Franco Snowshapes is the work of Mikey Franco: custom snowboards, each designed, built, and finished in-house in Victor, Idaho, at the base of the Tetons.
Alex Isley · Photo: Keegan Rice
Photo: Keegan Rice
Mikey Franco · Shaper
Mikey has been riding since 1984 and shaping since 2010 — an AASI National Team Alumnus who builds that same expertise into every shape, one at a time, about fifty a year.
Process, finished boards, and days on the mountain.
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Photo: Keegan Rice and Mikey Franco.
Commissions
Every shape starts with three questions.
How you ride, what’s missing from your quiver, and what you can’t find anywhere else.
01
Timber
Twelve proven Franco shapes, each finished in a wood veneer of your choosing.
Whitebark pine veneer +$500
Harvested from standing dead whitebark pine on the slopes of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, each whitebark topsheet ships with the GPS coordinates of its tree's exact location. Extremely limited in supply — once it's gone, it's gone.
A day on snow with Mikey. He watches, then he builds.
Mikey has spent nearly 40 years at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort as an instructor, coach, and backcountry guide. On-Snow puts that same movement analysis and mountain knowledge directly into your shape, built on terrain he's guided for four decades.
Vintage Japanese kimono sash, laminated under glass.
As built for Greg
Whitebark Pine
House-cut on the mountain. GPS-marked to the tree.
Shaped for Carter/NST
Custom Exposed Core
The structural layer, left visible on purpose.
As built for Donny
Pigment-dyed silk
Dyed by hand, one piece at a time.
As built for Jen
Franco Reserve
No two the same.
Gold Leaf/Carbon Fiber
As built for Calvin
Pressed Real Autumn Leaves
Mikey’s own
Hermès Scarf
As built for Ron
Every Commission
Born From You. Built For You.
At Franco Snowshapes, you are not anonymous. Every rider works directly with shapers Mikey Franco and Jordan Brown, and master tuner Ron Murray, to build a shape around who you are. Rooted in over 40 years of movement analysis, instruction, and guiding, every Franco customer fills out a Rider Genome Profile, regardless of tier. It looks at:
Basics
Who you are and how to reach you.
Bio-metric
How your body moves and what it prefers.
Psycho-metric
How you ride, how you think, and what drives you.
Enviro-metric
Where you ride and the conditions that shape your experience.
Soul
What riding means to you and the feel you want your shape to carry.
With the Timber tier, your answers point to which of the twelve proven shapes fits you best. On a Tailored or Reserve build, they go further — becoming a design blueprint that determines flex, sidecut, composite structure, stringer placement, camber, taper, and effective edge, before a single line is drawn.
Warranty: Franco Snowshapes stands behind its equipment with a limited lifetime warranty against defects in materials or workmanship, to the original purchaser. It does not cover normal wear and tear, improper use or handling, damage from failing to follow Care and Maintenance instructions, or accessories not manufactured by Franco. For full terms or to request service, contact [email protected].
A 50% deposit reserves your place in the build queue; full payment moves you to the priority list.
Cancellation: Deposits may be cancelled within 24 hours for a full refund, less a $250 reservation fee. Once your design process begins, deposits are non-refundable.
Order changes: Once a design is signed off, changes carry a $500 fee, plus the cost of any materials already committed to the original design.
Returns: Completed orders are built to your individual Rider Genome Profile and are not eligible for return. Defects are covered under the warranty above.
Timeline: Build times (Timber: 1–3 months; Tailored/Reserve: by consultation) are estimates.
Material grade pricing
This is about aesthetics, not performance — topsheet art, inlays, pigments, or any other ingredient or process that goes above and beyond the standard build. Tailored and Reserve builds each include an allowance for this. If your choice costs more than that allowance, here's what it adds to your price:
Example: a vintage Japanese obi you choose for a Tailored shape costs $500 to source. That falls in the $251–$500 bracket below, so it adds a flat $400 to your price — not a dollar-for-dollar passthrough, just enough to cover the sourcing and handling without eating into your build's margin.
Tailored — the first $250 of aesthetic work is included.
Cost above the allowance
Added to your price
$251–$500
+$400
$501–$750
+$750
$751–$1,000
+$1,100
Reserve — the first $750 of aesthetic work is included.
