future of black diamond skis?

[shoestring]

anyone have any insight into the future of bd skis? a bunch of high level bd employees, including the head of the bd ski line, are no longer with company as of mid-april?

[Quadzilla]

Interesting? maybe not the demand for high end touring skis as one would think.

[chamonix]

I wondered why 2014-2015 BD Carbon Converts suddenly showed up in a local retail store, being blown out for $540.00. I guess I should have brought a pair.

[James]

The Carbon Converts were sent out in limited quantities to preferred retailers in advance of next year retail release. This is not that uncommon. I will bet that next year they are very popular. I don't know what is up with the employees leaving.

[LightRanger]

Weird. Seems like their ski line has been getting more love recently in mainstream alpine circles too, but maybe I'm imagining things..

[dschane]

For whatever reason, BD skis seem exceptionally popular here. I don't have enough time elsewhere to compare, but they seem to be doing just peachy. I'm not sure if the departure is rumor or truth; it's clearly not significant to make into any Google search result. Maybe if they quit to become Bieber heads and follow him on tour, there'd be a search hit.

[cesare]

I wouldn't take the loss of a few key staff to indicate that BD is any less committed to its ski program. After producing in my opinion, sub-optimal skis for a number of years, they have recently been hitting the ball out of the park. They ski great today and are well made. I just don't see BD abandoning a division that is now more successful than it's ever been before for them. Now if they could just make a better binding...

[LightRanger]

^^^ Exactly.

Fritschi Vipec is promising...

[climbhoser]

Which employees and what is the source of this "news?"

[Allen]

Which employees and what is the source of this "news?"

SNEWSNET has the article.

[MattB]

I hope they keep cranking out the kinds of skis we have been seeing lately. I also see tons of BD skis at Crested Butte, in addition to the ones I'm on.

[LightRanger]

SNEWSNET has the article.

Posting that without the link was super helpful.

The one story I could find there that looks like it addresses the issue says, "We're sorry, you must be a subscriber to view this article."

Anybody with a subscription want to be helpful and C&P the text of the article in here?

[ts01]

Posting that without the link was super helpful.

The one story I could find there that looks like it addresses the issue says, "We're sorry, you must be a subscriber to view this article."

Anybody with a subscription want to be helpful and C&P the text of the article in here?

Strange website - I googled the phrase " snewsnet +'black diamond' " and clicked the third hit which was this URL - http://www.snewsnet.com/news/black-d...t-restructure/ - and the story came up.

Then I tried to copy text (using Mozilla) and my browser crashed - after restarting that page would not load and prompted for subscriber info. So if that link doesn't work try clicking through directly from this google search. (wanted to post link before trying to copy and re-crashing my browser)

EDIT - can't copy text in Chrome either but that link opened up.

[Valdez Telehead]

BD survived quite well producing new and improved climbing hardware when A. Maclean skinned out the door so I assume that they will do fine with the loss of a few ski craftsman. The Converts will replace my current pair of Bd skis, which replaced another pair of BD skis, which replaced a pair of BD skis, which replaced a pair of BD skis, et…………

[WoW]

Black Diamond has laid off employees at its U.S. headquarters in Salt Lake City as part of apparent restructuring at the company, SNEWS has learned.
While the exact number isn’t available, at least a dozen people are suspected to have lost their jobs or are moving on, several sources familiar with the situation tell SNEWS. Black Diamond officials declined comment on the news, stating that as a public company any information would first have to be disclosed to the markets. It is unclear whether the layoffs are just at the Black Diamond brand or if they involve the wider scope of Black Diamond Inc., including Gregory Mountain Products, Pieps and Poc Sports. The departed include some significant names in Black Diamond’s product division leadership including Ski Category Director Thomas Laakso and Packs Category Director Nathan Kuder. Laakso helped develop a less toxic and more efficient ski manufacturing process that Black Diamond used at its new ski manufacturing plant in China and Kuder played a key role in Black Diamond’s new fan-powered avy airbag, which made its big splash at Winter Market 2014.
It’s no secret that parent company Black Diamond Inc. is facing potential changes as it deals with an evolving business and budget realities. The company burned through cash to acquire Poc Sports and Piepsin 2012, and launch its apparel line in fall 2013. As of December 31, 2013, Black Diamond Inc. reported cash reserves of $4.5 million with a total debt of $38 million with $19.7 million left available on a revolving line of credit In February, Black Diamond Inc. CEO Peter Metcalf revealed to investors that the company is exploring options to sell either all or parts of its Gregory Mountain Products brand to help fund future retail and e-commerce investments,
At that time, Metcalf indicated the company would shift from its recent acquisition strategy to focus on organic growth, particularly at Poc Sports and Black Diamond Apparel, as well as seek a senior executive leadership candidate for its lifestyle brand management and general management, specifically in the areas of apparel, retail and e-commerce. Black Diamond Apparel and POC independently represent the company’s most significant long term opportunities for compounded multi-channel multi-year revenue growth and profitability,” Metcalf told investors. “We prefer to invest our capital resources in the growth and development of our fastest growing assets, rather than acquiring additional brands. While Black Diamond doesn’t release brand- or category- specific results, at least one analyst on Wall Street told SNEWS he isn’t surprised to hear some of the cutbacks coming from the hardgoods side of the business. “It would seem natural,” said Andrew Burns, a research analyst with D.A. Davidson & Co. “We believe the core equipment side of the business, excluding apparel, has slowed somewhat, which we see as part of a general slowdown across the outdoor industry.” In November 2013, D.A. Davidson downgraded Black Diamond stock from buy to neutral based on those concerns, he said. But beyond those immediate hurdles, Burns said, “we still think it’s a well run company with great plans.”
David Clucas- April 16, 2014