Friday, December 21, 2007

From Texas with Love


Wow, super busy and intense at the shop right now. Most of us will work 6-7 days this week. Every day is big numbers and we need it to pay the Jan 10th bills, so it is welome chaos. My best friend from High School and Chico State lives in Texas. Our kids know each other well and his son Casey is visiting for his second ever trip to the snow. That's him in the photo. My two daughters are going up with him (and everyone else in the Bay Area) this weekend. Conditiojns are great, and they should have a great time- SNOWBOARDING! Yes, as Casey is a rookie, it will be more fun to go snowboarding as they will all suck at it together. Thanks to Chris at NorSki for the snowboard gear and here is wishing you all a great holiday ski adventure! See ya next year!

Friday, December 14, 2007

My winner


I gotta say that my demo day winner was the Stockli Stormrider XXL. One thing i always look for in a ski is that it is powerful. unfortunatly that means it is ussually heavy. this time i acttually found a very powerful ski that also skis fairly light. How you may ask. ISO core and Stockli. The ISO core is Stocklis answer to synthetic light weight skis. the ski hugs the ground like a race car with a big spoiler but is light in and out of the turn. At first i was a little apprehensive to take it, full speed throught the changing snow conditions of the day from soft and forgiveing to icy and fast, But the more i skied it, the more it showed me that it stays constitant through all of the conditions. It cuts through ice and hard pack smoothly and effortlessly, its unfaised by loose, skied out snow, but is still lively and energetic in and out of the turn. Stockli Stormrider XXL, two thumbs up from me!

Thursday, December 13, 2007

It takes a company





We went to Alpine Meadows Monday and Tuesday for the first industry demo of the year. This demo is set up to ski the models that are currently out there being sold. It lets us answer any lingering questions we have about the skis and/or let any new employees get a chance to try them out. Unlike the February event, which is serious business for us, we always have a nice relaxed time at this event as there is no pressure on us or the company reps.

We stayed both nights at Neil’s house on the North Shore as usual. Get up, make breakfast and off we go. Nine lift tickets on the business visa, drop off the keg at the Fischer tent, poach a great parking spot in the demo section, store the demo Stockli skis, boot up, score demo goggles, poles, a helmet, (whatever you want to try) from a vendor and ski all day. What a life.

All of our brands are skiing real well. Unfortunately, Head was a no show for this event. They are transitioning to a new sales rep and have basically botched the process from my point of view, including this demo situation. Head skis are very important to us and it was a real drag not having them there to compare. We have tested them enough to know the line intimately but the subtle nuances are discovered with even more time on them.

Fischer seemed to be the big winner this year. We always like the Fischer skis, but right now they are really peaking. Many potential new dealers were showing serious interest. Also, when I asked vendors what hardware they liked (outside of their own brand) the Fischer name was always part of the mix.

So both Head and Fischer are now skiing as well as any other brand out there. Both want to jump to the top and be “the next big thing”. Can either one of them do it? Every year we ski the “current big thing” and it is always at least a very competent ski. Often it is a fantastic ski, but not always. Always it is supplied by a company that has a great marketing department, fantastic advertising direction, killer graphics, solid and timely distribution, and a certain “buzz” about the company in general. Can either Head or Fischer be the next big thing? Time will tell. If they can do it I will be happy to go along for the ride. The skis are ready, however skis are not enough. It takes a company.

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Stockli Claus


Ho Ho Ho! Last night I left work right at the closing bell and headed for Fresno. I was home in bed by 1:00am with 9 pairs of Stockli Demo skis. Our Stockli rep Brad Johnson (great guy, I really like Brad) is going to be out of town for a few weeks and cannot make our industry Demo Days on Tuesday and Wednesday. Being the benevolent dealer that I am, I agreed to make the drive down and haul the Demo Fleet up to Alpine Meadows for the event. With only a few NorCal dealers, this should work out fine. The great side effect is that we will have the skis through early January. If you want to get a ride on a Stockli, we will have everything available to try for about a month! A car full of great ski buddies, a box of Stocklis on top of the rig, and two days to ski everything available from any manufacturer... what a great job I have!