//www.youtube.com/embed/Wvyitvm-tow
“As a small kid in New Hampshire, I dreamed of working in the ski industry; I dreamed of skiing every day, and I dreamed of owning something like a ski resort or a ski company,” Red Bull athlete Chris Davenport says. “And that dream has come true with Kastle. It’s something that I don’t take for granted.”
In “Faces of Dav, Episode 2: The Engineer,” Davenport talks about what his business aspirations mean to him—not just in the scheme of fulfilling a lifelong ambition, but to his survival as a skier. While many of the best skiers from his generation have faded into the background, Davenport has remained in the forefront because of the way he has evolved within the ski industry.
Chris Davenport testing skis and boots in “Faces of Dav, Episode 2: The Engineer.” Photo courtesy Red Bull Media House
“As you get older, you’re going to have a transition out of being the best in the world at what you do,” Dav says in the episode. “But if you want longevity, you have to clearly integrate yourself with the business.”
In 2013, Davenport joined the ownership group of Kastle skis after working with the brand as an ambassador and marketing planner for several years. In 2012, he signed on with Scarpa to help launch their new freeride boot program. Both roles have given Davenport an incredible amount of control over the products he uses, illustrating one of the best things about skiing (or any of the sports you’ll read about on this site): For generations, the best products have been made by those who are the most committed and passionate about the sport.
In “The Engineer,” Davenport gives us a glimpse behind the curtain at the process that goes into building his skis and boots. Much of it, obviously, is for cinematic effect. Davenport doesn’t spend most of his days turning screws on ski boots and pushing the buttons on a ski press. The majority of his job is still done on snow—which, after all, is the end goal of working in the ski industry.
That’s where the episode leaves us, with a day of skiing that is both aspirational and accessible to any passionate skier with the wherewithal to plan a trip to the Alps. “The whole trip kind of comes together with a descent of the Holzer [couloir] on these skis and boots that I just built, in perfect conditions,” Davenport tells us at the end. “It’s storybook Alps skiing.”
More from GrindTV
Chris Davenport talks ‘Faces of Dav’
Mt. Abram, Maine, installs new solar array
Afterglow dazzles with colorful nighttime skiing
There are currently no comments for "Red Bull presents ‘Faces of Dav, Episode 2: The Engineer’"
Post a Comment