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Jack’s Journal: Shaggy’s Copper Country Skis

They make skis, plain and simple. Well OK maybe not so plain and definitely not simple. It’s in Boyne City.  And no one here is named Shaggy, but here’s the story….

“It all starts in the early 1900’s when my grandmother’s uncle Shaggy carved her a pair of skis, when she was a little girl up in the Keweenaw Peninsula,” says founder Jeff Thompson.

After her passing, those skis were recovered.  That got her two grandson’s Jeff and Jonathon thinking they’d like to make a pair of skis.  They did, but they weren’t much. They still have one of those skis as a keep sake.  But one set lead to another, leading to Shaggy’s Copper Country Skis of Boyne City.

Six to eight hours goes in to each pair, about 70 steps in all. The business is all a family affair, mom and dad work here too.  That family bond is as strong as the skis they make.

“We all know that we’re striving for the same goal, to build the business for each other.  Not just for me or for him.  We all do it together.”

The process is painstaking, but with current computer technology the skis themselves are colorful and fun.  They have over a dozen styles of skis but special orders are a good part of the business.

“We can customize the product to fit the person. We can do different graphics, so they can express themselves in a ski.”