Every year I embark on a road trip up north to Sequim, Washington to visit family and this year was no different except for a much anticipated visit to Mervin MFG. As you can imagine, I was ecstatic to be paying them a visit since I’ve been riding Lib Tech and Gnu boards for some time now. Mervin MFG is home to Lib Tech, Gnu, Bent Metal, and some Roxy boards and it is one of the rare snowboard companies where the boards are “handcrafted near Canada in the U.S.A.”The Factory Tour After meeting Pete Saari and Mike Olson, the founders of Mervin MFG., it was off to meet the entire force inside the factory. Mervin MFG has been in the forefront of snowboard innovations for over 3 decades. Some of these innovations have not only helped with the evolution of snowboards but also with skiing. The ski industry took notice on Mervin’s developments and followed. Mervin’s experiMENTAL Division is constantly working on new technologies that will continue to take snowboards to the next level. With their powerhouse team consisting of Travis Rice, Mark Landvic, Jamie Lynn, Eric Jackson, Danny Kass, Jesse Burtner, Zach Leach, Temple Cummins, Barrett Christy, Nate Farrell, Forest Bailey and Mathieu Crepel (to name a few) giving them feedback, it’s no wonder why they are one of the most innovative companies. The testing and feedback does not end with the pro team either. Since the staff assembling the snowboards are snowboarders, they are always fine tuning these boards after spending a day on the mountain testing ‘em out.
Wood gets glued together and pressed in these machines and will later become the wood cores for each board. Depending on the board a specific combination of wood gets pressed together for a stiffer or softer flex and shaped. Mervin MFG. purchases all their wood from local tree farmers. This allows them to keep better control of the quality in their product and maintain a US made product on lock.
Wood cores neatly stacked and labeled.
Double sintered UHMW sidewalls.
The complete set of the 08/09 Travis Rice Pro model. Art work by Mike Parillo. Mervin MFG. houses all machines, tools and materials it utilizes to create their boards. The beauty of all this is that they can instantly make any changes to any board at any time, giving them the creative openness to experiment with any shape, size, construction and materials. For example, one scenario may go like this: Travis Rice calls from AK. Hey Pete, I’m in Alaska filming my next super blockbuster film “That Wasn’t It, That Was’t All” (this isn’t the name just in case you were wondering) and I’m really enjoying my 2010/2011 pro model but I need it a bit more stiffer at the tail, a little more magne-traction and please leave my banana alone. Pete: No worries. I’ll get Pos on it. Pos is “the man” at the plant that oversees production. He is also the one who takes all the custom special orders into his hands and brings them to life in a secret room. (Secret room will not be shown because then it wouldn’t be “the secret room” – duh!). Plus, copycats may be looking for the next new (lib) technology. Later that day. Pete calls Travis back in AK. Yo Travis, the board is on its way. Pos has taken care of all your requests and he is also sending an extra board with your specs and added some rocket boosters, anti-gravity stabilizers and ∉∄∑⊥∅➹ ₢₦¥₪₢ ¤§Ωℑ✌ ❉ÐðΨ α πρϖϕ✈¿ (special Lib decoder needed for this one). Ok, so I’m exaggerating with the latter but you get the picture.
This laser guided cutter cuts every base with precision.
Freshly cut bases.
Laying down the low VOC epoxy resin.
Boards that have come out of the press and waiting for some TLC.
Laying in the steel edges.
Getting that TLC!
C2 power. This year Mervin introduced C2 Power Banana technology on some of their boards. C2 puts rocker (reverse camber) between your feet and camber at both the tip and tail of the board giving you the best of both worlds. Click C2 Power Banana for the full details. I’ve been riding a C2 Power Banana with magne-traction all season on groomers, ice, powder and chowder and it has performed amazingly well in all conditions. Maneuverability with C2 BTX seems almost effortless. If you haven’t already tried it I highly suggest you get out there and demo one or just buy one already. You won’t be disappointed.
The offices have a nice collection of Mervin boards from the past all over the walls.
Pete Saari and Mike Olson
QC department putting every board through a rigorous check to make sure they are up to specs and the highest craftsmanship.
Waiting for some quality control. The Park Pickle is also new to Mervin’s line this year. The Pickle is a twin banana with asymmetric sidecuts giving the heelside a slightly tighter radius than the toeside. This will make your heelside turns easier, almost like your toeside turns. Less effort on your heelside turns means less fatigue and more time on the hill.
This is the crew that ships all the orders to your local shops world-wide. (L-R) Bowlrider skateboard, Banana Magic, Skate Banana, Park Pickle and Danny Kass Split Personality.
A section of the shipping warehouse.
Printing out the graphics to be used on the boards. The colors this printer spits out uses a unique process that will not run and are true to the original graphic.
Iron art work of Pauly.
Mervin MFG. has also been on the forefront of being the most environmental snowboard factory in the world. They recycle everything, from sawdust to both plastic and wood scraps. They use only water-based solvents, low VOC resins and heat the factory with a canola based biodiesel. Click on the link above to read more on their efforts to maintain a green environment. Oh yeah, before I forget… so obviously Mervin has not been exiled from anywhere and hopefully that first cup of joe has just kicked in and you’ve made the connection. A huge THANK YOU to Pete Saari, Norm Nelson and Mike Olson for taking the time out of their extremely busy schedule to give me a tour of the factory. Check out lib-tech.com for more info.
