Bruce Edgerly or “Edge” as he’s fondly known is one of the only ski entrepreneurs I know to sell his company, get rich, and still be involved in the day-to-day of the business. I haven’t had anyone on the podcast with that type of story and Edge is also the only Ivy League guy I’ve had on the show. But Edge is just a dirtbag kayaker and skier who parlayed the contacts he made while writing for Powder Magazine and Larry Flint into a guerilla marketing machine that would drive the company he and his partner started, BCA, to the forefront of the industry. This is the ski version of the Steve Jobs story…but with a lot more personality. Steve Christie asks Inappropriate Questions, and they are awesome.
Bruce Edgerly Show Notes:
3:30: Moving to Miami, Holderness Academy, Hockey at Brown University, and then moving to Utah
8:00: Graduating from Brown, getting a real job in Basalt, getting fired from that job, and then delivering the newspaper
12:00: Miami Vice in Aspen, kayaking, Dean Cummings, the AK Heli Wars, and Powder Magazine
20:00: Stanley: Get 30% off site wide with the code drinkfast
Peter Glenn Ski and Sports: Over 60 years of getting you out there
Outdoor Research: The best outerwear ever built just got better
22:30: Larry Flint, forerunning extreme comps in AK, and the birthday party that changes his life
31:00: Creating the BCA market through connections, being a Peruvian hat-wearing Tele skier, road-tripping the Alpine Trekker, financing, and what production look like
35:00: The idea for the digital transceiver, who built the Tracker, the avalanche that kickstarted the Tracker
41:00: 10 Barrel Brewery: Buy their beers; they support action sports more than anyone
Elan Skis: Over 75 years of innovation that makes you better
43:00: The Beacon Wars, making bold claims that made people angry, Steve Conger’s advice, winning over Canada and Europe, and validation in the States
54:00: First live recovery, airbags, putting his house and assets on the line in the name of BCA, and selling to K2
67:00: Inappropriate Questions with Steve Christie