Custom Skis, Part III: The Cookies Are Done...

By Catherine Lutz

To read Part I of this blog, click here. To read Part II, click here.

I was lucky, because of my connection with Wagner through my husband’s ski shop, to get periodic updates about my precious, customized skis while they were being made. It’s kind of like smelling chocolate chip cookies baking -- it just makes your mouth water more following their progress. “Our skis are done,” Mike told me one day, not too long after my second conversation with Pete Wagner. I was surprised at how quickly they were able to fill orders, but then again, Wagner anticipated making just 1,000 pairs of this season. Talk about feeling special.

Our skis were picked up and delivered by friends who were in Telluride for a weekend, and stood wrapped in plastic for a few days for everyone in the shop to admire. Mike went all out with his skis: 193-cm hydrid rockers with progressive tips and a running surface of 188 cm. or so (dimensions: 134-107-124). I don’t even know what all that means, but everyone in the shop thinks they’re pretty cool. My contribution was choosing the graphic, called “sprout,” a black background with a classic dark-red stripe running down the middle of the ski and playful white details that look kind of like alfalfa sprouts.

I want with a standard fat ski: 135-102-123, and a length of 172 cm. Originally it was even fatter, but I decided I wanted something that I could ski almost every day rather than just the biggest storms of the winter. The graphic, I must say, is super cool -- a light wood background with brownish-black cherry blossoms climbing all over it.

The best part is, on the back of the ski, it says, “Made for Catherine Lutz.” How about that?

Now it’s time to put them to the test.

Coming soon: The christening...