Jennings: Ski maker takes a personal approach for his customers

“Bespoke” is a word used to describe anything custom made to fit a particular person. A man wearing a bespoke suit feels like a million bucks. Imagine what a skier feels like ripping down the mountain on a pair of bespoke skis.

If you want to make the favorite skier in your life feel like a million bucks this Christmas, consider talking to T.J. Sneva. I paid him a visit at his South Hill shop last weekend because admittedly the favorite skier in my life is myself.

When I arrived, he was putting a final coat of urethane varnish on the beautiful white oak top sheet of a ski. He was making it to order for Montana Ski Co., a customer that markets some of his shapes under its own brand.

Sneva started making skis in 1994 and his business has grown to the point where he makes about 1,000 pairs a year. Most of them can be seen around the local hills bearing his own brand, Sneva Mfg.

You can see a full lineup of shapes on the Sneva Mfg. web site, but you can’t buy a pair online. The process of owning a pair of Sneva’s hand made skis begins with a face-to-face discovery session.

“It’s more of a personal thing,” Sneva said. “Everybody who is going to buy my skis is going to talk to me anyway. I’ll ask you what you’re skiing on now, what kind of terrain you like to ride most of the time. Then we narrow it down. My goal is to guide you into a ski that will help you be a better skier.”

According to Sneva, the core makes the biggest difference with his custom made skis. A millimeter in thickness one way or the other can help dial it in, depending on a skier’s weight. He also manipulates the flex pattern by using different combinations of maple, ash and poplar in different parts of the core.

Sneva starts with a template from about a couple of dozen different shapes and lengths. The core and two layers of axial-weave fiberglass are sandwiched between the top and a clear base displaying grind-proof graphics underneath. Customers have their choice of in-house graphics and are also free to design their own look.

Each pair is finished with a standard stone grind. The sidewall is protected with a built-in step if you like your edges beveled to a certain degree. The final result is as unique as the snowflakes the ski will ultimately be sliding on.

“People who have my skis might see another pair and say, ‘Hey, the tip looks different.’ That could just determine my mood that day. The tips are hand shaped, so the ski is unique in that way. Maybe I thought the ski should be a little blockier in the nose that day so that’s how it turned out.”

Sneva continues to expand his line. He makes junior skis between 95 and 118 cm and he showed me a cute little pair of 75 cm boards he made for his 2-year old daughter to use – as soon as she’s ready. After being asked for years, he said he finally broke down and started making a monoski.

Sneva said his customers are his best and only advertising. If you’re curious about the performance of these home grown skis, his most popular shapes are featured in the demo center at Schweitzer this season. After taking them for a test drive, he’s offered to subtract the demo fee from the price for people who want their own custom model. Turnaround time is about two weeks.

He still builds every ski himself, but as his business grows, that might change. After all, a ski builder still needs time to ski.

“It gets stressful sometimes,” he said. “I’m almost to the point where I’m going to need some help. Just like any self-employed person, there are times you don’t love the business part of it. But I love building skis.”