RAMP moves production to Park City

RAMP skis and snowboards recently announced it's moving its ski and snowboard production state side to Park City, Utah. Backcountryskiingcanada.com recently tested the RAMP Beaver and Peacepipe and were impressed with this new, green-conscious company. Here's the story and a vid of the Peacepipe in action:

RAMP to open factory in Park City

Owner brings manufacturing from Asia to U.S.

Gina Barker, The Park Record

The Park City-based ski and snowboard company RAMP is preparing to open its own factory, both producing and selling their products from the same location. From the current 6,000-square-foot space in Quinn's Junction to a 10,000-square-foot factory inside the former Honda Dealership in Silver Summit, owner Mike Kilchenstein said he's looking forward to what manufacturing in the United States will do for his growing company.

RAMP Skis and Snowboards promotes a green image, buying 300 pounds of carbon off-set with every purchase, recycling old equipment and using environmentally-friendly materials in the products themselves. Moving manufacturing from Taiwan to the U.S. is unusual but is in line with what Kilchenstein said he wants RAMP to reflect. He even hopes to add wind-captured energy to help power the factory if the idea is viable.

With a few decades of experience in the industry, studying how other companies did it, Kilchenstein decided to go against the grain and bring manufacturing back home.

"Most companies in the U.S have moved their operations to Asia or Mexico," Kilchenstein said, "and what they would do is take their exact operation the same machines, everything and restage the entire factory with nothing a foot out of place. That's how they went from manufacturing in the U.S., which is expensive, to manufacturing somewhere else with much cheaper labor."

Starting April 20, the factory will become a "hive of bees," Kilchenstein said. From the instillation of the equipment to his new office, the entire factory is scheduled to be completed by the end of the month. Kilchenstein also plans on bringing more employees to the factory, adding a handful of manufacturing jobs to his current staff of seven along with a newly hired engineer from France who specializes in industry manufacturing.

The factory will include staff offices, warehousing, manufacturing and a store area where visitor's can buy directly using kiosk stations to pay.

"It's exciting that we're moving to the U.S.," he said. "It really bothers me that the ski industry is in Asia, where so many people have probably never seen snow. They don't know anything about skiing or snowboard, so there is no passion for it."

"I want our company to be as excited, as passionate, as driven as a company could be," he added. "The people making everything will love skiing and snowboarding themselves, and I think that will show up in our product"

Kilchenstein plans on implementing a new technique in the manufacturing process. Rather than using extreme pressure and heat to press skis or snowboards into one piece, he plans on using a process that exerts a vacuum of intense pressures, a process he believes will be more efficient.

"I think that there could be a real reemergence of manufacturing in the U.S.," he said, "but what that means is you have to have new process. You have to be more efficient. You can't come here doing the same old thing."

RAMP plans to hold a moving sale before moving into the new space, offering locals first pick. Information on the sale will be posted on the company's website, http://www.rampsports.com, early next week.