TPM Episode 451: Peter Mehrhof, Pro Skier, Wakeboard Engineer

The Powell Movement

Mike Powell

Leisure, Hobbies, Sports

4.9 • 860 Ratings

🗓️ 22 September 2025

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Peter Mehrhof was an early part of the "New School" ski movement but in the long run, Peter cared more about school than being a pro skier. Coming up in Mammoth, Peter was champion water skier and a fast ski racer who eventually made a pivot to the park and pipe and in no time was on the K2 Factory Team. And then Pete chose college and disappeared form skiing, only to resurface behind a boat and a desk in the world of wakeboarding. It's a cool story of a pioneer and engineer. Don Wallace asks the Inappropriate Questions.

Peter Mehrhof Show Notes:

Peter Mehrhoff Show Notes:

4:00: Oakley, Water skiing, hurt on the water, ski racing, the mammoth crew, and being good at stuff,

22:00: Liquid Force, Feel the Pull and get 15% off your LF Purchase by using the code Powell15 at checkout

Stanley: The brand that invented the category! Only the best for Powell Movement listeners. Check out Stanley1913.com

Best Day Brewing: All of the flavor of your favorite IPA or Kolsch, without the alcohol, the calories or sugar.

23:00: Tournament water skiing, wakeboarding, his little brother, quitting racing, K2, Vashon, Kaluha Halfpipe Jam, and money

39:30: Elan Skis: Over 75 years of innovation that makes you better.

Outdoor Research: Click here for 25% off Outdoor Research products (not valid on sale items or pro products)

41:30: Filming, covers, college instead of the ski dream, water skiing accident before school starts, engineering, designing waves, Liquid Force,

57:00: Inappropriate Questions with Don Wallace

Transcript

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0:00.0	Have a seat on your porcelain throne.
0:02.3	It's time to talk some shit on the Powell movement.
0:13.5	Welcome to the Powell movement.
0:16.9	I'm your host Mike Powell, and I'm looking for the positives in life during this intro. So it's going to be a quick one this week. I mean, I've spent the past three years telling you about all the shitty stuff in my life, and it's time to start thinking about all the good I have going on. And I've got a great kid. I've got a great crew of friends that I see when they aren't doing shit with their families. I have two jobs. I mean, shit, I know some people that don't even have one. And what else do I have going on? Well, it's football season, and what I'm really looking forward to is ski season. That's the one place in life where I forget about my life for a few minutes at a time. It's also the one place where I'm not bored or lonely, because I have no time to think about being bored or lonely or else I'm in trouble. So while life has been terrible, well, it still
0:59.6	fucking sucks, so much for being positive. But what I am psyched for about this week is my
1:04.3	interview with Peter Mirhoff. Pete was an early K2 factory teamer and one of the first new
1:09.4	schoolers to make a name for himself in the States. Peter was also on the all-time Oakley and K2 factory teamer and one of the first new schoolers to make a name for himself in the
1:11.2	States. Peter was also on the all-time Oakley and K2 teams in the beginning of free skiing, and then
1:16.8	he disappeared. On the podcast, we find out what happened to Pete and a whole lot more. Before I get into it,
1:23.1	I want to thank you for listening. I want to ask you to subscribe wherever you listen. And if you like
1:28.2	the podcast, please tell a friend that really helps the show grow. Finally, I want to thank my
1:33.6	incredible sponsors who make this thing happen. They are Elon Skies, Stanley, Outdoor Research, Best
1:39.9	Day Brewing, and Liquid Force. Now it's time to chat with Peter Mirhoff.
1:46.3	When I look at your job title on paper, senior engineer for liquid force, things have totally
1:52.0	changed for you because there was a time and that time was maybe highlighted by your iconic
1:56.5	Oakley ad that you had way back in the day.
1:59.2	And that ad had a paragraph in it that was like,
2:01.4	we used to joke about the mountain being our office and building kickers was our projects and
2:06.5	killing the pipe was our assignments. That was the whole advertisement that you put out. And that was
2:10.7	like an iconic ad. And it blew a lot of kids' minds and it changes a lot of people in skiing's minds,
2:15.7	I feel like. But did you really write that
2:17.7	copy or is that more Oakley marketing magic? Yeah, that was totally me as an 18 year old kid.
	...

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