An email came through this summer from Romp Skis—a mostly custom ski builder in Crested Butte. “Mostly” in that they do produce some stock ski models, but my hunch is that the folks at Romp are more like surfboard-shaping aesthetes who prefer to design and build made-to-order planks with a mix of Peter Tosh and the Wu-Tang Clan pulsing acoustic inspiration in the background. (There is little doubt that KBUT is one of the mountain-town universe’s best community radio stations…stream it here.)
Romp wanted some amiable guinea pigs to experiment with a build camp. They needed to know whether eager guinea pigs like Pete Vordenberg and me, who wanted to be very hands-on, jived with their workspace and staff. The gist of the build camp is this: a person buying custom skis (or a board) can build their own skis with accompanying expert guidance to walk you through the steps and, when necessary, operate machinery like the press.
So while Pete and I don’t have Gavin’s engineering chops, we can nerd out. We eventually motored in the THR Prius to CB and participated in a two-day build camp, which began with a pre-camp design consult with Romp’s Eligh Purvis. (Pete and I wanted to build different types of skis.)
Ok, the context is set for this first look.
I was looking for a directional ski in the mid-170s cm range for powder mountaineering. Which is to say, days when I am venturing into steep-for-me terrain, maybe even tight, steep terrain, and I’m expecting powder. I’ll cover this more in the final review, but I found myself last season making jump turns a few times in steep and tight terrain with a 184 cm DPS Pagoda Tour RP 112. While I enjoy this ski a ton, let’s just say executing hop turns was an effort and stressful, and in some sections I wanted better edge hold. The tip and tail rocker on those boards is ample. Yup, it is a dedicated powder ski, and although it was powdery, it wasn’t the right ski for the objective. At least, how I wanted to ski it, which was not rip it.
As Eligh and I spoke during the consult and in person, we settled on the Shepard 110 shape, with some mods we’d make to the flex profile, camber, build materials, and tip rocker during construction. The Shepard 110 is billed as an all-arounder: it’s got a wide tip, is 110 mm underfoot (for powder!), offers plenty of camber, a 18-meter turn radius in the 174cm length, and a pintail. (The Shepard also comes in a 99 mm width, and either size can be built with a heavier build option for those wanting a more downhill and less uphill-oriented ski.)
With the tour build in order, Eligh machined a Paulownia core, and we ultimately added plenty of carbon, carbon stringers, a full sidewall, and love and care. And a lovely top sheet. And that KBUT playlist infused it all with some excellent vibes.
The consult part of the process was illuminating. We ran through the skis I’ve been using of late: Rossignol Escaper 97 Nano (great when I don’t know what to expect), Dynastar Vertical 88 or Blizzard ZG 96 in spring, the DPS planks for powder, and a Hagan skimo ski. I enjoy a lively ski that provides some pop—I miss you, Backland 107—and for the ski and use case I wanted to build for, I wasn’t looking for loose or a progressive binding mount position. We settled on -9.5 cm. And for the use-case scenarios I described to Eligh, we opted for a bit less tip rocker. We still wanted some float up front, so we pulled the carbon stringers back to make the front end a bit more supple. The pintail should help keep the nose up, too. Lastly, the ample camber, when closed out, should let the tip rise as well. Overall, the hand flex feels plenty stiffer than the Black Crow’s Nocta—that’s a soft front end right there, and certainly less stiff than the ZG 96 suspension. I should note that with this ski, as a tool for steeper powder runs, I am not really intending to open the speed up. Maybe in the egress, if it remains less chundery, I’ll bump the throttle up a bit.
The weight per ski runs 1650g and 1662g with Plum R-170s mounted; pretty darn close for a one-off pair of skis. Needless to say, even if it is another low-snow year, I am excited to romp.
Dimensions: 143-110-122
Length: 174cm
Radius: 18m
Moint point: -9.5cm
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