Kevin St. Gelais started making custom skis a few years back and he wanted his testers to beat on them.

So they took to the groomed and backcountry trails of northern New Hampshire. The found trees, cliffs, moguls, powder, groomers, rocks, jumps and spring’s chowder. They skied fast, slow, forward and switch in places like Wildcat Mountain and Mount Washington.

They even snapped a few.

“If we found any weaknesses, we corrected it and tested it,” he said.

St. Gelais, 48,  is  owner of Saint Custom Skis and Snowboards. A full-time Wildcat ski patroller since 2005, he’s a summer Mount Washington State Park summit ranger.

Skiing 120-pus days a year including backcountry outings on Mount Washington favorites like Tuckerman Ravine, the Gulf of Slides and East Snowfields, St. Gelais’ epiphany came during a 2010 winter drive through an empty Berlin industrial park. He realized America and certainly Northern New Hampshire was lacking in manufacturing.

“I decided right there that I would start a ski and snowboard manufacturing business,” he said.

He did, in his Milan home basement and set out researching ski and snowboard design and construction. Soon, friends wanted some. Word spread. Using life savings, the company was born in February of 2012.

Today, the family business with son KJ, daughter Sarah, and daughter-in-law Lana  produces under 100 skis and boards annually from a Berlin industrial building with skis starting at $1,000 and snowboards at $750 (saintskis.com, Facebook too).

St. Gelais uses White Mountain maple and poplar for the important core (there are some requests for American-cultivated bamboo), cutting the wood into small strips. He alternates the grains in the wood, removes any imperfections and laminates them back together. The tip then goes through a process to taper its tip and tail.

“Next we print the ski or snowboard on our CAD (computer aided design) program and create a template,” he said.  “The bases are then cut out. Hardened steel edges are hand curved and attached to the bases.  We get our carbon fiber or fiberglass strips ready.”

Meanwhile, KJ the graphic designer works with the customer to create top and bottom graphics.

“Some people come in with ideas already drawn up,” said KJ, 24, who’s worked at Wildcat since his teenage years. “We scan it in. There’s lots of flowery stuff, full rasta skis, pictures of Mount Washington.”

Sometimes customers leave it natural, with the wood as the graphic.

Once everything’s set, they “lay up” the ski.

They put it together with high grade epoxy and put it on a press to form its shape and harden. Once cured, they cut out the skis, taper and sidewalls and finish them off. For additional strength and performance they use an aerospace grade carbon fiber or triaxial braided fiberglass.

After a base grind at the Wildcat ski shop, they’re ready for snow.

“Many, many loving hours are put into each pair of skis or snowboard,” St. Gelais said.  “It varies quite a bit.  Mostly in the design process.”

Though St. Gelais does have some standard models, it’s the custom job that yields a unique board.

St. Gelais can adjust things like the width of the tip, center and tail. They can toy with the flex and create a specific length. The boards can be created with a traditional camber or rocker technology or a combination of both. Graphics are personal eye candy.

If a customer bumps into them at the mountain, they can talk shop or address any potential issues.

“Word of mouth has been big so far,” said KJ.

Saint Skis is keeping St. Gelias busy.  A certified firefighter and licensed EMT, he’s served on Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue and was Milan’s fire chief.

But as the board business grew, he resigned as fire chief to free up time.

He’d love to make this his sole vocation.

“One hundred percent,” said St. Gelais.

“That’s the dream,” said KJ.

“It’s not if, it’s when,” said St. Gelais. “It’s taking a little longer than we hoped but we’re getting close to that.”