The Story and Inspiration Behind Coda Custom Boards & Skis

Our Story

Until the closing of the 2006/2007 North American ski season, our Ridgecrest, California lab operated under the name of the "Yama Board and Ski Company" which was founded in the 1980s by Michael Lish. Coda president Chad Houck began his association with Yama in 1991 as a monoski customer and began participating in fabrication a few years later. In 2005, Lish worked with Chad to take on Yama production operations with the establishment of a Ridgecrest facility and the launch of internet sales. Increased sales soon pushed production capacity limits, and, in May 2007 plans to improve the Ridgecrest lab coincided with the rebranding of the company and spinning off from Lish with his support:

As Coda Custom Boards and Skis, the fabrication process has improved with each passing year to incorporate the latest industry standards. We added custom snowboards and snow skis, and we are the only boutique ski builder that can easily build "one-off" shapes, cambers, and graphics.

Our "home" for R&D and for spiritual recharging is Mammoth Mountain California.  We also support the annual Monopalooza gathering.

As part of being able to provide custom graphics for our boards and skis, we are also one of only few in the world that will do small runs of custom topsheets and bases for other boutiques and home builders.