RMU Skis

Colorado-born independent ski manufacturer | Built from garage experimentation in Breckenridge | Known for: Apostle, Professor, Valhalla, Zephyr and powder-oriented designs, athlete-driven development and mountain-community hubs | Focus: durable freeride and all-mountain skis handmade in Sweden using renewable energy, backed by a lifetime warranty and shaped around skiers who spend their lives in mountain towns.

Breckenridge garage presses and the accidental ski company

Rocky Mountain Underground grew from skiers trying to understand how their equipment actually worked. Mike Waesche, Luke Allen and friends built their own ski presses and started experimenting in a garage around Breckenridge, Colorado. RMU's own history is unusually open about how rough those beginnings were: early presses failed, the first skis were barely usable, and the group initially built custom pairs for friends in exchange for material costs and beer rather than with a polished business plan.

Demand eventually forced the project to become more serious. The group painted houses to raise money for its first production model, the Diam, and sold the first small production run. Never Summer later helped RMU understand larger-scale manufacturing and business operations while the company remained connected to Summit County ski culture. That origin still influences the brand. RMU presents itself less like a distant sporting-goods corporation and more like a company created by people who wanted to ski, experiment and build equipment for the mountain community around them. The RMU official story preserves that garage-to-brand progression rather than replacing it with a cleaner corporate founding myth.

Apostle Professor Valhalla and Zephyr divide the 2027 collection

RMU's current 2027 ski catalog covers all-mountain, freeride, powder and touring-oriented use through several distinct families. Apostle remains the broadest all-mountain and freeride platform. The current collection includes Apostle 96, Apostle 96 Ti, Apostle 105, Apostle 105 Ti, Apostle 105 Carbon and Apostle 114, letting skiers move from narrower resort versatility toward wider soft-snow performance or choose constructions with different priorities.

Professor brings a more playful personality. The current Professor 111 is explicitly designed around jibbing, popping, spinning, switch landings, side hits and powder. Its 188 centimeter version uses a 111 millimeter waist, a poplar core with beech mounting plate and a symmetrical 25 percent rocker, 50 percent camber, 25 percent rocker profile. That combination places it firmly in the modern backcountry freestyle and playful freeride category rather than traditional directional big-mountain skiing.

Valhalla continues with 97 and 107 millimeter versions, while Zephyr gives RMU a narrower carving and frontside direction. The 2026 to 2027 collection also includes the Rippah 98 and the much wider surf-inspired Butterknife 126. That breadth is important because RMU is no longer a company selling one Colorado powder shape. Its wall now covers everyday resort skis, freeride chargers, playful freestyle-influenced skis and specialist powder designs.

Multi radius Apostles and playful Professors create two different RMU languages

Apostle is designed around versatility. The current Apostle 105 uses a 105 millimeter waist, low-rise rocker at the tip and tail, a poplar wood core, beech hardwood binding plate, pre-preg fiberglass and RMU's multi-radius sidecut. RMU describes the ski as evenly divided between soft-snow and hard-snow use. That makes it a natural daily driver for skiers who expect one day to include groomers, trees, chopped powder and soft off-piste snow rather than specializing in one surface.

The Apostle 114 pushes the platform farther toward big-mountain and powder skiing. RMU developed the model with athlete Alex Armstrong and describes it as a wider evolution of the Apostle concept, preserving maneuverability while increasing flotation and stability for freeride terrain. Professor approaches the mountain differently. The Professor 111 is built for riders who see rollers, side hits, natural transitions and switch skiing as part of the line. Its more centered and balanced rocker profile supports that freestyle-influenced approach.

The important distinction is not that one family is more advanced. Apostle suits skiers who want a directional and adaptable platform, while Professor better fits riders who use the entire mountain creatively. A skier coming from park and backcountry freestyle may naturally gravitate toward Professor, while someone who wants one ski for storms, variable resort snow and faster directional skiing may find Apostle easier to understand.

Mark Abma Alex Armstrong and Keri Herman put athletes inside the design room

RMU has repeatedly brought athletes into product development rather than limiting them to graphics and promotion. Mark Abma represents the current big-mountain side of that culture. RMU featured Abma with its Whistler crew testing the ski range across powder, backcountry terrain and park features, while his long film career gives the brand a connection to a skier known for smooth, technical freeride skiing rather than purely competition-based visibility.

Alex Armstrong is directly connected to the current Apostle 114. RMU states that her racing background influenced development toward the stable and dependable big-mountain character of the ski. Keri Herman provides another documented example of athlete-led design. After joining RMU as an athlete, the Olympic freeskier moved into ski development and worked with the production team on the redesign that produced the Valhalla 97 and Valhalla 107.

Wiley Miller has also been part of RMU's design history. His relationship with the company combined backcountry skiing with product development after years of influential film work with Level 1. These examples give RMU's athlete program a practical identity. The goal is not merely to have recognizable skiers standing next to the skis; experienced riders have contributed to how individual models are shaped and positioned.

Breckenridge Truckee and Whistler turn retail into mountain culture hubs

RMU's geography has expanded without abandoning the mountain-town model that shaped the company. Breckenridge remains central, with RMU operating on Main Street in the Colorado town where the original ski-building culture developed. The location combines retail with food, drink and community space rather than functioning only as a conventional ski shop.

Truckee, California extends that concept toward the Tahoe ski community with another retail and hospitality location plus ski-tuning services. North of the border, RMU operates at the base of Blackcomb in Whistler-Blackcomb. The Whistler location puts the company directly inside one of the most influential freeride and ski-film environments in North America, where park laps, deep coastal storms and backcountry filming regularly overlap.

These spaces are important to RMU because the company explicitly describes itself as a mountain-culture brand rather than only a ski manufacturer. Film premieres, gatherings, retail, equipment and hospitality can all exist around the same location. That model keeps the customer relationship close to places where the equipment is actually used and makes RMU's community language more concrete than a generic marketing statement.

Are Skidfabrik renewable energy and a lifetime warranty define production

RMU's current skis are handmade at Åre Skidfabrik in Sweden. The factory uses hydroelectric and geothermal energy, allowing RMU to state that its skis are produced with 100 percent renewable energy. RMU's factory documentation also describes current production using recycled steel in the edges, bio-based material in topsheets and biodegradable tuning wax while additional lower-impact composite materials continue to be tested.

The company's current construction details remain conventional where durability requires it. The Professor 111, for example, uses heavy-duty pre-preg triaxial fiberglass, thick ABS sidewalls, full-wrap rubber damping, a graphite race base, thick steel edges and a poplar wood core with a beech mounting plate. Apostle models use their own constructions, and carbon or Ti versions should not be treated as identical simply because they share the Apostle name.

RMU pairs this manufacturing approach with a lifetime warranty against manufacturing defects for its skis. The warranty applies under the company's published conditions to the original buyer through RMU or authorized dealers. The RMU ski factory overview gives the clearest picture of how the current Swedish production and material strategy fit together.

Start with Apostle for versatility Professor for play and Valhalla for an everyday platform

A skier choosing RMU should begin with terrain and skiing style. Apostle is the easiest family to understand for riders who want all-mountain versatility. Apostle 96 keeps the platform relatively narrow for firmer snow and mixed resort skiing, while Apostle 105 adds more soft-snow capability without becoming a dedicated powder ski. Apostle 114 moves the same concept toward freeride and deeper snow. Ti and Carbon versions should be compared individually because their construction choices change the purpose of the ski rather than simply creating cosmetic upgrades.

Professor suits skiers who want a more freestyle-influenced feel. The Professor 111 is specifically aimed at playful freeride, spins, butters, side hits and switch skiing while retaining enough platform for powder and chopped snow. Valhalla 97 and Valhalla 107 occupy another versatile lane and carry the design legacy associated with Keri Herman's development work. Zephyr should be considered by skiers spending more time carving and skiing firm resort snow, while Butterknife belongs at the opposite end of the spectrum for riders deliberately searching for a very wide, surf-inspired powder shape.

The useful approach is therefore not to ask which RMU ski is best. It is to decide how directional or playful the skier wants to be, how often deep snow is realistically available and whether the ski needs to work as an everyday resort tool or as part of a larger quiver.

Why the Rocky Mountain Underground identity still works beyond Colorado

RMU has grown far beyond the garage where friends exchanged experimental skis for beer, yet the brand still carries several characteristics of an independent ski company. Product development remains visibly connected to athletes, the ski range is built around freeride and mountain culture rather than racing heritage, and the company's physical locations are deliberately placed inside ski communities instead of anonymous urban retail centers.

At the same time, RMU is no longer a tiny workshop. Its 2027 collection is broad, the skis are manufactured professionally in Sweden, its retail and community footprint reaches Breckenridge, Truckee and Whistler, and the company has expanded into packs, mountain bikes and other mountain equipment. That growth has not erased the original ski identity; it has turned skiing into the foundation of a wider year-round mountain brand.

For modern freeskiers, the strongest part of RMU is the combination of independent-brand personality with mature manufacturing. Apostle provides a serious all-mountain and freeride platform, Professor keeps freestyle creativity inside the range, Valhalla carries athlete-led development and the Swedish factory gives the current skis a clear production story. RMU remains most convincing when those pieces stay connected: skis built by mountain people, tested by skiers and surrounded by communities where spending days on snow is still treated as part of the job.