Frequently Asked Questions About Custom-Fit Skis
Why do I need custom-fit skis?
Because you're unique. High performance skis from large factories may be good, but they're not perfect for you. Wagner Custom skis are designed for your weight, strength, agility, aggressiveness, body type, boot size, preferred terrain, and goals. This translates into better control in challenging terrain, less stress on the body, greater confidence, more consistent performance, improved endurance, and more fun on the slopes. Guided by Wagner Custom's proprietary fitting system, you participate in the design of your skis, you determine the graphics, and you know you're on a perfect-fit product.
Why are custom skis better?
Your custom skis will have a unique sidecut shape, flex pattern, length, width, weight distribution, material set and graphics designed just for you and your mission. They'll be made of the best (and most expensive) materials available. The individual components will be cut with high-precision, computer controlled milling machines. And they'll be assembled by hand, slowly and carefully, by expert hands who know how to create a World Cup quality product.
Can I demo Wagner Custom Skis?
There's no need to spend time demoing our skis (or any other company's). Our fitting process creates a smarter way to buy skis and ensures that you'll be on the right ski. We stand behind our process and our products. Our Custom-Fit Guarantee: Once you receive your custom-fit skis, you have 30 days to evaluate them. If you're not satisfied with your ski design, we'll make it right. If necessary, we'll bring you back into the design process and create another product for you that makes you happy. No worries, no risk of buying the wrong product, no wasted time demoing skis.
Where are Wagner Custom Skis made?
In our own small factory in Placerville, Colorado, just downstream from the Telluride Ski Resort. Call ahead to set up a visit. We run the greenest, cleanest ski factory on Planet Earth.
How long will it take to get a pair of custom skis?
Once you contact us, it takes about an hour to go through the questionnaire with you and determine your needs. Then we'll ask you to help us design the skis that will work best, discussing issues of shape, flex, weight and materials. Once you approve the design, it generally takes about 10 business days for us to deliver your skis. Bottom line: about two weeks from order to delivery.
How do you create a completely custom product so fast?
The key to the whole operation is a set of sophisticated computer programs. Once the design is firmed up, Wagner Custom's proprietary design software quickly translates your needs into the dimensions of necessary parts — and transmits these specifications directly to a CNC milling machine (that stands for computer numerical control). The milling machine accurately cuts all the parts: base, top, core (in three dimensions), sidewalls, edges, structural layers. This means we don't have to create a new mold for every ski we build: the dimensions of the parts determine the dimensions of the finished ski. Our expert craftspeople assemble the precision-cut parts like a simple jig-saw puzzle. The components fit together quickly — and perfectly.
How did you figure out how to do all of this?
Our CEO and founder, Pete Wagner, spent close to 10 years working as an engineer in the golf industry, developing sophisticated software programs used for the design, analysis, and production of high-tech golf equipment. He designed custom golf clubs for pros such as John Daly, Lanny Watkins, and Jim Furyk. During his tenure as a golf equipment product designer, Pete developed a scientific fitting system for matching individual golfers to their optimal equipment. The Wagner Custom fitting and manufacturing systems were modeled after this proven custom golf equipment system. To move from concept to execution, Wagner put together a staff and advisory board of ski industry veterans. With expertise in snowsports manufacturing, design, strategy, sales, teaching, racing, tuning and marketing, the Wagner Custom team consists of a balanced and complementary group of individuals who are passionate about putting people on their perfect-fit custom skis.
What's the price of a pair of Wagner Custom skis?
Because we don't have to build a new mold for every unique new pair of skis, we can charge just $1,595 per pair — much less than the cost of Swiss-made limited production "boutique" skis, and only a few bucks more than big-factory race skis.
What materials do you use?
The heart of each Wagner Custom ski is a hardwood core, laminated from straight-grain, aged and cured maple or ash, with aspen strips in some of the lightest, softest skis. We'll help you select a core to provide the right blend of power, stability, whippiness and torsion you need, given the sidecut shape and flex pattern we'll help you to design. The structural layers are of aerospace fibers, sometimes reinforced with aluminum where glide speed and crud-busting penetration are of prime importance. Bases are the finest, most expensive, most durable World Cup quality high-molecular-weight Ptex, from Switzerland, with high-strength carbon steel edges from a North American subsidiary of the Swiss InterMontana factory. The base can be reinforced against rock penetration with Kevlar, the bulletproof vest fiber. Top and sides are armored with tough, light UHMW plastic, the stuff car bumpers are made from. There is nothing in your ski that doesn't contribute directly to performance and durability.
Do you make snowboards?
Yes. Our snowboard designer Marty Bonacci, former designer at Custom Craft Snowboards, brings a decade of snowboard design experience to the table. The Wagner Custom team consists of riders and skiers, working together to create the best fitting, precision crafted boards around.
Do you make woman-specific skis?
We make skis for specific skiers, not for broad groups. If your weight, strength and boot flex dictate a special flex pattern, ski weight and sidecut, we'll build that ski for you. This means that your ski will match your needs, not the needs of the generic female. For a statement of our design philosophy, see the essay by Annie Savath, of the Telluride Ski School and a member of our engineering group. Read more about our Skis for Women.
What makes your factory so green?
We're powered entirely from wind and solar sources (see the massive array of solar panels on our roof!). We use wood cores, instead of foam, so our molding process emits no noxious gases. We lay up the skis by hand, so there's no excess resin in our waste stream. And we ship the skis from Colorado: No need to burn fuel oil moving the skis in a container across vast oceans to get to you. Read more about our Clean & Green factory.
Where do I buy Wagner Custom skis and boards?
Our products are available through select retailers and factory direct through our website. Visit www.WagnerSkis.com or call us at 970-728-0107 for more information.
