Personal Confessions of a Skiboard Manufacturer and how he went from Die Hard Snowboarder to Die Hard Skiboarder
“I was what you called the diehard snowboarder. I started riding when it wasn’t cool, when you knew the names of everyone on the hill that was snowboarding. I started at the age of 9 and my first snowboard was a cheap Blacksnow you could buy at Wal-mart. Every year I rode more and more and upgraded equipment when I had the money. I rode everything from Burton, Ride, K2 to smaller companies like B-line and Never Summer. I had reached my peak on snowboards however and was not really getting any better. Because of my large feet, I had big problems with toe and heel drag and even the widest board didn’t help. I still had the drag when I turned and the boards weighed a ton. I was at the point where I went up to the hills and stayed out of the park and was more of an all mountain rider. Just riding along, jumping anything that was in my path.
I rode for almost 13 seasons, until I tried a set of skiboards from Canon on a dare. I thought Skiboards were a joke, I saw the Big Feet and the Sled Dogs on the hill and thought nothing of them, except you had no control and couldn’t get very far in powder. I was given a pair of Canon H series to try out from a local rep during my Spring break. I was a little hesitant, but I tried them anyway. I was spending the week in Telluride and had a buddy that worked at the local rental shop. He got a laugh out of the boards, but he set me up with some boots and got the bindings adjusted. This was a few years ago and the bindings were not yet designed for larger ski boots. Fitting tight and a little too snug for my taste I headed up the lift. The first run was interesting, getting used to facing forward rather than to the side. Turning and stopping was not really all that hard, it reminded me of in-line skating. I spent most of the day on the skiboards before my feet started to hurt from being too cramped in the boot. Even with the sore feet I fell in love with skiboards, and wanted to get my own pair. I still had to wait one year before I got to try them again.
I was so taken by skiboards that I began researching manufacturing methods and then began manufacturing skiboards myself. I came out with my first prototype in the Spring of 98. My first day on my own Journey’s was a total blast. I could ride the park and not feel limited to what I could do. I could ride anywhere, powder, parks, anywhere the slopes had snow. I was even taking runs I would not do on my old snowboard like moguls and double black diamond bowls. I sold all my snowboarding equipment and have not looked back since. I have been skiboarding for almost 3 years and I still get the same feeling I did on the first day. I can have fun again on the slopes with out the burden of having large feet.”
Josh Menke
President,
Journey Skiboards
Longmont, CO
[Note: Unfortunately, Journey skiboards is no longer in business but they did make some awesome skiboards when they were making them.]