ART OF CLIMBING
“I want to make skis that will last a lifetime and are beautiful enough to hang on the wall between seasons.”
From filmmakers to illustrators, we quiz the creative minds of the outdoor world. This issue: Jamie Kunka, who designs and handcrafts backcountry skis in Perthshire.
I had my first go at making skis after watching a Ray Mears episode. They were very basic - solid redwood pine, steam-bent at the tips and coated in pine tar - but it was incredibly satisfying to ski on them, even if they were a little out of control.
I remember ski trips to Glenshee as a kid, when the snow was bottomless every winter. I just fell in love with it. I decided then that I wanted to design skis when I was older but never imagined I’d be making them like this.
When studying product design at Dundee University, I explored sustainability and taking skiing back to its roots. I made three-layer skis celebrating the high-performance of wood: they even had wooden bases.
After graduating I managed to raise £60,000 in start-up grants so I could set up this ski-manufacturing workshop and move to the countryside. I grew up in a city, Aberdeen, so I was excited about that.
20 | CLIMB. WALK. JOIN.
I picked Birnam because it’s close to three saw mills and equidistant from all the good ski hills. Glenshee, Cairngorm, Glencoe and the ski touring on the Ben Lawers range are all within an hour’s drive.
There aren’t many books on making skis, but there’s a good forum on
skibuilders.com. It seemed that in every town and village the precise recipe for skis was different due to varying humidities, so the answer was just to try making some.
Some things were a total mystery to me, like how to make skis flat. They kept ending up concave when I pressed them. Then, on a ski trip in Chamonix, I met Tom Greenall who makes skis under the name Idris Skis. He explained that you have to cut channels into the wood core.
If you want to make your own skis, my advice would be: get a sander, a jigsaw, a router and an electric blanket and experiment in your garage. I cobbled together various industrial things to make a press.
The skis I make now have eight layers and are 80% made from grown sources. Flax - linen basically - adds shock absorbency. Carbon fibre runs side to side to prevent them twisting, the bases are plastic, and there are three woods in the core: maple, beech and poplar.
My last inspiration came from a dream that I was riding these skis with stubby tips and tails. I was captivated by that when I woke up and thought: I’m going to have to make those right now.
When designing, I start off with an idea for shape and width, and this governs how you want the skis to flex. Next I make a 3D model using a CAD program, and then a joiner up the road who has a CNC machine makes me a template in exchange for some beer.
The Sneachda, a Scottish do-it-all ski, won the Gold award in the ski-touring category at ISPO, the main European outdoor industry trade show, last year. I caught the judges by surprise, they didn’t know anything about me. A lot of them didn’t know you could ski in Scotland, either.
I want to stay small. I’ve always romanticised artisan craftsmanship. I’m inspired by people who have an incredible reputation and only produce a few things a year, so there’s a waiting list. I don’t have a waiting list yet, but that would be nice.
From the wood and bio-resin that holds the ski together to the flax that give the ski spring and smoothness, Jamie’s skis are made from 80% natural fibres. See
www.lonelymountain.ski. Interview: Sarah Stirling Pictures: James Robertson & Alun Callender
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