Mtn. Ops is a company founded and run by Mark Sullivan, JP Stoermer and crew. Mark Sullivan has some good cred in the snowboard industry having done stints at Snowboarder Mag, Snowboard Mag, Unity and more. The crew has taken their knowledge and created a company that really does have more of a lifestyle feel than just a straight up snowboard company. Mtn. Ops has some cool boards, most of which are designed for the backcountry. Their outerwear line is small compared to a lot of companies but it is very functional and looks good too. Their website is also sick, offering links to all the major players (including snowrev.com thank you) but also offers updated snow forecasts from around the continent - so kind of one stop shop of web information for snowboarding which was very impressive. We talked to JP Stoermer, Co-founder and the guy in charge of technology there.

SR: Give us a little background on Mtn. Ops. Please

JP: Core company, made in the USA and all about supporting core riders, core shops, core brands and snowboarding

SR: When did you guys start?

JP: Started pretty much a year ago with Tailgate Alaska being our first big push in Valdez and on Thompson Pass. After that we started working on a site and finished that, moved on to products and here we are now

SR: So you make boards?

JP: Boards, outerwear, accessories all of which is backcountry durable free riding gear.

SR: So all backcountry?

JP: Exactly but we do have a twin tip rocker board and we do cater to that market. The main focus of the company is durable products and backcountry gear that we are out there using.

SR: Who is behind the company?

JP: Myself and Mark Sullivan from Snowboard Mag fame are the founders. We have got a really good team; Eric Pearson is our brand manager, Art McNulty, Joel McGinley and Nick Perata who runs the tailgate Alaska event.

SR: Does Nick Perata live in Idaho?

JP: Yep, Boise and that is where we are headquartered in Hailey

SR: So what about the sick webzone?

JP: The idea behind that is creating something that no one else has and creating our brand and community around true believers, is what we call them. It all goes along with the events. Mark Sullivan's approach is "Attack all angles and we will be successful at one"

SR: Mark has a little bit of experience in media background?

JP: (laughter) Just a small bit, he's a key player in all that so that helps a lot along with the solid team

SR: So the site has snow reports, does any other snowboard site have that?

JP: Not that I know of, not specifically a snowboard site with all that information. In addition to snow reports we give live weather. You can pull up the wind chill at your local hill. The idea behind the site was to deliver any and all information that I wanted to see at any time related to snowboarding at one page at one time and updated every time you come back

SR: Do you get reports from all over the country?

JP: Over 5,000

SR: So without looking at any other website you can get an idea where it has snowed in the US and up to date? JP: Yep, you bet. On the top of the site you can click on the new snow button and every hour it's going to show you the top 20 snow depths along with the web cam of that resort live so you can actually verify. There is mapping functionality so you can throw a live weather overlay right now and see where the storm systems are right now in the US. You can zoom in and pull up a web cam to verify. The idea behind it is to basically make your decision making before you head up the hill or backcountry that much easier.

SR: It all looks sick but is it hard starting a business in today's business environment?

JP: From my experience we have a solid team and that's whats pulling us through. Economically it is a difficult time but snowboarders are resourceful. For example we built this booth in Idaho and assembled it here for a fraction of the cost. Our approach is making it work no matter what

SR: Maybe it is easier to start at zero and build from the ground up during tough economic times versus being a big company and having everything pulled out from under you?

JP: Yea, that is a positive that we have going for us because if we can make it at this stage. We started a year ago and it's been up and down but thats how it is positive; we're making it, we're here, we've got the website, products, and things are going well. If we can be trim enough to make that happen while money's tight then we can be successful when things are better too. It's a good start versus having millions of dollars and blowing it

Mark Sullivan and JP Check out mtnops.com