Andreas Abel - Boarding completed

Andreas Abel still remembers his first time like it was yesterday: “My first time on a snowboard was pretty terrible, actually. I was 14 or 15, and a buddy lent me his new Burton Cruiser with soft bindings that I strapped on with my ski boots.” Despite those stiff initial manoeuvres, the feeling of gliding sideways down a slope left Abel wanting more. Around the same time, he also discovered his passion for optimising and improving things, perfecting every last detail. 

His mother an avid skier and his father a passionate boater, Abel was no stranger to snow and water in his youth – nor to the means to navigate them. As a child he began skiing and then discovered his love for boards: snowboards, surfboards, windsurfing boards. Growing up in Munich, the Swiss-born boarder was part of the Eisbach surf scene, the underground surfers who honed their skills in the fast currents of the city’s rivers and streams. “Back then it was still illegal,” says Abel with a chuckle. “But it was also easy to escape from the police. All you had to do is jump in the water and get swept away by the current.”

Munich is also where Abel began a degree course in mechanical engineering. But he never really acquired a taste for the broad universalism of that academic discipline. Wanting to learn more specific topics, he moved to La Spezia, Italy, to pursue a highly interesting degree: yacht design. Abel explains, “It’s an incredibly multifaceted programme that combines architectural, technical and artistic aspects. You study various types of wood and composite materials, fluid dynamics, and much more. And it’s been very useful in my current work, which is designing and creating custom shaped snowboards.” 

After officially becoming a yacht designer, Andreas Abel started his career working for boat designers in Italy and Germany. But the call of the mountains grew louder and in 2010 Abel moved to Davos, an “El Dorado” for snowboarders, where he soon opened his snowboard workshop. 

Abel knew from experience how the surf scene had always naturally embraced the advantages of custom boards built to match the individual skill level and preferences of their owners. “But the snowboard scene didn’t really have custom boards; I decided it was time to change that.” Abel researched in web communities for information on the do-it-yourself, non-mass production of snowboards and felt motivated to pursue his idea. Soon afterwards, he started developing his own boards, riding them on the slopes of Davos, then tweaking and testing his creations, in countless iterations, until perfection seemed near. He programmed a dedicated development and production system (CAD/CAM) to control a computer-assisted milling machine. Together with his custom-built snowboard press, this equipment forms the centrepiece of Abel’s workshop and production. He also created an online configurator which customers can use to model their basic boards based on various criteria.

In 2016 Abel finally felt like he was ready to enter the market. He founded Abel Design & Engineering GmbH with the label TRIAAA®. The three A’s not only stand for Andreas Abel’s initials, but also for the configuration options for his “snowshapes”: “There are a lot of criteria, such as the stiffness or tapering, where I offer three different alternatives.”

When it came to pricing and marketing, Andreas Abel decided to seek support. “While researching online, I stumbled across Creative Hub and immediately decided to apply for the one-year Creative Link Coaching programme, and they actually accepted me!” During the coaching sessions, Andreas Abel received answers to his questions from experts like Alexander Fust from Saint Gallen (Management) or Dani Hess from Zurich (Online Marketing). Abel was able to grow his network through Creative Hub as well. Hanno Schwab from Early Bird Ski was one of those new contacts and a Creative Coaching alum. Abel comments, “The coaching sessions have been incredibly helpful and I would recommend them to anyone who is looking to launch a product or an idea. You have a regular contact person who supports you every step of the way. That’s incredibly valuable.” For others who may be interested in Creative Coaching, Abel even has a tip from someone who’s been there before: “Don’t show up to your sessions without specific questions. Your coach needs to know where you’re experiencing difficulties, because then he knows how to help.”

Andreas Abel’s next steps were just as clear and focused: revising his production system and extending the configurator to provide customers with an even greater selection of choices and customisation possibilities. More options were also added in the way of external details and snowboard art – like a print of Ski Jump from German expressionist painter Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, as part of a collaboration with the Kirchner Museum Davos. The workshop in Davos has also been expanded to include a store – as a meeting place for current and prospective customers, for consulting and testing the products. And in Pleasure Snowboard Magazin, TRIAAA will be featured with stories and products three times this season. 

And if anyone feels inspired to join Andreas Abel, he is still looking for a partner to take on the business, marketing and sales side of TRIAAA. Prospective partners take note: having a last name that starts with A is “nice to have”, but not mandatory.