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The 30-year-old Dan Loutrel runs Birdos, a small company in Andermatt producing skis of unmatched quality and appeal. Along with respected names such as Shane McConkey (RIP), Pete Turner and Stephan Drake, Birdos is among the chosen few that are suspected to have started the reverse sidecut/reverse camber powder ski revolution a few winters ago. I had a chance to meet the guru during my Easter holiday in Andermatt.
Dan is an unusual thing here: an outsider. Originally he is from Boston and arrived to Andermatt in 2004 while he was hunting powder around Europe. He heard rumours of big untracked powder lines in Andermatt and was soon on his way.
“Arriving here I found just what I was looking for, big untracked lines and a sleepy little Swiss mountain village. Since then I have never left.“, he says. Of course love has something to do in this. He married a local girl Heidi and now hand-builds his cult Birdos freeride skis in the town. He lives with his wife upstairs of his skishop. Not bad.
Interview of Dan Loutrel, the father of Birdos Freeride Skis
[Homeboy] Dan, Birdos Skis are very special. What is your design philosophy?
[Dan Loutrel] Well, I wanted skis without compromises and skis which raw materials you know exactly where they are from. In factory produced skis you will never know what they have been made of and their features vary too much.
[Dan Loutrel] My philosophy is to hand made state-of-the-art skis of best local raw materials and customize every pair to fit best for every client personally. For example the steel edges come from a mill just over the Swiss border that has been producing for the ski industry for 50+ years.
[Homeboy] This sounds so good in these days when everything is made in China. Please name a few adjectives which describeBirdos skis most.
[Dan Loutrel] Unusual shape, unmatched stiffness and camber. You can customize nearly every detail from shape to materials and top sheet graphics. As I am producing only 70 pairs of skis per year I have the time and will to concentrate to fine tune the details. Birdos are exceptional and unique pair of skis, built specially to your desire.
[Homeboy] What is your ski choice for powder day?
[Dan Loutrel] I would say you need 120 mm minimum under foot, at least a bit of rocker tip and tail. For British Columbia style snow, steep trees and pillows, an inverse shape ski is super fine. Quick turning, massive float, the most playful powder ski you can find. For the Alps you always have to deal with the hard windblown snow, slid out couloirs, etc. For big lines the high alpine I would go with a traditional shape, long radius and moderate rocker in the tips and tails. A ski that floats easily, but can run out the frozen debris at high speed and in fine style with full power. From my models they would be Fat Bird and Puder Luder.
[Homeboy] And what would be your choice for us in Finland, the flat land of icy slopes?
[Dan Loutrel] Heh, I think Joker and Ghetto Chicken 172 cm would work fine in your country. Ghetto Chicken is good for jibbing. However, it should be a ski at least 100 mm under foot to give you decent flotation, but probably not more than 115 mm to make it possible to ski aggressively on hard, icy snow.
[Homeboy] Good that there were something for us too! By the way, how do you see the future of skiing? Which skis will we use in 2015?
[Dan Loutrel] Perhaps the next big revolution will be in the materials. Materials that adapt as you ski, a real integration into the skis that transforms even as you ski. Almost an extension of your feet. But we have to wait a long time for this…
[Dan Loutrel] Ski business would change too, I would say there will be more innovative custom companies with special shapes for special needs. Also all the big companies will have to increase their special model range to stay in the market.
[Homeboy] Thank you for this Dan. Skiing seems to be living its renaissance and, thanks to guys like you, the developing never ends.
Interested in Birdos skis? Please visit www.birdos.com
Photos by Antti Zetterberg. All rights reserved.
4 Responses
i believe that k2 skis are the best skis in the world, they have been the most durable skis that ive ever had in my life. Also, most of the k2 models have almost no restictions on what kind of boot you wear. All around they are amazing, they also make great helmets
Yeah, I agree. K2 skis are damn good, but I find it also great to see people building their own unique ski models such as Birdos freeride skis. Another pretty cool ski model coming from Finland is Powder Flower http://www.powderflower.com/gallery.html
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