Romp Skis – Growing every year since its DIY garage days

MTN Town Magazine Entrepreneurs, Mountain Life, Skiing & Snowboarding 0

Romp Skis is still run by a small crew with big, powdery hearts. The Crested Butte ski manufacturer designs boards for U.S. Special Forces and anyone else with custom requests

by Shauna Farnell

An avid skier from Jackson, Wyo. who graduated from Gunnison’s Western Colorado University, Eligh Purvis leapt into the do-everything fold at Romp Skis seven years ago as an intern. Now he’s the Production Manager, but like the rest of the company’s tiny crew, he wears many hats.

Founded by brothers Caleb and Morgan Weinberg, Romp began as a fledgling operation, making a handful of skis in Morgan’s garage. Hailing from New Hampshire, the Weinbergs had moved to Crested Butte as ski bums in the 1990s. Skilled in construction and woodworking, they became obsessed with DIY skis. The products improved every year. Romp moved into its own factory and showroom, where the production crew is still lean, but the passion remains intense.

Although Caleb moved to Aspen, Morgan continues to take a key role in daily operations, designing and testing skis. Long-time Romp client Chase Gardaphe purchased the brand last spring (2024), and it continues to grow steadily.

“It’s similar to when I started,” Purvis says. “The biggest difference is back then, the business was more focused on the custom side of things.”

Romp still builds custom skis, ranging from tweaking components on existing models to fully designing skis from scratch. Recently, customers from Canada and Jackson teamed up for the same custom request. Both huge dudes (about 6-foot-8 and 300 pounds), Purvis and the team built them skis that measured 220 cm and 120 mm underfoot.

“We can go as crazy as that,” Purvis says. “What most people do is, say, take out the Shepherd 110 and go ski around and tell me they want the tail flatter. You can adjust the rocker profile. Or, if you want an ultralight ski for backcountry, you switch out the poplar for ash core. With that custom ski, you not only get to pick your own graphic, but get to fit your own skiing style to the ski.”

At Romp’s headquarters, customers can demo as many skis as they want for free. In addition to its custom builds, Romp’s prebuilt Romp Ready Skis have evolved over the years. Beginning with one prototype – the Zorro, Romp now offers the all-mountain-oriented Zorro 100 or 115, the Shepherd designed to plow through any type of snow in a 99 or a 110 and lastly, for steep, technical terrain, the Oso 105s. All skis feature graphics designed by Colorado-based artists.

“Each one of our stock skis is built for a different person and skiing style,” Purvis says. “The skis in general are not for expert skiers, but anyone who wants to get on snow and excel.”

Romp churns out between 550 and 1000 pairs of skis a year, including for U.S. Military and Special Forces, who use the skis for touring through rugged, mountainous terrain all over the world.

Along with a variety of wood core materials, all built in-house, Romp is the only ski manufacturer to use Countervail, a lightweight, composite material geared toward preventing vibration. It is also used in tennis rackets, bikes, boats and field hockey sticks.

“The problem with light skis is that they chatter. With Countervail, you can mimic metal,” Purvis says. “There’s so many different materials used out there –wood, rubbers, dampening materials. We use a lot to increase durability. Crested Butte is a notoriously rocky and steep mountain. It’s a huge advantage to test our products here.”

Crested Butte, with its rugged landscape and close-knit, diehard ski community, provided the DNA for Romp’s brand personality. Oh, and anytime there’s an 8-inch-or-more powder day, don’t expect to find anyone at Romp HQ.

“Everyone that works here has skiing at the center of their lives,” Purvis says. “Crested Butte is a unique place as far as ski history, exploration and skiing as more than a lifestyle. The people skiing on our skis are the people who have skiing at forefront of their lives. It’s the thing we love the most – being able to create skis that are going to bring out the best memories. It’s any skier’s dream to create products that are totally unique, personal and able to produce a more creative expression of what skiing is.”

To learn more head to their website:

www.rompskis.com

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