![]() “People drive by like, ‘What are you guys doing?’” “I wouldn’t say it’s a spectacle, but it certainly creates curiosity,” Lish said. It’s even farther from the legendary high-end destinations like Colorado’s Vail and Aspen, Sun Valley, Idaho, or Park City, Utah. Located about 40 miles north of Oregon’s border with California, this ski-making enterprise is a long way from the ski resorts on Mount Bachelor and Mount Hood. Think of the term “custom-designed skis,” you might imagine movie stars and super models in fur-trimmed ski parkas getting out of Porsches to hit the slopes … that image is a far cry from this basin of sagebrush, dotted with cattle, crisscrossed by barbwire. It’s having a conversation with somebody who knows what you say and how to take that and turn it into a perfect, basically custom-fit ski for you.” So, how am I gonna design a set of skis?’” Broumas said. I don’t even really know much about how I ski in a sense. “It can be intimidating for some to think, ‘I don’t know anything about ski design. ![]() Attila skis a little, but Francesca has never skied before. The students for one of their workshops last March were Attila Jurecska, Hungarian born, but now living in Beaverton and his daughter, Francesca Jurecska, 19, who was visiting him from Italy. Participants in the workshops have ranged in age from 7 to 80, said Broumas and come from all over the world. “When people find out about us, they want to come to where we are because they’re coming to natural places that are incredibly beautiful and create an amazing backdrop for building their ski,” Lish said. It’s just one facet of Lish and Broumas’ ever-evolving business endeavors - collectively called Community Skis - that allow them to share their love of making skis and creating community. On this particular spring weekend, Lish and Kristin Broumas are offering one of their two-day build-your-own-ski workshops. It’s time to make some custom skis, and school is now in session. He pulls out power tools and an electric generator to run them. He walks to the back of the trailer and unlatches the shutter doors. His black hair is starting to show some gray of middle age, though it is cut in a style Lish has sported since he was a teenager - his signature mohawk. He wears heavy work boots, Carhartt pants stained with grease, a faded chambray work shirt and leather work gloves. There is a gnarled tree for shade and a view of an alkali lake. The truck pulls up to an unmarked spot on a desolate stretch of public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. In fact, it has been used for that purpose. ![]() The large trailer looks like a nomadic tiny house on wheels.
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