It all started in 2018, in Étienne’s parents' garage: a band saw, a few workbenches, and the slightly crazy idea of designing Québec alpine skis from start to finish. The following year, the "lab" moved to the back room of Ski Michel, then, in 2022, to its first official premises. In 2023, a second move led us to a larger space in Beaupré, which we still occupy today.
From this journey something rare for a small or medium alpine ski manufacturer was born: our own innovation lab, entirely ours, where we imagine and design, in every detail, each of our skis, while manufacturing our prototypes on site.
Ski Michel, our second home
It's hard to tell the story of the lab without mentioning Ski Michel. We spent hours (really many hours) in that back room which gave us our first real R&D space. Today, Ski Michel has become our flagship store, but it's much more than a commercial address: it's a key player in our growth, even today.
Étienne and the machines
At the heart of the lab is Étienne, our CTO, the kind of person you rarely find far from a half-disassembled machine, making it a little more functional than it was the day before. Innovative and Cartesian: he's the mastermind behind our facilities, the one who transformed the lab from a family garage into the engineering workshop it has become.
A lab serving the entire industry
This lab also allows us to put our engineering and prototyping expertise at the service of other ski and snowboard brands. In this way, we strengthen our role as an innovative and committed partner at the heart of the ski industry.
From design to manufacturing, 100% in Quebec
Once the final prototype is validated in the lab, the skis intended for sale are manufactured in a factory located just four hours drive from Beaupré, in Rimouski. This geographical proximity ensures that our skis are not only designed, but also entirely manufactured in Quebec, according to the highest quality standards and using clean energy from hydroelectricity.
Local materials, to remain consistent to the end
Our commitment to durability and eco-responsibility is also reflected in the choice of our materials. The wooden cores of our skis, made of poplar or maple, come from forests located less than 100 km from the factory. This approach supports local industries while reducing our environmental footprint, from the garage to the nearby forest, everything remains local.
The lab continues to grow
The story isn't over. Right now, we're expanding the lab to create a dedicated space for receiving and storing skis. The team is growing, projects are growing, and the lab continues to evolve with us.
If you want to see it for yourself, keep an eye out for our open house days or our classic rock ski sale: it's always an opportunity for people to discover our facilities. And it's invariably the same reaction; visitors are surprised to see everything that happens here. Because it really is here, in Beaupré, that everything happens.
