waste and energy use. By selling local, using sustainably harvested core materials, recycling and working on ways to keep old skis out of landfills (ski picnic table anyone?), we strive to leave a small footprint. We want the next generation to enjoy skiing as much as we do.

Thank you for stopping by. We look forward to working with you soon.

Folsom Customs- Handcrafted. Durable. Sustainable.

-Jordan Grano, Founder and Principal Designer