Check out the New VooDoo Splitboard available at Rocky Mountain Ski & Raft
Cold Smoke's
‘Voodoo’ hits the shelves
Gunnison-based company partners with Romp Skis on
flagship deck
Cold Smoke Splitboards
of Gunnison, Colo., has released its first factory splitboard, dubbed the
"Voodoo." A partnership with renowned boutique ski manufacturer Romp
Skis, of Crested Butte, the Voodoo is the flagship deck from a grassroots
company that, to date, has specialized exclusively in "custom"
splitboards — those that have been crafted into a durable, backcountry rig from
their original, solid form.
Likewise, the Voodoo is
built to impress. A directional, big-mountain slayer, the Voodoo has been
deemed by testers as an "everyday, go-to" and "do-it-all"
deck, without sacrificing durability. Unlike many splitboards on the market today,
the Voodoo was designed not only for responsive riding — offering fast and
agile descents. But also, its design lends itself to superior climbing and
traversing. Each board is made by hand with the utmost care and craftsmanship,
in Romp Skis' small factory in Crested Butte.
The Voodoo's
"camber bubble" — a section of camber placed behind the rider's rear
foot — provides traction while skinning and boosts ollie-power with a
spring-like effect. This technology from Cold Smoke makes both the uphill and
downhill more efficient by minimizing the effort required to climb and by
maximizing the amount of "pop" a rider gets out of the board. Carbon
stringers in the deck also add pop in the tail section, which boasts 12 cm of
rise. Early rise on the nose — slightly wider than the tail — aids in flotation
when slicing through powder and crud alike. The Voodoo — “Made in the Elk
Mountains of Colorado,” as the top sheet indicates — is built of remarkably
strong, lightweight, sustainably selected poplar, which withstands pressure and
provides better rebound. A black, sintered base is your ticket to one of the
strongest, toughest and longest-lasting boards on the market today. This base
material will withstand abuse, aborbs wax well and is lightning-fast.
Incredibly strong and
impact-resistant polyethylene sidewalls offer flex — even in the coldest
conditions, when other materials suffer from a decrease in response time. Each
board gets a stone-grind finish — not common with other factory splitboards —
increasing speed and performance on the snow. To top it off, Cold Smoke uses an
environmentally friendly wax on each deck. And the board’s top-sheep graphics
are unique — exhibiting a scene of popular peaks up the Slate River Valley,
north of Crested Butte, that Cold Smoke’s riders are known to frequent.
Cold Smoke formed in a
garage in Gunnison in 2010 — shortly after co-owner Kyle Jones graduated from
Western State Colorado University. In an entrepreneurship class at Western, the
idea for Cold Smoke was born. Jones partnered with longtime friend and fellow
Del Norte native Lucas Martinez. Together, the two launched the company —
focusing on converting existing, solid decks into splitboards.
Splitboarding — an approach to backcountry snowboarding that utilizes a snowboard
which splits into two skis for the climb, and fastens back together for the
descent — has
been around since the '90s, but its growth in the larger winter sports
marketplace has been relatively slow. Only in the last five years has
splitboarding grown to the point that numerous manufacturers are now selling
products geared specifically toward the pursuit.
Since Cold Smoke's
inception, Jones says that he and Martinez have talked continuously about
building their own, factory-manufactured splitboard. Those talks came to a head
this past year, when Jones and Martinez approached Romp owners Morgan and Caleb
Weinberg about helping set up a factory. Instead, the Weinbergs — who began
making skis under the Romp name in 2010 — offered to build the decks
themselves, taking a cue from other such partnerships. In the wide world of ski
and snowboard manufacturers, often companies will share a single factory.
"We definitely saw splitboarding really
taking off," says Morgan Weinberg. "But we didn't want to sell
snowboards under our brand." Romp has been expanding its production every
year, and Weinberg sees the same potential for growth in the backcountry
snowboard market. "There's definitely a movement for people to want to buy
something a little more personalized and talk to the person who makes it,"
he says. "Splitboards really lend themselves to the small manufacturer,
because it's still a relatively small market."
The Voodoo — retailing for $850 — comes in
two lengths: 158 cm and and 163 cm. The waist on both decks is 26 cm, and at 7
pounds, 12 ounces (163), the Voodoo finds itself in the middle of the pack
among other factory decks in terms of weight. For more information and to find
out how the board can be purchased, visit www.coldsmokesplitboards.com.
