Jeff Thompson '12 and his parents are continuing a century-old family legacy of making handcrafted skis.
The Ahmeek 105s. The Mohawk 98s. The Brockway 90s. These are just a few of the Keweenaw-inspired models of downhill snow skis designed, built, and sold by Shaggy's Copper Country Skis.
Since founding the business in 2008 with his older brother Jonathon, Michigan Tech alumnus Jeff Thompson has grown it from a hobby into a regionally known brand—thanks in part to the skills he picked up while earning a mechanical engineering degree at MTU.
The First Pair of Skis
Thompson and his brother grew up in South Lyon, Michigan, where their parents, John and Shari, owned a residential construction business. Both brothers ski raced competitively, and by the fifth grade, Thompson had decided he wanted to be an engineer.
As he got older, his love of spending time on the slopes merged with his engineer's mind—and, thanks to his parents' business, there were always plenty of materials and tools on hand. In 2005, he attempted to put skis on an old bike and take it down the hill. Later, he and Jonathon cut into a pair of old skis. They were surprised by the number of layers and different materials they found inside.
After the ski-bike failed, the brothers set a new goal—to build their own skis. They started saving money and buying materials immediately. With their parents' tools, they even built their own press in the barn behind their house. Pretty soon, they had assembled their first working pair—the first of many.
It Was Always Going to be Michigan Tech
Growing up, Thompson's family took frequent trips to the Keweenaw Peninsula to see his grandmother, Leonora. His love for the Copper Country grew with each drive through Houghton en route to Kearsarge, where Leonora lived—a village located just a few miles northeast of Calumet and Laurium. With his career goal set to engineering, it made sense to dream about attending Michigan Tech. The University's academic reputation and winter recreation opportunities were big draws.
"We would come up to the Keweenaw to ski and snowmobile," Thompson says. "I wanted to go to school somewhere where I would be able to do those things all the time."
After finishing high school, Thompson enrolled at Tech. Hundreds of miles from home, Thompson found friends who were like him—adventurous and also serious about their education. "I learned really early that going to Tech was like ski racing. Talent only gets you so far. You have to put in the work to succeed," he says.
Turning a Hobby into a Business
As they started making their first prototype skis in their barn, the Thompson brothers roped their dad into helping. They soon converted a room in the basement of their house into their ski pressing area, and the operation began to feel more like a business than a hobby.
"The skis started looking more like skis, and we started selling them to friends and family," Thompson said. "Dad was fully in at that point as our head of manufacturing. The real estate bubble burst in 2008, so he had time away from construction to put into making skis."
As they made their first sales, Thompson knew the perfect name for the business. After his grandmother passed away, the family found antique skis in her barn that had been hand-carved by her uncle, Sulo Lehto—a blacksmith and jack-of-all-trades in Kearsarge who had been known by the nickname Shaggy, according to family lore.
The Thompsons officially founded Shaggy's Copper Country Skis in November 2008.
"It's pretty incredible that we're continuing a family tradition of making skis 100 years later," said Thompson. "It's really perfect to carry on that family name."
The Impact of Michigan Tech
Although Jonathon moved to Colorado to work at a ski area (and has since gone on to start two different companies), Thompson continued to work on Shaggy's while attending Michigan Tech. He recalls lessons in many classes, but he most appreciated the hands-on learning opportunities at Tech.
"Chuck Van Karsen was my Senior Design advisor," Thompson said. "He had a knack for breaking down complex ideas and turning them into something more relatable."
One class was especially important to Thompson as he grew Shaggy's: Product Realization with Josh Loukus. "The book we used for that class is the most valuable book that I have," he says.
Outside of the classroom, Thompson adventured all over the Keweenaw and spent plenty of time on the slopes. Living off campus during his junior year, he made a point of skiing at Mont Ripley every day. "Whether I got out for many runs or showed up 10 minutes before they closed for a single run, I got on skis," he recalls.
The Shaggy's Brand
After graduating from Tech in 2012, Thompson based Shaggy's in Boyne City because his parents had retired there. His love for the Copper Country remains undiminished, though, and finds its way into every pair of Belle 90s, Sarge 95s, and Phoenix 110s that he and his parents make.
"It made sense for us to be in Boyne because of the (skiing) population base," Thompson says, "but I haven't ruled out moving to the Keweenaw at some point."
In addition to several stock ski options optimized for different skiing conditions, Shaggy's offers fully customized handmade skis. The Thompsons have also begun to produce pickleball paddles to lessen the impact of seasonality in the business. Currently, 40 percent of the company's business is in Michigan. They hope to continue expanding their customer base outside the state, and they plan to do so the old-fashioned way.
"We're craftsmen. We offer unique American-made products and personal service," he says. "It's really meaningful when people spend their hard-earned money with us. We treat them like family."
Michigan Technological University is an R1 public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, and is home to nearly 7,500 students from more than 60 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigan's flagship technological university offers more than 120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.
