A snowboard company donated a year ago to Oregon State University – Cascades by its founders has brought its first boards to market under its new student leadership.
SnoPlanks’ 2025 line of snowboards, the “Asym Twin” and “Asym Fish,” debuted at the Snowvana winter sports show in Portland in November, where students hosted a booth. The new designs incorporate students’ analysis of the existing design, as well as market research, and feature the asymmetrical design that SnoPlanks is known for.
The snowboards are available for sale on the company’s website and at Between Evergreens in Bend. They have been purchased by customers as far away as Japan as well as those in the local community.
Twenty-seven students – majoring in business, engineering, outdoor products and art, media and technology – are employed by SnoPlanks. Students dedicate up to 20 hours a week during the academic term to operating the business. SnoPlanks is believed to be the only student-led company embedded in a university in the country.
“This experiential learning gives us all incredible opportunities to improve our leadership and technical skills in a fast-paced environment,” said Caitlin Colgin, the CEO of SnoPlanks and a senior outdoor products major. “It’s thrilling to now watch SnoPlanks’ boards heading into customer’s hands.”
Todd Laurence is a business instructor and the executive director of SnoPlanks Academy, the academic program that houses the student-managed business. He has mentored the SnoPlanks student leadership team as they transformed it into a student-led venture.
“Through the SnoPlanks Academy, students are developing the resumé-building skills that employers in the outdoor and other industries look for,” said Laurence.
Over the past year the SnoPlanks team has leased space for a design and prototyping facility, hired and managed student employees, negotiated a manufacturing contract and overseen brand design, website development, social media and product marketing, online consumer sales and order fulfillment.
Set up as a wholly owned subsidiary of OSU, the company is governed by a board of directors that includes Sherm Bloomer, chancellor and dean of OSU-Cascades; Tim Carroll, dean of the OSU College of Business; Rebecca Robinson, OSU associate vice president for economic development and industry relations; former Dutch Bros. CEO Joth Ricci; and SnoPlanks co-founder James Nicol.
SnoPlanks Academy is part of Cascades Edge, a career preparation program at OSU-Cascades in which all undergraduates participate.
Source: OSU