“The whole idea is to keep it as local as possible,” says Matt Cudmore who started Meier Skis in 2009. “We emphasize home-grown, local wood and a product coming right out of Glenwood Springs.”
Matt, who had been making skateboards for several years, began making the skis using primarily Colorado-grown beetle kill pine, working in a one-car garage. As the story goes, he gave up searching for “the next perfect ski” and decided to build them himself. He now uses a variety of wood from around the Roaring Fork Valley and Grand Mesa, including aspen, poplar, maple, pine and Douglas fir.
Matt got set up with the Northwest SBDC and says, “Roaring Fork Business Resource Center offered the Leading Edge Course, and as a start-up, I decided to take this as I hoped it would provide the insight my small business venture would require. Between the course and the mentoring provided by the SBDC, it did just that. This class has taken me and my ski manufacturing business, Meier Skis, from 0mph to 60mph.”
In the three years since he started Meier Skies, Matt Cudmore has filled between 30 and 40 orders per year. He said he’s on track to sell about 60 pairs of skis this season, and is targeting upwards of 150 sales in future years.
The majority of Meier Ski sales have been to locals, though some Internet sales have come from Montana, where Cudmore’s sister lives. He’s also sold skis to friends in Idaho.
“We’re still pretty focused on marketing to locals, but I’d like to get the name out in California and some other states, maybe next year.” Matt Cudmore
