Hey, it's me Henry, aka Skategoat in my official capacity as Apex company spokesman.
I thought I'd offer a bit of background that might clear up some misconceptions about Apex.
First, Apex is not a big company. We have 20+ employees in a small office and fabrication facility in Burlington, a suburb west of Toronto. To call it a "plant" would be an exaggeration. We are growing and moving to a much larger facility in August but we remain a small, service-oriented shop.
Our primary business is in aerospace parts manufacturing. For example, we build a camera housing that is mounted on helicopters for aerial photography. We're also building a very cool race car body for a European company. I'd love to post a photo of it but I'd be shot if I did. That's the sort of business we do. Small batches, highly specialized, high quality, essentially hand built.
The snowboard plate business was born the day Michael Lambert called Gerry Kavanaugh. Gerry took on the project because he felt an affinity with Michael and his plight to get better equipment. He also wanted to help Canada's Olympic effort.
A deal was struck with the Own the Podium program. This was a government funded program to give Canada's athletes access to Canadian R&D expertise leading up to the 2010 Games. I can't say how much OTP contributed but I can tell you that Apex spent in excess of $75,000 of its own money in R&D leading to the Olympics. This does not account for Gerry and senior designer Matt Clarke's time and the opportunity cost of lost business.
This is where I come in. I'm an entrepreneur with a background in e-commerce, software and IT consulting. I've run my own company since 1994 with a few stints in specialized software like Alias/Wavefront (3D animation and design). I'm a marketing, business development and sales professional with a love for cool technology. I've been hardbooting since 1999 and co-ordinated provincial level races in Ontario. I also enjoy pina coladas and getting caught in the rain.
I called Gerry out of the blue one day and offered to help him sell his snowboard plates. At that point Gerry was happy with the Olympic success but looking forward to getting back to the business that pays the bills. He didn't see much future in the alpine snowboard market for the obvious reasons - it's just too small. The Apex race plate was in danger of effectively disappearing. As a long time hardbooter and fan of the sport, I found that distressing. I offered financial backing and a willingness to take on the sales, marketing and order fulfillment functions.
My main reasons for doing this are a) it's cool, b) I get to write off product testing trips and c) I get to hang out with some young, highly motivated and talented engineers and technicians.
I'm hoping this season goes well and we will continue to make 100-200 plates per year. Unfortunately, those volumes make the cost per unit high which is why the price tag is where it is and why we don't have room for dealers. If we were to apply dealer margins, the Race plate would have to retail for $2,000. We are talking to a few dealers in Europe and Asia who are in it more for the love of the sport and willing to accept a less than traditional margin.
Keep in mind our product is designed for racing. If it catches on for free carving, we'd be thrilled but we're not counting on that. The product was designed in partnership with the Canadian team. The flex, the narrow waist, the long nose. All those elements came about because of feedback from Mark Fawcett, Jasey Jay, Matt, Michael, Alexa, etc. We went through 14 prototypes and the design you see now is exactly what Jasey rode at Cypress. Apex is not 4x4 compatible because that wasn't required for a racing application.
There were never any overtures to any other national teams. But come to think of it, selling a new and improved version to the highest bidder isn't a bad idea!
If anyone wants to demo the plate, I'll have it out at SOS (Southern Ontario), SES and, if budget and time allow, ECES. And I hope I'm not considered an outsider. I have an embarrassingly high post count here as Skategoat.
I'll end off with some never-before-seen pics of R&D sessions.
Apex President Gerry Kavanaugh on Whistler Glacier, Summer 2009
A break in training.
Mark Fawcett pretending to cook a hearty meal.
All that hard work paying off on a rainy day at Cypress
Capping it off with a bit more product testing.
