History and Development

It all started when I decided to try snowboarding for the first time. I was at Loveland Ski Area in Colorado with a bunch of good ol’ friends. I remember it was a spectacularly sunny day and I eagerly sat down about 100 feet from the lift and strapped my board on. I then stood up and started to clumsily walk to the lift line. When I caught up to my friends I said “Hey – where’s the turney thing…?”. They said, “what are you talking about?” I said, “come on… someone has to have invented something that allows you to turn your foot while being strapped to your board… this is retarded.” They all laughed out loud and said, “that’s a good idea – why don’t you make one!”. And that’s all it took (er… well kind of…). For the next 6 months I couldn’t get it out of my head. I’d go to bed thinking about it. I’d wake up thinking about it. I’d put some rough drawings down on paper, then change the design again, and again… Until one Saturday I woke up early in the morning and something inside me said “build it”. So I went into my garage and over the next two days I cut and hammered and drilled some aluminum roofing flashing, pop-riveted the pieces together, drilled some holes, went to the hardware store and got some bearings and then finally to Napa to get a locking carburetor choke cable (yeah – I’m kind-of a gear head). Anyways – after 2 days I had something that wasn’t pretty, and the edges were sharp as a razor, but it (kinda) worked. I could go on about the next steps and the ups and the downs but the one thing that I’ve learned is that things cost 4X more than you thought they would, and they take 4X longer than you hoped they would. Some years I’ve been able to make great progress, other years I’ve had to focus on my regular job, and sometimes (a lot of times) I just didn’t have the money to take things to the next level. Then put into the mix having twins, traveling for work, etc. etc. (blah blah blah…). If I could go back I wouldn’t change a thing – it has been a real ride to say the least and the funny thing is, after over 15 years I’m just now getting to the starting gate! As they say in the movie The Shawshank Redemption… “That’s all it takes really… pressure and time.”

Without sounding like I’m selling something (which I guess I kinda am) …of the friends that I’ve let try some of my prototypes, they have all reluctantly given them back. Every time I go up and ride, I ride with it unlocked so that it freely rotates, and I always have people stop and ask about it, ask how it works, ask what it’s like… and I always tell them the same thing. “…It’s a whole ‘nother dimension…”