When they embarked on the adventure of making off-trail skis ten years ago, Maxime Bolduc and Alexandre Vézina were far from imagining such a long climb for what would become Xalibu.
The two friends, who are passionate about mountains and powder, simply wanted to develop the perfect skis that they could not find on the market, flexible and light, effective in deep snow.
They met at the Collège Mérici while studying adventure tourism. Maxime worked at outdoor retailer MEC, Alexandre was a sea kayak guide in Bergeronnes on the north coast.
One winter, when he had time and space in a barn, Alexandre started making prototype off-piste skis. It was time to use the lessons he had learned earlier in life studying industrial design and then violin making.
Press, profiler, folder: he adapted the tools to design his first skis in a traditional way, aided by Maxime’s reflections and observations.
“In the beginning we just wanted skis for ourselves, but because others wanted to try them, there were people who wanted them and the skiers told us they would like to buy from a Quebec company,” Maxime recalls.
Adopted by the guides
When the Chic Chocs ski guides in Gaspésie adored her, it sparked a desire to give birth to Xalibu, the Micmac name for Karibu.
“After all, we invested $12,000 in the first three years. It was expensive for a couple of pairs of skis! We had to make the investment profitable,” laughs Alexandre.
No banker wanted to support the project financially; but that didn’t make the two athletes flinch. They kept their jobs and started an initial production of around fifty pairs of skis, made as subcontractors in Saint-Narcisse-de-Rimouski. They traveled around Quebec on weekends showing their creation to amateurs and opening outlets to compete against international brands.
“We had no life for a while. We criss-crossed Quebec with our kids and it was difficult,” says Maxime, dad of five.
Surround yourself to get to the top
For Maxime and Alexandre, skiing is a way of life and they thought they could make a living from it in two years. Sales certainly increased when graphic artists on skis were invited to create artworks, but the entrepreneurial dream met harsh reality. After a few years of intense effort, the duo understood that they needed to surround themselves with other partners to turn their passion into a more solid business. Second, being part-time wasn’t enough to drive Xalibu.
So they teamed up with Étienne Cyr and Sébastien Dumas, two other ski enthusiasts with business experience. Since their arrival two years ago, growth has been 225% with the establishment of a sales and marketing structure.
With a niche product that focuses on superior quality, Xalibu wants to integrate into the most prestigious places in boardsports: Western Canada, Japan, Europe. And the idea of diversifying the offer started with women’s skis, to which we want to add collections for children, boards, “powsurfs” and everything that slides on the mountains.
After 10 years in business, there is still a young entrepreneurial spirit at Xalibu. This is certainly the second breath of partners. But it is also insane passion that could give the power to move mountains.
Xalibu
- Founding year: 2012
- Founder: Alexandre Vezina, Maxime Bolduc
- Place of registered office: Quebec
- activity area: Sports
- Number of employees: 4
Profile of Alexandre Vézina and Maxime Bolduc
- Work : co-founder
- Age : 48 and 42 years old
- Education: Adventure Tourism, Collège Mérici
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