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- Nov 16, 2015
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All Things RBL
RBL Skis
SKIING Nov 1979
RBL Skis
SKIING Nov 1979
Thanks for sharing your own work timeline and the part you played in this industry. Having people from inside the industry and sharing their background is another thing that makes this community so good.More like 5 year. It breaks out a little weird. The first skis were built by John Lovett in his factory. You can tell those by the bright colors and mat finish on top and solid white bases. I saw the skis at the Denver SIA show in about 1977(ish...boy getting old sucks) and I picked up a pair turned around and looked at RB and begged for a pair. Later when I figured that another winter at the Park wasn't in the card I caught up with RB in Denver where he had moved the factory. Off of Alameda and Zuni in Denver. We built skis there until that mid winter (79ish). Then RB acquired the Husky XC company in Longmont I traveled from south Denver to Longmont everyday until RB announced that we all needed to take some time away while he finished the deal to buy the Lovett factory. I think I stayed two more years building skis and becoming frustrated that I was competent at making quality skis but not moving out of the back room to a rep position. I left before Vegas of 1980. I was not around for the Quicksilver era, but oddly enough my business partners at Turning Point Sports (where I dropped my hat until 1985) collected the entire RBL factory from the local and federal tax people. So with my personal timeline played out over the life and times of RBL so I think 5 years is about correct. Talk about being in the wrong phase at the wrong time. Molnar/THE/Century/RBL all went up in smoke...the day of the boutique ski was over...or so we all thought then. Now look at it...for all I know some of those old RBL presses are making some of the current crop of "indie" skis.