Got a new ski sponsor! Woo!
Back in October, my agent Jersey Mike and I went over to Austria to meet with Kastle about their idea to get into the freeskiing and twin tip world. I have to admit that I was very skeptical at first. I mean, I have seen lots of ski companies spring up over the years since I have been part of this fun little, temperamental industry. Some do well and some end up just treading water or failing, it seems. Others try to throw marketing money around, hoping it will make up for bad products and/or bad taste. That strategy doesn’t get you far before you have to start backing up your shit with something else.
One of the first things that the engineer from Kastle talked with me about in the car ride from the airport to the mountains, was quality. The company’s policy seems to be quality of product before anything else. This is a common marketing theme among pretty much any company trying to sell a product, but Kastle takes it to the next level. They emphasized that they weren’t just trying to get into twin tips, they were going to make the best twin tipped skis that money could buy. “Intriguing,” I said. “Do go on.” They emphasized that they were in for the long haul because creating good skis can’t be rushed. “Hmmm…tell me more.” We ended up talking in meetings for at least 12 hours over the next two days. That sounds boring when I type it now, but it was anything but! I could hardly contain my excitement by the time we boarded our plane to head back home.
Skepticism kicked back in when I got to America, but I said I would give them a try. “Send me some and we’ll see how they ride.” So they did. I used them for a day and was quite impressed but didn’t think a day of use was really enough to tell much. I jumped with them for two days and was excited to ski on them more. After I used them for a week, I never wanted to ski on anything else again. I discussed it with Jersey and we signed the deal. I’m in.
There are many fun/hilarious/extremely pimp projects that I have discussed with the marketing director and CEO, none of which I can divulge here yet, but stay tuned, I can’t wait to have some fun with this.
Hollow points are gangster.
Terrible sticker job, I know.