CAPiTa Snowboards Founder Names His 2 Favorite Seattle Snowboard Shops
Blue Montgomery, Founder of CAPiTA Snowboards, recalls his rise to the top. “I got my diploma, walked across the stage, shook my principal’s hand, then packed up my car and drove to Utah,” Montgomery recounts of his high-school graduation. An avid snowboarder, he was eager to begin summer classes at the University of Utah so he could spend the winter quarter riding the Wasatch powder.
Soon after his first season there, he turned pro. He traveled the world for the latter half of the ’90s competing and doing photo shoots for industry mags like Transworld and Snowboarder, until landing in Seattle in 1999.
Despite hooking up with K2 and being offered the job of managing its team of athletes, Montgomery surrendered to his snowy entrepreneurial vision: He decided to create his own brand of snowboards. “In the same month, I quit my job, bought a house, and started CAPiTA,” he half chuckles. “I like to tell people they haven’t lived until they have $50,000 on a Visa card at 18 percent interest.”
The new boards popped up in 40 shops in four different countries. Seven years later, the company has grown to encompass 400 retailers in 26 countries, and now produces some 43 different models, selling more than 10,000 boards a year.
It sponsors five pro riders, and its designs have won multiple industry awards. Despite the growth and success, Montgomery has steered clear of larger retailers, since snowboarding is—you know—all about that indie spirit.
Blue should know of what he speaks. He further comments when asked to name the BEST SNOWBOARD SHOPS in Seattle:
Snowboard Connection (604 Alaskan Way, 467-8545) and…
Evo (122 N.W. 36th St., 973-4470).
“They’re two of the best snowboard shops in the country, and we’re lucky to have them in our city.”