Never Summer/ Icelantic
By: Dylan Fabian and Phillip Ward
Never Summer Industries has been designing and building snowboards since 1982. Since then they have been able to create a positive reputation for themselves as a company that works their hardest to bring you quality in their products and superiority over the competition. That is why Icelantic Boards has also chosen the same path of excellence as Never Summer by having NS create their well-built skis for them.
Tim and Tracey Canaday began their career creating a company called Swift Snowboards in 1982 until 1991, when they changed their name to Never Summer. They have a distinction for hand making all of their boards in the United States unlike most of their competition who have moved to Europe , Canada or China for cheaper labor. Never Summer snowboards are crafted exclusively in Denver , Colorado with the utmost precision. These facts all contribute to making PCTV take a visit to the NS factory, and Icelantic to get a first hand look at the process of how they manufacture their products.
Icelantic boards got started about five years ago in Ben Anderson’s garage located in Evergreen, Colorado . The trio of Travis Cook, Ben Anderson and Travis Parr pressed and built their own skis. When their small company began to grow, they went to other small Colorado-based companies to press for them.
We traveled to both companies to interview executives there and find out their ethics on business, their company, and their competition. We made our way to Never Summer Industries first to meet up with Tracey Canaday and get the grand tour of the downtown Denver factory. The brick building has barely any signs or indication that it is the headquarters of NS Industries, and most would find it hard to believe that a large, successful company like this would be running out of such a hidden place. We entered to be met by Tracey Canaday, co-owner of NS, as he gave us the rundown on what he would be showing us and a brief history of the company. Here we were taken behind the office area into the huge factory that is the core of Never Summer in which every board and Icelantic ski is designed and crafted by hand. Dozens of employees were hard at work cutting, painting, sanding, and designing fresh new skis and snowboards as huge pieces of machinery buzzed all around us. Tracey was kind enough to tour us around to every workstation and give us a detailed explanation of what was being done. There we truly learned how much work goes into their art. The real pinnacle of our outing was getting to get a sneak-peek at the unreleased 08-09 season lineup. After our experience in the factory was all said-and-done, we sat down with Tracey in the office for a personal interview, given by Dylan Fabian, where he gave us his opinions on the business and advice for snowboarders looking for his sponsorship. We said our goodbyes and were off on our next venture to Icelantic Boards to get a look at the skiing world.
Instead of finding a dark industrial factory scrambling with employees working away, we walked into the much lighter environment of an art gallery, the art being Icelantic’s handcrafted skis. The gallery was brightly lit with sunlight from the large windows as intricately painted skis hung on the wall for everyone to see along with large framed pictures from the same artist. Travis Cook was there to answer our questions about the relatively new independent Denver-based skiing company Icelantic Boards and give us a sit-down interview. He enlightened us on the company’s start only a few years ago as we surveyed the ’06-‘07 and ’07-‘08 season lineups displayed before us which consists of Scout, Pilgrim, Nomad, and Shaman. Every set of skis are unique in their own way, each helping to tell the story of Icelantic through the elaborate artwork of Travis Parr. While most companies are concerned with only the flashiest design, the skis here are canvasses, each embodying a certain significance and ethic of the Icelantic corporation. We learned a lot through our thirty-five minute interview given by Phillip Ward from Travis Cook who seemed to have an answer to every question we threw at him. Icelantic Boards is already preparing for their hopefully thriving 08-09 season which we couldn’t get a look at, but we can rest assure that they have worked their hardest to bring to everyone skis of the highest craftsmanship and superiority.
Through our experience of industrial factories, offices, and galleries, we have learned many things such as the amount of work and dedication it takes to bring us products that we enjoy throughout the winter season. Tracey Canaday and Travis Cook were both knowledgeable, friendly hosts for our visits to Never Summer Industries and Icelantic Boards and we can’t wait to see what they will bring us next season.
