LaFrance: Yes, and I really loved the job the first couple of years. I’d tear apart phone books and use a computer program called Streets & Trips to navigate. I was given a van and a list of accounts and told, “Let us know how things go.” I had to figure out my whole schedule. LaFrance: It was quite an eye-opener for a kid from Spokane who’d never gone off to college. After a couple of winters, that led to a full-time job as a tech rep for Dynastar, and I left Spokane and moved to Northern California in ’97. When I was working with Darrell, a gentleman from Seattle named Larry Asay – a ski rep for Dynastar, Lang and Look – came to me and said, “Darrell is going to be mad if I steal you, but I think you could be a lot more than what you’re doing now.” He asked me to help him with demos. S-R: Was there a moment that changed the direction of your life? I did sales and ran the back of the ski shop – ski tuning and mounting bindings. My senior year I started working for Darrell Perdue at Wintersport and stayed with him for six years. S-R: Did you have a career in mind during high school? Some of the jumps we built in Camelot back in the ’80s are still there. LaFrance: I played some school sports but didn’t enjoy the team atmosphere. S-R: How about extracurricular activities? And my art teacher, Gary Baskett, was awesome. I struggled with traditional subjects, but always enjoyed working with my hands. S-R: Did you have a favorite class in high school? I did the whole Camelot neighborhood on my BMX bike. LaFrance: Delivering newspapers, starting when I was 13. He launched his company – Grizzly Adventure Vans – in January, and already has a five-month backlog of orders.ĭuring a recent interview, LaFrance discussed telecommuting, tricks of the trade and a van named “Tank.” “I remember sleeping in the parking lot at Mount Rose, near Reno, when the temperature got down to around 13 degrees and having to start the engine a few times to stay warm.”īy comparison, the conversions LaFrance builds now are rolling condos, complete with solar power, custom cabinetry, swivel seats and auxiliary heat. So I put a wall behind the front seats and designed it to fold down into a bed.” “It was a fairly new Ford E350, and when I loaded 30 pairs of skis with sharp edges, it felt dangerous. The first van LaFrance customized was owned by Dynastar, a winter sports company. “I might arrive at a mountain resort late, tune skis until 2 or 3 in the morning, then get up early for the next day’s demos,” LaFrance said. During two decades working for recreational equipment manufacturers, David LaFrance frequently found himself bedding down in company vans stuffed with gear.
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