Words Colin Wiseman and Pete Saari Captions Pete Saari I t’s a sunny fall day at Banana Way in Carlsborg, WA. Seems like it’s always sunny in Carlsborg, on the northern coast of the Olympic Peninsula, in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains. Pete Saari’s busy at the Mervin Manufacturing compound, fulfilling his duties as vice president of creativ-ity. Now 58, Pete’s been working there his whole adult life alongside Mike Olson and assorted long-term creative com-rades, building and growing Gnu, Lib Tech, Bent Metal Binding Works, and now ski, surf and wake-surfing programs. Pete has his hands in almost every aspect of the business, from long-term growth strategies to daily engagement with the factory floor and everything in between. Recently, Pete and his family—including partner, Annette, and their kids Hoko and Ailo—moved to the peninsula full time. It was always the plan, but one expedited by the COVID pandemic. They’re about 10 minutes from Banana Way now, with a selection of cold-water waves not too far afield, the mountains a half hour above, biking and hiking and other natural draws at their fingertips. That means the family can work and play in the same day. And the lines between work and play are often blurred, whether testing new snowboard shapes at Hurricane Ridge or new surf designs at the coast. Today, Pete’s trying to turn off his firehose of obligations so we can go surf. It takes him till noon. That’s when we meet at his house in a field a few steps from a high bluff overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca. There’s a nearly done skate bowl just off the driveway, about to be poured. That’ll happen in a few days. Today, we’ll load up his well-travelled 2000 Ford van and make the winding drive to the coast to surf a favorite beach break. It’ll be empty, chest-high, foggy and fun. Pete runs with the energy of a lifelong board-riding addict. He still rips—in 2016, he took home gold duct tape in the Grand Masters divi-sion of the Mt. Baker Legendary Banked Slalom. Catch him in the water or on the hill, and you’ll see that energy in play, a flow that never ends. Surf, snow and skate are part of his daily routine, interwoven with the myriad responsibilities of running a business and raising a family. He and Annette live a fully integrated lifestyle driven by board sports, one that allows them to stay in the kitchen when it comes to cooking up market-friendly passion projects and maintaining an extended work/play family of folks dedicated to expanding the horizon of snow-sliding and beyond. With a small surf quiver in the back, the van beeps as we pull out of the driveway. Pete assures me it will stop. We launch into conversa-tion; one of three we will have over the next few days. He answers my questions with a circular cadence, a thought process that goes micro to macro and back again. Context is key for Pete. And he always arrives at a reasonably clear conclusion. It’s emblematic of a man who has worked by feel for much of his life, but always with a big picture on the horizon. We roll tape. Later, he’ll write a series of anecdotal intricacies that help color between the lines of our meandering dialogue. What follows is our conversations, edited for length and clarity, and interspersed with a few of the many first-person highlights he’s created by chasing a life in the toy factory. PETE SAARI 071
The Snowboarder's Journal The Snowboarder's Journal 20.4: Page 71
