Lyttelton is a working port town connected to Christchurch through a 1.4km tunnel through the port hils. Kingswood Skis was born here. The R&D and first years of production were carried out in an old laboratory space in the basement of a 1960s office tower.

We moved into our new factory in March 2007. A historic Lyttelton building, the unusual, rough-cast concrete walls were constructed in the 1880s using ships' ballast as the aggregate. A former ship chandlery, the building is now owned by the Lyttelton Rugby Club.

Having heaps more room means each part of the process can be separated for maximum efficiency and minimum dust transfer. Being mostly underground, the factory stays a constant temperature year-round, which means we have total consistency in our production (epoxy is very temperature sensitive).

This year, we purchased a new stonegrinder, belt grinder and waxing unit so that all the production and finishing can now be done in one spot. Prior to this, we did the finishing at our city-based ski repair, the Ski & Board Surgery.

The factory has occasionally been put to use for other purposes. A robot party in March left us the legacy of a giant cardboard robot and the five-DJ, all-night Kingswood Factory Rave party in October left a legacy of glow-sticks and talcum powder that may never be erased.

Check out the construction page to view a video of the skis being made and the materials page for more info about what goes into our skis.