Scot Chrisman grew up with the dream of a pro skier and it never happened.  He was close as a racer, then competed for a few years and nothing really materialized.  Along the way there was drugs, alcohol, legal issues but things worked themselves out and today, Scot is an aspiring entrepreneur with his hands in just about everything.  He’s of interest to me for one reason in particular, he has a podcast that went from zero to number 1 on itunes and I wanted to find out who he is and how he did it.

Olympic Judge Steele Spence has a storied history in the ski industry.  He was part of the second wave of new school skiers and one who had a knack for greasing the burliest of rails.  His urban game was top notch before most people knew that urban skiing was a thing.  When pro skiing wasn’t an option anymore, Steele moved in-house and designed skis and products for 4FRNT.  The life of a desk jockey was not for Steele and he quickly found himself in a new role, as a judge.  Countless events later, Steele is an Olympic judge and with judging comes criticism.  Listen to the podcast to hear Steel address everything around the scoring at the Olympic Games.  

Roy Tuscany was that cocky, aspiring pro skier that I’m sure everyone knew at one point.  He had his life together, graduated from college and moved out west to pursue his ski dreams.  When Roy overshot a jump and suffered a life altering injury, everything changed.  He realized that there was more to life than himself and that it was time to give others the support he received when he had his accident.  Through the High Fives Foundation, that punk kid has become a selfless adult who strives to make the world a more fun place, especially for people going through what he did.

When Matt Sterbenz finished at the U  of M, he left the Midwest in search of bigger mountains that would help him achieve his goal of becoming a pro skier.  When Matt turned his dream into a reality, he could finally peak behind the curtains of the ski industry.  When he realized he didn’t like what he saw, he decided take matters in own hands.  He starts 4FRNT Skis as a vehicle to help evolve the sport he loves and after 15 years of no profit, is forced to sell. On the podcast Matt shares all the details and how the future looks for the Jason Levinthal owned, 4FRNT.

Howard Katkov is doing something that’s never been done in the ski industry with his “Fight the Man, Own the Mountain Campaign.” He started as a surfer then became a student, lawyer, developer, manufacturer, corporate executive and for over a decade, he’s   been the owner of RED Mountain.  Now, he’s creating the opportunity for everyone to own a piece of what he and many others think is the best skiing in North America.  Find out his story and all about owning RED.

Bryce Phillips is as modest as they come for a guy that built an empire that helped change the landscape of retail in action sports.  From his humble beginnings as a first grade entrepreneur in Oregon to his professional ski career, to the ups and downs of EVO, Bryce has earned everything he’s built.