The "Dawson" Ski-Chair Project

Since the time my two daughters started skiing almost twenty five years ago, I have been hoarding my family's old skis with the intention of recycling them into something memorable and with sentimental value. The number one project candidate was the Adirondack ski chair I had seen at many a ski lodge. Several years ago, I began researching Adirondack chair design and came across a wonderful manufacturer of furniture who used all sorts of sports equipment to create unique outdoor furniture. SkiChair.com. Headed by "Chair Man of the Boards" Mike Bellino and located in Millbury MA, their mission is to keep used sports equipment out of landfills. I purchased the plans for their design but never found the time to actually carry through with my plan.

In late 2015, I was diagnosed with acute stage 4 pancreatic cancer. When it became apparent that despite the long odds, my condition was improving, I needed a project to help distract me during the awful chemotherapy treatments. My wife Laurie inspired me to tackle the ski chair project. All through 2016 I worked as time permitted and created the two ski-chairs pictured below using 8 pair of skis that were one time used by myself, my wife Laurie and daughters Leanne and Carly.

The first ski-chair, made with my skis (inside), my father's skis (middle) and my mother's skis (outside). Using White Cedar.

The second ski-chair, made with another pair of my skis (inside), Leanne's skis (middle) and Carly's skis (outside). Again using White Cedar.

When my two daughters saw the first chair, they went absolutely nuts! The sentimental value of having the skis used during so many happy family ski trips was astonishing. Both chairs were centered by skis I had used. The surrounding skis on the first belonged to my mother and late father. The surrounding skis on the second were the first "real" skis used by my daughters. The ottomans used other family related skis from the collection. Underneath each chair, I also wrote a dedication to my family and daughters. These two chairs have been the centerpieces of many a family gathering! Both daughters have been promised, much to their delight, that these will be passed down to them in the future.

Our first grandson Dawson was born in March 2017 and during that summer the thought of building him his own ski chair entered my mind. I decided to make this chair a Christmas gift and embarked on a secret project to accomplish this by December 25.

The almost 4 month old Dawson and I in Ski-Chair #1, July 4, 2017.

The problem was finding a suitable "child-size" design. Upon consulting several design guidelines for children's furniture, I decided to put my 3D design skills using the Autodesk Inventor software to use by creating a child-size version of the skichair.com design. After a lot of hours of trying various iterations of the design, I came up with something that I think will serve him well for at least 10 years.

I decided to try a different wood and upon consulting with several suppliers, I decided to construct this chair using African Mahogany. I loved its strength and light weight as well as the color. Unfortunately, I did not have any skis from my daughter's childhood (They were recycled for use at various ski swaps) so I obtained 2 pair of what I considered "very boyish" children's skis at a local ski swap. I also wanted to incorporate some personal touches, thus the front appliques with his initials and of course, a written dedication underneath.

Some "in-progress" pictures below...