DPS Skis

The glide treatment DPS Skis sells is meant to go on once. Phantom, which the Salt Lake City ski maker developed with University of Utah assistant professor Jeffrey Bates, bonds to the base and doesn't wear off, the company says. Shops cure it in a temperature-controlled UV station. At home it needs strong sunlight and at least 32°F, which rules out a fair share of powder days.

Stephan Drake started out custom-painting and modifying off-the-shelf skis. In 2005 the pro skier cofounded DPS, short for Drake Powderworks, with engineer Peter Turner. Their first ski, the Lotus 138, had a 138mm waist and a pintail. Production began in China, "the cheapest way to get going in a bootstrapped mode," as SLUG's interview with Drake puts it.

China lasted until 2013, when DPS opened its own factory in Salt Lake City. The Pure3 skis are sandwiches of prepreg carbon fiber laminates, pressed in pairs and split apart on industrial bandsaws. Every pair carries a lifetime warranty, and most models cost more than $1,200. A year after the carving line called Pisteworks launched, it brought in about a third of revenue. For a company named Powderworks, that is a lot of corduroy.