Small by Design.

• Author: Florence Jr., Giles H.
• Position: Evolution Ski Company - Brief Article

Evolution's edge on skis and boards

The "little guys" in business don't always want to remain small - even when it means being exclusive. If there's an opportunity to break into the big time, most businesses will jump at the chance - especially if being the official "You-Name-It" of the Olympic Games comes along. But for Evolution Ski Company, this just isn't the case.

Small was just what Steve Denkers, president of Evolution, had in mind when he founded the company in Salt Lake in 1985. An expert skier, Denkers envisioned a modest-sized company specializing in the design and manufacture of high-quality, hand-crafted skis.

"For the past 16 years, Denkers and a select team of experts have been developing the Evolution ski," says Steve's cousin Chris Denkers, a professional snowboarder and the company's one-man sales and marketing arm. "Becoming bigger isn't what we're about, just better. Our skis have a reputation for being almost indestructible, the most durable on the market - anywhere. Quality is what we're about."

That commitment to quality and custom craftsmanship is what gave Evolution the edge when it was selected as the official ski and snowboard manufacturer for the 2002 Winter Olympics. Using Sterling-Detroit presses, the finest in the world, a staff of five employees build only 300 pairs of skis a year. "Sure, for the Olympics we'll make more (skis) than usual, our numbers will go up," Denkers points out. But remaining small and passionate about the quality of their product is Evolution's ultimate goal.

Even without aspirations of growth, the company has been 4 expanding over the past several years. Sales of its customdesigned snowboards are contributing to this expansion. In 1985, when the company was just getting off the ground, snowboarding was a blip on the winter sports screen, enjoyed by scruffy kids in baggy clothes. But any stigma attached to snowboarding as an alternative sport...