‘The Last Ski Maker in Scotland’ follows one man on a mission to keep the handmade ski craft alive.
For all its snowy days, rolling hills, highland summits, and lush forests, Scotland has but one ski-maker. His name is Jamie Kunka, and he’s the lone man behind Lonely Mountain Skis, the last ski company in the land.
When I read the synopsis for “The Last Ski Maker in Scotland,” I imagined the film crew would follow around some sagacious, ruddy-complected elder. You know — a real prototypical Scotsman, a salt-of-the-earth woodworker turned artisan. How very wrong I was.
Kunka is rather young and wasn’t raised into a life of woodworking. In fact, he began teaching himself how to carve up wooden skis only 10 years ago. “I’d always aspired to be a one-man craftsman,” Kunka said.
This brief film follows Kunka as he handmakes each pair of freeride skis, fusing traditional techniques with sustainable wisdom.
Give it a watch, and then head to lonelymountain.ski to learn more about the Scottish microski-maker and peruse its catalog.
Runtime: 6.5 minutes
