Cruel ski business

 

Dodge ski boots, was established in Vermont with a goal to manufacture carbon fiber alpine ski boots. The idea was that ski racers needed super stiff boots to ski on very hard snow and ice without losing any power during transfers. Yet, it wasn't successful and its principals closed shop in May of 2025 and retired. 

Why did it fail? Dodge Ski Boots was founded around 2009. I had known and worked with Dave Dodge, a former engineer at Rossignol in Williston, Vermont, while I was still working with Lange ski boots. Dave, who had a deep understanding of skiing, ski racing and the industry at large, partnered up with Bill Doble and set out to revolutionize alpine skiing with carbon fiber ski boots, a bold departure from the traditional thermoplastic models that had dominated the market for decades. 

Despite its innovation and a loyal niche following, the company wasn’t able to carry on and ultimately closed its doors early this year. Here's what I think happened. First, they attempted to introduce some drastic change into a very conservative market. True, ski boot retailers and users have been notoriously resistant to change. 

Most of them prefer small iterations and are skeptical of trying new concepts. Carbon fiber boots, while lighter and stiffer, felt very different from traditional plastic boots, which may have alienated some users. The boot was incredibly stiff and transferred probably too much of what came from the terrain to the foot making it uncomfortable. 

Linked to that inherent stiffness were fit and comfort issues, as carbon fiber didn’t show the kind of accommodations even stiff polyurethane boots offered, making fitting it easily and comfortably more complex. Sure, Dodge did offer custom fitting services, but it burdened the buying process and made it harder to scale. Only one ski racer, Warner Nickerson from Concord, NH, was on the boot and competed on FIS and Noram races until 2016. 

Of course the high cost of the boots was another important hurdle as they were significantly more expensive than mainstream options, often retailing for over $1,000, the high production cost impeding in fact the project viability. A narrow appeal to just elite racers or gearheads, not the broader ski market, added to the difficulty, not to mention a limited distribution and marketing that forced the company to rely almost solely on direct-to-consumer sales and word-of-mouth. 

Without major retail partnerships or aggressive marketing, Dodge boots struggled to reach a wider audience and were force to announce their retirement and the closure of the company last spring to customers via email. The founders, Dave and Bill, indicated that while they were open to finding a buyer to continue the business, they did not have one lined up at the time of the announcement. In their farewell message, they said “We hope someone may still come along and want to take over, but we don't have anyone ready right now…” 

This suggests that the closure wasn’t purely financial but was also about leadership transition and the founders’ decision to retire. This was confirmed to me by Dave in a recent contact who just a few days ago was still looking for someone to carry on his dream... https://go-11.blogspot.com/2010/04/dodge-ski-boot.html