Born of Necessity: The Rise of Backcountry Brands

Brands like Flylow were born to fill widening niches in the backcountry ski market. Casey Davis/Flylow photo.

By Devon O’Neil

“We wanted our specific pizza.” That’s how Dan Abrams describes the rationale that inspired him and Greg Steen to start

The Cast SI&I ski touring binding system, which allows hard-charging skiers to put a tech binding toepiece in place of their alpine one for the ascent and put their regular alpine toepiece back in for the way down.

After spending five years tinkering with prototypes, Chickering-Ayers handed out 50 pairs of the SI&I system (named for him and his brother Silas, a fellow Freeride World Tour competitor who is also involved) to pro and hard-charging skiers at cost. Feedback over the past two winters has validated their vision—most notably from reigning freeride world champion Drew Tabke, who calls the system “the ideal solution for aggressive backcountry skiers”—and Cast entered its first full production run this summer.

“It’s easy to see why there are more hard-charging skiers trying to start businesses,” Chickering-Ayers said from his 1,500-square-foot factory in Driggs, Idaho. “It’s because the people controlling the ski industry know it’s smaller still and governed a lot by marketing and mass appeal. Even if the larger companies wanted to release something like this, they don’t see the margins to be able to do it. So for us it was like, if you guys can’t do this or won’t, that’s where we’ll try to step in and fill that role.”

Want more information on these backcountry brands? Check out:

Flylow Gear: http://flylowgear.com/

Wagner Custom Skis: http://www.wagnerskis.com/

CAST Touring Bindings: http://casttouring.com/

Want more info on gear to complete your kit? Check out TGR's real-deal gear reviews here: http://www.tetongravity.com/reviews/