All A Board
Snowboarders turn a hobby into a business.
Bev and chris Sanders (43 and 37, respectively) were
snowboarders when snowboarding wasn't cool. But Avalanche
Snowboards Inc., the snowboard manufacturing company the couple
founded in 1982, quickly picked up speed and had sales of about $5
million last year.
"We started making snowboards for our own use," says
Bev, a former ski instructor. "People would follow me back to
the car and ask me about snowboards, and I'd end up selling
one. At the time, we were the only people at the ski resorts who
had them."
The Benicia, California-based company that grew around the
production of one snowboard design has maneuvered well through the
changes in the industry it helped create. Today, Avalanche has 27
board styles, including boards specially designed for children and
women.
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Dubbed "The Pioneer Woman of Snowboarding" by
Transworld Snowboarding magazine, Bev couldn't be
happier. "This industry changes all the time," she says.
"I love that because I have a short attention span. If
it's not exciting, I don't want to deal with it."
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