Hey Foothills!
My name is Tom Stephen.
I have been in Foothills Nordic for much my life! I started in Track Attack when I was 5 years old, chasing my older sister around Edworthy Park, back then TA was coached by parents!
Currently, I am part of the highest level of Foothills Cross Country called Team ULLR.
I am starting to race nationally and internationally, the highlight of my career so far was competing at World Juniors in Finland in 2019 and again in Germany in 2020, making my way to the podium in the Silver position with Canadian teammates in the relay event. A first for Canada!
(I am the Far-left person)
Over the years I have developed a ski stand to help support my skiing success. I have been looking at ski stands from around the world with various different designs and came up with one I feel is most effective for families getting ready to take waxing seriously.
With the help of a Foothills member, who is in marketing, I branded it as Nordic Up.
I have started selling the ski stand across the country but mostly to people in Foothills. Sales have spread mostly by word of mouth. This slow growth has helped me develop my ski stand, making modifications along the way. A few people have copied my design as I was busy finishing high school and now am in Engineering at U of C while I ski. I don’t make a living making my stands, but I use the money I make to travel to international races.
This season I thought I would send out an email to the Foothills families before the ski season starts to help get your family and your family’s skis more importantly, more organized and ready for the snow! It’s only a few weeks not until Frozen Thunder gets rolled out and we are on snow!
I have developed two different Nordic Up ski stands. Both are functional, durable and a lifelong product:
The Home Design
This design is composed of wood and plastic with medal brackets and bolts with lock tight nuts to hold it together. This product is best for a family that wants a way to organize their skis in their garage while they wax them and store them between ski days. The ski stand does not come apart easily but it can be taken apart if needed to store during the summer, this design is not recommended to take part to travel with to ski races. This model is $200 +shipping if you live outside of Canmore/Calgary area.
The Travel Design
This Design was the second design I came up with after I realized that the first one could be improved upon for race travel. I went back to the drawing board and re constructed the first design with more durable weather resistant material that is collapsible. For this design the sides are plastic, I doubled up on brackets on top to add extra support to allow it to be used as a chair with no bend or wobble. Last but definitely not least, I replaced the nuts and bolts with quick release D-clips so that the ski stand can be taken apart and put back together in a matter of minutes (takes me 3 minutes). Parts are matched with the added color coordination to make it easy to figure what piece goes where. This ski stand can also fit in the bottom of a Fischer ski bag under the zipperd compartment for transportation between races and to racers and coaches can fly with the ski stand. This model is $275 +shipping if you live outside of the Canmore/Calgary area.
I have attached some photos so you can get a better idea of what they are and how they work! If you are interested in the video of me taking apart the collapsible one and putting it back together, I’ll send it to you separately, just ask!
I am heading out to Salmon Arm to cut the ski stands before Frozen Thunder gets going, a friend lets me use her CNC machine to help with my skiing. I can cut your family a ski stand or two (possibly for a ski cabin) I will be cutting as many are ordered by October 10th delivery will be by early November.
As my ski collection has grown the stand has helped keep the garage organized. Possibly think Christmas present for that tricky person to buy for.
Let me know if you are interested!
To submit your order please text or email me with your name and what one you want! And I will put you on the list and make one up for you and get to you ASAP!
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (587)-585-7953
Thanks so much!
Tom Stephen
