Field Notes: Dispatches From Teton Bros Team Abroad- Stephan Drake
Stephan Drake has made a name for himself as a skier and innovator. He's also a close friend of Teton Bros. Most skiers know him as the founder of DPS Skis, who revolutionized ski design with his approach to powder skiing. Around the start of the new millennia, Steve, living nomadically as a pro skier, was invited to design a backcountry binding. The project awakened Steve's love for chasing powder, and he quickly identified a serious gap in the market for skis explicitly made for deep snow.
Before DPS Skis, Drake founded DB Skis with Swiss skier and snowboarder Cyrille Boinay. Together, they introduced the first rockered ski, designed specifically for powder, and began experimenting with carbon fiber construction. Ultimately, their manufacturing partner couldn't deliver, and Drake moved on to found DPS Skis in 2005. At DPS, Drake introduced the first rockered ski with side cut, the first carbon fiber centered skis, and several other revolutionary approaches to ski shaping and construction that have allowed powder skiing to evolve to where it is today.
Stephan and Nori met in Boulder, Colorado, after Nori reached out to become the Japanese distributor for DPS. Nori's timing could not have been more opportune, as DPS was experiencing rapid growth and looking for ways to reach a broader market. The pair hit it off in Boulder, meeting several times to talk business and skiing and share the occasional round of beers.
The pair worked and skied together for many years. When I asked Stephan about his relationship with Nori and Teton Bros, he said, "[Nori] is one of [my] dearest friends. We continued to be close friends even after I left DPS… It felt like a friendship for life and still does." When I ask Stephan about his memorable moments visiting Nori in Japan, he claims there are too many to count. He fondly recalls his first time visiting Nori in Tokyo and skiing Hokkaido with Nori, Junko, and a local crew of pros. Drake remembers "The whole experience as warm, welcoming, and accommodating." That first experience gave him "the inside taste of Japanese ski culture."
From unparalleled culinary experiences with Nori visiting the Tokyo "Sushi Master" to trips to mountain onsens and chasing countless storms in the high mountains of Japan, Stephan and Nori's friendship has spanned the globe. Both have left their mark on the ski world as innovators and free thinkers, and they continue to chase powder and change how we think about riding.
