How Kulkea Founder, David Abramowitz, Turned His Chairlift Chat Into a Groundbreaking Brand
Published by Allie Hochman
Where Inspiration for Kulkea Sparked
Around 2009, I was actually up in Vermont skiing with some old buddies of mine from UVM. And I had a moment of frustration trying to get to the mountain with my friends, as the bags weren’t really cutting it. I just thought that there was so much unnecessary frustration in the whole process of getting to ski, which is something I love to do, and I attributed some of that to the poor design and construction of the gear bags. So, in that moment, I looked around in the local shops, and I saw nothing better than what I was already using - a lot of heavy, disorganized, lightweight support system bags that seemed to me like they had all the bells and whistles that someone who wasn’t actually in the industry would latch onto.
I’d been working with a lot of engineers and designers, given my background in the telecom and high-tech industry, so on the weekends, I started specking out work. And that’s what eventually became the Boot Trekker.
Ensuring Kulkea Made a Difference in the Market
I had been in the high-tech industry, and so I said, ‘Oh, I’ll just make a bag.’ Well, it’s not so easy to just make a bag. Although I knew what the bag should have in it and functionally how it should work, I didn’t know how to get from that understanding to a finished product. And it took me a while to find industrial designers, graphic designers, product prototype samplers, and eventually find factories to make the product in; It’s a really long learning curve that goes in there.
The products had to do what a skier would want them to do, versus just somebody in an office sitting and saying, ‘hey, this is how you should do it.’ So, they had to be really smart technically, and hold up to the rigors of ski travel or hard-core travel.
The Moment It All Became Real
The first time I saw a product coming to light was when we were much smaller, and we were just getting sampling done by a prototyper here in the United States. When what was then basically the final prototype showed up, I said wow! What we have here is leaps and bounds beyond anything else on the market. It was very exciting.
Another unforgettable experience was the first time I went over to our factory. I saw things on the production line at a mass level, and it was just a sense of excitement, real excitement. To see the quality in which they were doing it, how great the workmanship was, and just see things flowing was really exciting, that’s really the only way to describe it.
How David's Role as a Father Has Been Instrumental to the Kulkea Brand
I have three children, and I had been taking them to ski on a regular basis, so my knowing what I needed as a parent and what they needed as a child was invaluable. Everyone that I was talking to always said, ‘Just give your kids a bag, throw it in there, and they’ll carry it themselves.’ But it doesn’t work that way! If the bag is too big, the kid’s not going to carry it; You’re going to be carrying it. And if the bag is too tricky for a child to open, or to find things in, they’re not going to do it - it’s going to be all you.
In addition, my children hated this, but I used to make them be the models, not just for photos but for sampling. I would make them put on our samples, I would pull tape measures out, I would see how the bags held up on their posture, and everything. So it was really valuable having young children around at the time who were skiers.