Custom-ski makers claim they can cut through the confusion. Though custom-made skis cost more, prices aren’t outrageous—between $1,200 and $2,000, compared with about $800 for a high-end production ski—and they come with prodigious personal attention. Dan Buzzelli, a civil engineer with the New York State Department of Transportation, has bought three pairs of skis from Birdos ­Freeride Skis, a custom crafter in Switzerland. He spent more than two hours on the phone with founder Dan Loutrel and swapped 20-plus emails about the design specifications for the three pairs. Michael Parris at Igneous Skis, which sells mostly to locals in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, has skied with about half of his customers in order to better judge their needs. Peter Wagner of Wagner Custom developed a lengthy online questionnaire to help him better understand what his clients are after. All of these efforts are meant to produce a unique ski at a level of quality that can’t be matched by the big manufacturers. “It’s like talking to a doctor of skiing,” says Gricus.

Since these are small companies run by their founders, each has its own idiosyncratic approach to building skis. Wagner, who has an M.B.A. and began his career developing software for designing custom golf clubs, takes a technology-heavy approach. He has cataloged the characteristics of most of the top-end production skis in a database so he can better understand what customers like about their current skis, and he uses computer-guided milling machines. At Igneous, Parris evaluates every piece of wood that comes through the door, milling each for a different role in a ski, whether it is the core or sidewall or top sheet, depending on the quality of its grain. Claudio Mazzoni of Spoilt Ski in Alassio, Italy, says that many of his customers want unique graphics on their skis, so he and his brother built a special press that allows them to transfer any illustration to the plastic that covers the ski. At ScottyBob Skis in Silverton, Colorado, each pair is built by a single employee from start to finish. The employee’s initials are included in the serial number.

In an industry dominated by large companies with long histories, startups like these face plenty of hurdles. Parris says that few in the industry understood what Igneous was doing when it started making wide skis in 1994. Now broader skis are standard fare. Birdos founder Loutrel, a native of Boston, says that finding ski-specific materials in small quantities was nearly impossible when he started in 2003.

These companies are also competing in a troubled industry. The number of skis sold in North America fell by 10 percent, to 473,000 pairs, between the 2004 and 2005 season and the 2005 and 2006 season, according to Leisure Trends Group. Warm, dry weather in the Alps in 2006 was to blame for European declines, and Head NV, a top brand in the European market, expects a loss this year.

But there is little question that these companies, with their tiny production runs and handcrafted approach, are not really competing with the big manufacturers’ global-supply chain, outsourced manufacturing, and high-priced marketing campaigns. They are offering something different.

“This ski was exactly what I was looking for,” says Buzzelli, who uses his Birdos skis in the backcountry of the Adirondack Mountains. “The quality is better than a production ski, and it’s tailored just for you. You are the star.”