One year after Colorado Mountain College received four-year accreditation for its pioneering ski and snowboard business program, shops are stocking a line of skis and boots designed by the school’s students.
A unique partnership between the college and Nordica USA led to the development and marketing of a sidecountry-specific line of Austrian-made alpine skis and Italian-made boots built for both resort and backcountry skiing that is harvesting widespread accolades.
“This was so much more than design theory,” said Michael Martin, director of a ski and snowboard business program in Steamboat Springs. “We had actual prototypes in the classroom and on the snow. Based on refinements we generated through our testing, we were able to give them real-world input.”
Nordica’s Sidecountry line of five boots and four skis caters to the fastest-growing segment of ski retail. In 2010, those mid- to-fat skis posted annual sales growth of 74 percent, and alpine tour boots climbed 126 percent in units sold, according to research by trade group Snowsports Industries America.
Backcountry-oriented designs such as Nordica’s Sidecountry line feature boots that work for touring, with flexible options for hiking, yet are still stiff and perform like a traditional alpine boot on the downhill. The skis are lighter weight for touring and handle both hardpack and deep powder.
“When we looked at opportunities in the industry, this was the shining star,” said Martin, who initially proposed the partnership to Nordica in January 2010. “Sidecountry is the next big thing in skiing.”
Nordica USA president Willy Booker said working with Colorado Mountain College was “a natural fit.” “It was an easy way for us to get product to a group of avid skiers and get immediate feedback,” he said.
The students contributed in the design, engineering and marketing of the new line. They were instrumental in the development of precut climbing skins that fit each ski. The skins fit each ski with attachments the students helped create, Booker said.
“You don’t really know how those things are going to behave until you get hours and hours of testing in the field,” he said. “We got that testing from actual consumers who used the product just like our end users. Their input was hugely valuable and really helped us improve the product.”
The students also forged a marketing campaign that reached into social media circles. They developed an interactive website — — that they hope will grow into a video-centric community of backcountry and sidecountry skiers.
For the students, the opportunity to contribute to a real product and get near-instant feedback was “an incredible process,” Kyle Ballinghoff of Steamboat Springs said.
Ballinghoff, a graduate who worked on the project as a consultant, said Nordica’s feedback was a critical insight into the inner workings of a major ski company.
“This was something brand new for them, and they were open to all ideas,” he said. “If they didn’t like an idea, they told us exactly why it wasn’t a possibility. For the most part, they really took a lot of what we were saying and put it into action.”
Jason Blevins: 303-954-1374 or jblevins@denverpost.com
