Live Q&A with Scott Andrus, aka iggyskier, Founder of ON3P - Thursday 11/20 @ 6pm EST

ON3P

ON3P

Member
Hey everyone,

In the spring of 2006, while a sophomore in college, I decided that I could build the skis I wanted better myself. I spent the next 2 years teaching myself how to build skis in a single car garage in Tacoma, WA.

At the time, I was studying to go to med school and figured ON3P would just be a hobby. Through the use an NS cult and what was essentially crowdsourcing, I developed a number of models and ended up building over 50 pairs of skis. I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to see if I could make it a career.

I moved down to Portland, OR and spent the next year getting ON3P funded in the middle of the recession, and we opened our first factory in August of 2009.

Today we are still small, but have our own factory in NE portland where we build a product that is complete ours, are staffed by 9 of the hardest working people I know, have a killer team, and are growing fast. Most importantly, we build a damn good pair of skis. There is still a lot of work to go, but of focused hasn't change - which is to build a better ski.

And to just get this out of the way....

You say ON3P "Oh-Ehn-Three-Pea". It was the name of the cross streets of the house I lived at in N. Tacoma - N. 13th and Proctor. It is one(3)p with the (e) removed, and was named when ON3P was just a hobby.

So, if you have questions for myself or anyone else at ON3P, ask away!

I'll be here at 3pm PST / 6pm EST on Thursday, 11/20 to answer your questions. Thanks!
 
why is your username iggyskier?

Can I have the FilthyItch skis that are at the factory?

What is your favorite graphic that have been on a stock ski? (exclude grizzlecorns, Eh!, and ugliest topsheet)

What ski in the lineup right now is closest in terms of how it was built, to the originals you were slanging up in your garage?
 
More ugly topsheets please?

It seems like you all had a lot of the grassroots, goofy vibe a lot of companies are striving for now, any thoughts on that shift in marketing where it seems like a lot of the industry is moving away from super polished, traditional marketing to a style a little more like ON3P's?

Can you give us a little info on the backstory/motivation to get your guys into the Valhalla summer segment?

What is your favorite ski to ride that you have ever built?

Will you ever be looking at sponsoring more rad events like the Beartooth Summer Sessions?

Thanks!
 
What parts of the ski building process do you like the most, hate the most, and why? What's the coolest tool you have in the factory? Where do you think the most innovation in any form of skiing product will come from within the next 10 years?
 
Your skis are long. Why the emphasis on length? Specifically, you're making skis longer than most companies out there.
 
Does it bother you taht no one seems to realize that you're the smartest, most clever, most physically fit? Seems like no one takes you seriously.

Instead of dropping team members do you just send them all to gulags? How has Rowen lasted so long without being sent to a gulag? If you don't like one of these questions will I be sent to a gulag?

True or false: there is a banner that reads "ALL HAIL GLORIOUS LEADER" in the shop.
 
What's the largest challenge you've had to overcome as a small business owner?

Does Caylor Swift break out into Taylor Swift tunes very often?

What's your favorite Lagunitas beer?
 
What's your height, weight, eye color, hair color, and skin color?

How does it feel to have T Wall go to Line Skis after offering him to come over to ON3P?
 
What kind of quality control do you guys do? The durability of my 11/12 jeronimos has amazed me.

How large is your production scale?
 
ASL?

For real though, I just wanted to say thanks for making some seriously awesome skis, I only own On3p skis now and likely will only buy them for a long time.
 
I've recently been reading a lot on ski building, and naturally have come across many of your posts on this site and skibuilders.

Basically I'm trying to decide if I want to build a ski press or not.

Do you think other methods of pressing besides a full on ski press are worth pursuing? I'm more interested in learning technique that I can use after I eventually build a worthy ski press.

Also my wool ON3P hat is easily the best hat I've ever owned.
 
How did you finally decide to stop pursuing medical school, and commit to ON3P? Was this hard to reconcile with yourself?

And was it hard telling family and friends about your decision or were they supportive?
 
Also, many of us try to get into the ski industry because we lolove skiing and it has the perception that it will allow us to ski more. How has ON3P affected your time on the hill? Are you content with your work load and schedules and how much you make from it?
 
13229531:cobra_commander said:
2015 186 Wrenegade or Tacoma 191 Wrenegades?
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Gotta be the 2015 Billy, my tacoma wrens are still fun, but not exactly in the best shape after all these years.
 
13224786:Moon_Shoes said:
How long did it take for ON3P to 'take off'?
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I guess I would describe us as still taking off. We are definitely a work in progress and a lot of skiers still have no idea who we are. I think on NS, the release of the Filthy Rich really helped us gain a lot of traction. Obviously we have a lot of support on NS, which sometimes rubs people the wrong way, but the response from the NS community has been great, particularly because we are all still very much a part of this community. Also, there is no question working with Karl has done a ton for our brand and vice versa. On the retail front, getting picked up by evo was really a dream come true, and they continue to be one of our closest retailers and are awesome to work with. So...how long? We're going on our 6th production year and I think are just on the cusp of making this something special, but a lot of hard work remains before we get there.
 
13224791:Literature said:
Please explain how ON3P was almost thwarted in its infancy by one of the cats in the poll.
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The Tacoma days were pretty tight money wise, as you would expect while in college, so there was often months on end where all I could afford to do what buy a single tool. So one month I would buy a router, another month a jig saw, and so on. Well, one of my cats at the time, Charlie Murphy, was in his young and rambunctious stage and one time came home with a giant gaping wound on his hip. I took him to the ER vet, who wanted $1000+ to put him under and stitch him up. That just wasn't going to happen. So I paid something like $100 for just the ER vet examine, and took him to a local vet by campus. The guy was an old school vet and without putting Charlie under or anything, just grabs him, spins him around, has his assistant hold him down, and just staples this gaping wound in his side shut like it was nothing. I don't remember what he charged me, but is was nothing compared to what the ER vet wanted, so I got off lucky there. Then a few months later, Charlie Murphy developed feline urinary tract issues (basically cat kidney stones) and again took him to the vet. They basically said if they didn't pass soon, he would have to have surgery and it was going to be in the thousands of dollars, which would have crippled any change at ON3P going forward. The vet ended up taking him in for a weekend, and the stones passed, and he went on a different type of food to help with them and all was well. If you have cats, I strongly suggest wet food, as the change from dry to wet food really helped with a lot of the issues he was having. Anyway, so yeah, pets in college are awesome until the vet is telling you he might need $2500 to free a bunch of crystals from your cat's urethra. In the event that you do need a vet in Tacoma, Dr. Hoff at 6th Ave Veterinary Hospital is a boss.
 
13224812:Krotch said:
why is your username iggyskier?
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I used to be pretty obsessed with Igneous Skis out of Jackson when I was younger, and ended up getting 4 different pairs over late high school & early college. I still think they are some of the best ski builders in the world, and one of the few skibuilders with build quality I actually respect. The Cease & Desist and the current Billy Goat are still part of my drive to combine two of my favorite non-ON3P skis of all time - the 190cm Igneous FFF and Volant Spatula - into a ski that can lock in and make big, stable turns, then smear at ease. The BG & CD are both designed with this in mind.
 
13224812:Krotch said:
Can I have the FilthyItch skis that are at the factory?
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We have a pair at the factory that is a tester ski in finishing - we use it to test new belts and such to make sure they are correctly broken in - so by this point I suspect we have almost ground all the way through the base. So maybe once we are all the way through the base we can send them your way.
 
13224812:Krotch said:
What is your favorite graphic that have been on a stock ski? (exclude grizzlecorns, Eh!, and ugliest topsheet)
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Usually changes every year. Right now it is either the 14/15 Billy Goat or 14/15 Kartel 106.
 
13224812:Krotch said:
What ski in the lineup right now is closest in terms of how it was built, to the originals you were slanging up in your garage?
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Well, build quality between Tacoma and now isn't even close. Tacoma was rough to say the least. As far as basic design elements, so sidecut and dimensions, the original Caylor and original Jeronimo are very similar to the Jeffrey 122 and Jeffrey 114, respectively.

Original Caylor = 191cm, 147/121/144, 26.8m

Jeffrey 122 = 191cm, 148/122/140, 27.0m

Original Jeronimo = 186cm, 145/115/142, 21.6m

Jeffrey 114 = 186cm, 141/114/133, 24.9m
 
13224843:cydwhit said:
More ugly topsheets please?
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Maybe we will build it back next year. We felt it sort of lost steam in its last year, so that is why we haven't done any since. If there is some demand for it, we will consider bringing it back again for 15/16.
 
13224843:cydwhit said:
Can you give us a little info on the backstory/motivation to get your guys into the Valhalla summer segment?
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The motivation was all by the Valhalla guys and the team members that were up there shooting. We talked with Sweetgrass and they said they were interested in having Karl go up and shoot, which we were all about obviously. Sander got involved too. But the motivation was all the Sweetgrass guys and the crew of athletes they had up there, as it was without a doubt one of the most difficult and labor intensive shoots I've ever heard about.
 
13224843:cydwhit said:
What is your favorite ski to ride that you have ever built?
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The first pair of 191cm Wrenegade obviously means a lot to me (ski #3 & #4, ever) as they were the first pair ever skied and they skied well. I actually still have almost all of my personal Tacoma skis around. But my favorite ski to ride is a 191cm Billy Goat, though I suspect that will change as of SIA this year (wink wink).
 
13224971:DeRizzo said:
What's your favorite ON3P ski and what's your favorite topsheet?
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191cm BIlly Goat, and for graphics (the long answer) 14/15 Billy Goat or 14/15 Kartel 106 currently. I also am a big fan of the 10/11 Wrenegade, 13/14 Wrenegade, 12/13 Jeronimo, 12/13 Caylor, and the 14/15 Jeffrey 114. I don't think enough can be said about the work of our creative team, and there is no one else I would rather having doing our graphic and creative work.
 
13225077:speedyswapster34 said:
will you be looking into expanding into junior skis for lil rippers
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Plans are for ON3P to drop a 2 ski kids line for 16/17. Right now, the newest additions will be a 3 ski women's line released for the 15/16 season.
 
13225089:jca said:
RES jib ski... we want the infos!
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Honestly, right now I don't know if this one ends up going to production. We shall see, as it is still early in the development process. We are going to keep testing and tinkering, but one of the key aspects of the RES design is the pintail, which is hard to maintain in a ski that you want to have good switch performance. We still haven't got the balance down right, so I feel the ski isn't smearing quite as well as it should. So we will keep testing, but until I believe the performance surpases that of the Jeffrey 114, it will stay in development.
 
13225106:NinetyFour said:
What parts of the ski building process do you like the most, hate the most, and why?
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I have always liked layup the most as it is the process where everything finally becomes a ski. I just personally felt it was always the most interesting and rewarding part of the ski building process. Most hated? This is going to be a bit weird, but I hate scraping skis. Most factories just throw a coat of wax on the skis and buff it off and call it good. At ON3P we hotbox every pair, so if you don't put enough wax on the base, it will dry out in the hotbox. As such, was have to put a thicker coat on the ski and hand scrap every ski, as it is too thick to buff off. Scraping hundreds of skis per month would drive me crazy.
 
13225106:NinetyFour said:
What's the coolest tool you have in the factory?
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Tie between our pneumatically controlled, automated annealer, which I can't show or talk about, but was designed and built by our Material Manager Kip Kirol (caveman.) and has significantly upped the control we have over our edge prep, and our two wet deflashers, which were custom built for us by our friend/building manager and are amazing and a huge time saver. They rival anything I've seen in any ski factory out there.

We have a bunch of other cool tools in here, but in the scheme of things, our cnc router, ski presses, and finishing equipment are similar to what you will see in any other ski factory.
 
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