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Line's Start as a Skiboarding Company

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  • Line's Start as a Skiboarding Company

    I've read an interesting article about Line and decided to share it with skiboarders. I apologize if you already know about this article.

    Young inventor pushes skiboard toward the summit of success
    Michael Farrell

    For everyone who thinks America's youth is wasting its time and energy on frivolous pursuits, take a long, hard look at Jason Levinthal.

    At first glance, the 24-year-old president of Line Skiboard Manufacturing Inc. of Albany looks like a stereotypical slacker: shoulder-length hair, cutoff shorts that hang below the knee, loose-fitting T-shirt. Levinthal also sports a perpetual grin, a friendly manner and a propensity to pepper his speech with the vernacular of his age group.

    But look again, and you also will see a resourceful young man who has built a company through hard work, perseverance, ingenuity, a little luck, and a keen eye toward the bottom line.

    Slacker indeed.

    Levinthal designs and manufactures twin-tip skiboards, which are half as long as regular skis and twice as wide. This year, he sold more than 2,000 units.

    Skiboards are similar in shape to snowboards, but there is one skiboard for each foot. Snowboards are wider and longer, and are used much like a surfboard for the snow.

    In the three years since its founding, Line Skiboard has moved from a small, 10-by-15-foot corner of Levinthal's parents' garage to an 800-square-foot space in Vatrano Commercial Park in Albany to a larger, 3,000-square-foot space in the park. Employment during that time has gone from three people--essentially Levinthal, his brother and his father--to eight. And it is expected to get a lot bigger.

    Levinthal started the company after graduating from the University of Buffalo with a degree in product design. In fact, his final project at school was a skiboard he had designed and built himself.

    After honing his design and using the university's machine shop to fashion his first skiboard, Levinthal took his creation to a snow-covered hill in Buffalo, and was amazed at the results. Not only could he ski backwards, do aerial tricks and "carve"--a snowboarding term describing the trenches cut into the snow when snowboarders make sharp turns--but he also could slide on various obstacles--in his case, a group of picnic tables--much like a skateboarder or snowboarder could do.

    After taking that test run, Levinthal knew he was on to something, and decided to make it his career.

    "When I started, I had always been an in-line skater; I've snowboarded and I have always loved skiing," he said. "I've seen other sports evolve, but skiing hasn't evolved. I saw a big future in skiing."

    After school, Levinthal began making his skiboards in his parents' garage, going to area junkyards to find materials to build the machinery he would need to make his product. He financed the start-up of his business by doing carpentry, mainly building decks for area homes.

    "I had been working carpentry every summer and I started a deck [building] business," he said. "I would build decks for two weeks, and the next two weeks I would build the machines to make skis."

    When he wasn't building decks, machinery or skis, Levinthal was on the phone, sourcing suppliers. He regularly put in 16-hour days, and there was little time for anything else.

    "I am just so enveloped in what I am doing," he said.

    Levinthal also got some help from friends and family--his brother, for instance, was working beside him day and night at the machine shop, and his father helped out when possible. But all of that work began to pay off shortly after Levinthal decided to take his inventory to a Las Vegas trade show.

    "I only had about 50 pairs [of skiboards] and I got an order for 1,000 pairs from a Japanese company," Levinthal said. "That's the best problem you can have, someone wanting something you can make."

    Upon returning home, Levinthal borrowed some money, and moved out of his parents' garage and into Vatrano Commercial Park. Within a year, he had expanded into another building there.

    Line Skiboards consist basically of a wood core and several layers of fiberglass and plastic laminate. The skiboards are contoured and have steel edges that give flexibility to the board and allow riders to carve sharp turns in the snow. The products also have adjustable, unreleasable bindings that will fit any ski boot.

    The company manufactures mainly during the summer months, to get product ready for the winter ski season. It cranks out about 180 skiboards a week, and sells most of its product to Japan and Europe. Levinthal expects sales to double again next year.

    Skiboarding has begun to attract the attention of some of the larger ski manufacturing companies, and Levinthal is getting phone calls asking if he would be willing to make skiboards for them.

    Skis Dynastar Inc. of Colchester, Vt., and Canon Industries Inc. of Oakland, Calif., contract with Line Skiboard to make some of their skiboard equipment.

    Salomon Sports of Georgetown, Mass., one of the largest ski equipment companies in the nation, also has entered the skiboarding fray, with the release of its Snow Blade. With the added muscle of Salomon, the credibility of the sport is expected to grow rapidly.

    Amy Rochford, a spokeswoman for Skis Dynastar, said her company introduced its first skiboards this year--the Twin and Razor models.

    "This is a whole new market," she said. "This is for people who may have never participated in snow sports before, and it's another way to get people involved in snow sports."

    She estimated that the U.S. market for skiboards will probably be about 20,000 pairs this year, and it is expected to grow substantially.

    Levinthal, while aware of the dangers of big companies riding over smaller ones in a growing industry, believes that the inclusion of the major manufacturers can only help his company. While it could affect his market share, he believes that with companies like Salomon, Canon and Skis Dynastar in the picture, the market will grow considerably.

    "There is enough room in the industry for companies like [Line Skiboards]," he said. "Kids don't want that corporate image. They want the garage-type companies."

    Levinthal said his company and others like it appeal to skiboarders because Line Skiboards' employees actually use the product. Levinthal constantly is testing out new designs and tries to keep up on the ever-changing trends in the industry.

    "The difference between me and the big companies is I'm the user," Levinthal said. "A lot of the people making the decisions [at larger companies] are too far away from the actual use of the product."

    Levinthal also participates in skiboarding competitions, and recently filmed a spot with MTV Sports on the Blackcomb glacier in British Columbia. ESPN, the cable sports network, also plans to include skiboarding in its Extreme Games in January.

    "Me and my riders will be there [at the Extreme Games]," he said.

    Aside from promoting the sport, Levinthal also is exploring new ways to sell his product. Currently, Line Skiboards sells its product directly to the customer, and Levinthal is working on upgrading the company's Internet Web site to allow online ordering. He also is looking into licensing his skiboard design to other manufacturers, and creating a mail-order catalog, along the lines of L.L. Bean.

    While he did try the retail route, Levinthal said he ultimately decided to focus on direct sales because it allows him to sell skiboards at an affordable price. The average price for a pair of Line skiboards is about $249.

    "I'd like to be as big as possible with the same attitude as we have now," Levinthal said. "I'd like to expand into all the products that the giant corporations make, but always be on the cutting edge."

    And when asked about how large he foresees the company becoming in the future, whether $2 million, $10 million or $50 million in annual sales are the company's ultimate goals, Levinthal responded with typically youthful exuberance and optimism:

    "$50 million [in annual sales]? Totally."

    © 1997 American City Business Journals Inc.
    - 2004-2005 Snowjam 90cm (BLD, Red, White and Blue)
    - 2004-2005 Bomber Elite Bindings (Regular)
    - 2004-2005 Tecnica Entryx 3 Boots (Mondo 27.5)
    - 2004-2005 Pro-Tec Ace Full Face Black Flame Helmet (Medium)
    - 2004-2005 Smith Prodigy Turbo Fan Goggles w/Platinum Mirror or Sensor Mirror Lenses.
    - Usually riding at Bear Creek wearing a black jacket with white stripes down the sleeves and black ski pants.
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