Big Wig: Tommy Delago, President and Founder of Nitro Snowboards,

Tommy Delago, president and founder of Nitro Snowboards, started the company in 1990 and today leads one of the snowboarding industry’s standout brands. He began his career as a professional rider for Sims, while also running camps and schools and writing for a snowboard magazine. Over the years, Tommy has experienced all the highs and lows of the snowboard business, so we felt it was a good time to sit down with him to hear how it all began 35 years ago and to learn how using his experience he is navigating Nitro through today’s challenging market.

Please tell us briefly about your background in snowboarding
I picked up skating in the mid 70’s and first got exposed to snowboarding when I saw photos of Tom Sims and Chuck Barfoot in late 70’s Skateboarder Magazine. Since I always wanted to surf, but was a landlocked teen in the Bavarian alps, snowboarding appeared the closest thing. So I started building my own boards, initially misusing plastic sleds, waterskis or even 2 or 3 cut-off skis, connected by a piece of plywood that i stood on. I ordered my first ‘real’ snowboard from Tom Sims in ’81 or ’82. It was actually called a ‘Skiboard’, was made of plywood and had base channels but no bindings, not unlike modern pow surfers. A few years later, I met Jose Fernandes and Andy Tanner from Switzerland, who introduced me to snowboards with plastic running bases and bindings, which I had not known existed before. I went on to become a Sims Team Rider, competing in the first years of the World Cup and ran one of the first snowboard schools in the mid-to late 80’s. I was also involved in founding the first German snowboard association, in training the first generation of ‘official’ snowboard teachers and writing the instructional handbook. During that time, I also worked for a German snowboarding magazine, shooting and writing riding ‘how-to’s’ as well as organising the annual riding tech and product test special issues. Riding 200+ different boards in the late 80’s provided an amazing wealth of know-how, which was a great asset when we started Nitro Snowboards in 1990.

What’s the biggest lesson you have learned in your time in Snowboarding?
Stay true to your vision and principles. It’s okay to look sideways and adapt to changing markets, but authenticity and the freedom to make your own decisions, independent from exterior needs and investors, is key. Value the people you work with, and focus on consistency, mutual trust and relationships.

What was the best business decision you have made at Nitro?
Not to give in to the various offers to sell the company to some external investment group.

And the most difficult?
Not to give in to the various offers to sell the company to some external investment group.

How’s this current Winter season shaping up for you?
Since our worldwide sales are quite evenly spread between Europe, North America and Australasia, we’re quite relaxed when it comes to the ever-threatening question of snowfall. There are of course individual challenges in certain territories, but overall, this promises to be a good year but fingers crossed for good snow!

What is Nitro’s USP in the market?
Forever Snowboarding! Authenticity, our 100% focus on snowboarding and on our brand.

Over the last decade what has been Nitro’s standout product and why?
The Team Series, for boards, bindings and boots. Introduced over 25 years ago, the Team initially was the go-to board form for our team riders. Over time, the riders’ focus drifted more towards boards like the T1 and other hot newcomers in the line, but we kept evolving the Team’s shape and construction. Recently many riders have rediscovered the Team and appreciate it for its versatility and ease of use. Just like our retailers, who have built enormous trust in this series, as they can safely recommend any Team product to a very broad range of riders, from beginner to pro. This is why we also offer a Pro version of the Team and even Marcus Kleveland trusts this model to be the base for his pro deck. And the immediate success of the Alternator, essentially a Team with more all-mountain focus, proves this concept is still right.

Why are physical shops so key to your strategy and how do you support them?
Brick and mortar stores are an essential asset to snowboarding. Unlike many other industries, snowboarding is defined by a certain lifestyle, a community and its trends. The shops are the partners we’ve built our brand with, they are ambassadors that push snowboarding every day of the week and the place for customers to connect with and experience a brand and what it stands for. Specialty stores are willing to carry more than just the ‘bread and butter’ products and help us to explore new concepts in shapes, technology and design. This also means we see the importance of having distribution and dedicated sale’s people in place. With a mindset of generating sustainable business, not the quick sell-in, they use our extensive product offering to work with each retailer in finding the right mix of product, styles and price points. We can adapt to individual regional or local requirements by segmenting our line and giving each store the best possible selection for a successful season. We offer unparalleled support to our stores with video premieres, on-snow events or other tailor-made activations. And we listen to their voice, with our sales, marketing and most importantly, our development team.

What’s your current policy for carry over and how to keep stock levels manageable?
Traditionally, Nitro is always trying to sell out, and we don’t place risky purchase orders with our suppliers. In recent years though, supply chains have become more fragile, and early ordering, production and shipping are key components of high-quality product, stable pricing and timely delivery. This is where we, and our distributors, are using our carefully planned selection of carry over SKUs to take a bit of ordering risk and have stock available which doesn’t devalue after Christmas. On the other hand, it’s not only about stock and production management. Every carry forward SKU we define means we cannot modify, improve or adapt that product for another year. But we love tinkering with stuff, we always strive for improvement, so carry overs sometimes become a thorn in our side…

What are your views on the hot easy entry binding market?
“Hot” is a good way to describe it: everyone now wants a piece of the action, and we’re – once again – dealing with a multitude of solutions and systems, resulting in considerable confusion in the market. We had a similar situation in our market 25 years ago, which is why we decided several years ago not to develop our own system or binding, but instead join forces with what we believe is and will be the leading interface on the market, Step On. While we recognize the positive short-term sales effect of the so-called ‘universal’ or ‘hybrid’ easy entry bindings, we see them only as a transitional solution with more drawbacks than advantages. Looking also outside of our own bubble, at other sports or industries, we see hybrid solutions have typically only survived for a limited time. But as we speak, retailers are selling hybrid systems well. And that doesn’t need to be a bad thing, as it brings more people into the sport and keeps others riding. But in the mid-to long term, we believe that the future will be shaped by a clean, functional interface. Ideally one standard for the entire industry, giving consumers full choice of brands, styles and fits. And a maximum focus on boots, with many advancements and innovations still to come. It’s already starting if you just look around today.

How have you restructured the business to mitigate Tariffs in the USA?
In a nutshell, we’re trying to share the load between suppliers, distributors and ourselves. But retail price increases cannot be avoided, making snowboarding an even more exclusive activity in the U.S., given the astronomical lift ticket prices. U.S. production is out of the question for many reasons, but we’re obviously focussing on using our productions in lesser taxed countries when we have a choice.

What are the biggest challenges and opportunities you currently see in the snowboard market over the next few years?
Unfortunately, we have seen a decrease in specialty shops for several years. Seasonal uncertainties, rising costs, and challenges to find good sales staff have driven many retailers to reduce their offering, their store space and hours, or to close doors completely. This hurts us specifically, as we build a big part of our business with them. Each specialty store we lose means a smaller platform for snowboarding, its lifestyle and its many facets. Climate change is a challenge that concerns all of us. As a company, we’re trying to reduce the impact of our operation and production as much as possible. At the same time, we see the cost of snowboarding rising rapidly. Not so much the equipment, but rising lift ticket prices, hotels and travel costs are making snowboarding an increasingly exclusive activity. This is not what snowboarding should be. On the other hand, resorts, lifts and slopes are full, especially during holiday periods and weekends. This shows an unbroken interest in winter sports, which is good news for all of us and a motivation to keep investing in the development of better products. Promoting a more grass roots approach to riding, smaller resorts and the sheer fun of sliding down the hill standing sideways hill help to keep the appeal of snowboarding broad, fun and attractive.

Tommy Delago