Decorated Half Pipe Skier Aaron Blunck Joins Romp Skis as First Pro for the Crested Butte Company
Aaron Blunck and Romp Skis have two things in common: they love to ski, and Crested Butte is their hometown.
For the heavily decorated halfpipe skier, sponsorship is nothing new. Already boasting 14 years as a sponsored rider with 3 trips to the Olympics, 2 World Champion Halfpipe Skiing titles, and four X-games Ski Halfpipe Champion trophies on the shelf at home, the move to Romp was about more than just sponsorship. In an interview recently, Blunck lays it out, "I was ready for a change. I feel like [with Romp] I have a place where my voice gets heard, where the ski that I get is exactly the ski that I want." Romp co-founder Morgan Weinberg chimed in about that ski, the Blunck Force Trauma "It was really exciting that Aaron was looking to innovate and I think we were able to utilize the flexibility that Romp has as a custom ski builder." Weinberg continues, "the design was much different than what I had imagined he'd want in a pipe ski. What we designed was focused on speed generation and preservation. This meant we moved away from the traditional twin tip designs that most companies produce as pipe skis and went with a much more directional ski." Coming from contests where half the field was riding the same ski, helping to test and design his own model is an opportunity for Blunck to be more than just an athlete.
Moving into a brand that feels less like a factory and more like a family was one major motivation, another was the address. Founded by brothers Morgan and Caleb Weinberg in Crested Butte in 2010, the custom ski shop turns lumber into laps right from their location on 420 Belleview Ave. This hometown association is important to both parties. From the perspective of Morgan Weinberg and owner Chase Gardaphe, it was important to sponsor a true product of Crested Butte, not just about someone who was a very good skier, or who had a big following. For Romp, Aaron fit into the culture and the values of the company. Blunck had a similar feeling for why the move to Romp felt right. "Remember who helped raise you. It was the entire town of Crested Butte." As a new father, this change in relationships is timely and cause for reflection. "Be consistent," he says of what it means to be a sponsored skier. "Be authentic. Be the same person you are on and off the snow. Keep it genuine and be grateful."
