Monday, March 31, 2008

Torn between two lovers

Well the weather has been really nice for the last month or so. Nice if you don't like new snow that is! Nice if you don't care about selling ski gear that is! Nice if you want to go bike riding or golfing that is! Oh well, I guess that's why I have been doing a bit of bike riding and golfing. I wish I was writing about an epic powder day but I am not. The season is grinding to a sunscreen protected twilight that will probably end in Tahoe at the end of April if nothing changes. Even if we get a get a big storm, not that many people will head up to ski as I think many people have mentally converted to a spring/summer mindset. Tahoe residents wake up every day to snowpack all around them. They are still in winter mode. Down here we wake up to sunshine and mild temperatures. Lot's of customers ask "if there is any snow left" at Lake Tahoe? Out of sight, out of mind. Yesterday I did a summer storage wax for a customer. It was the first one this year but they will be coming in regularly at this point. We have great prices and have brought in a bunch of closeout skis and boots but sales are a bit slower now and after the spring break rental returns, the rental department will be pretty lonely. I figure there is at least a month more business and 6-8 more ski days for me. Since we have a bit more free time we will use it wisely to do a full inventory count one category at a time. Then we will shift into spring cleaning and summer project mode. I am guessing that we will see Tahoe resorts close down at the end of the month for the most part. We may even be skiing at Mammoth for our final romp in early May. I hope not but that may be the case. It is strange to have an event like the staff Mammoth trip hanging out there. It is super fun so I kind of want it to be soon but as a business owner, I want it to be in June instead of May. Torn between two lovers? Wow, that was corny- on that note I'm off to the "office"...

Friday, March 21, 2008

About Peter Keelty


Peter Keelty is a skier that all skiers should love. He is fun to ski with for any style or level of skier. He is fun to just hang out with in general. An interesting and knowledgeable guide to ski with at Alta, Deer Valley, Snowbird or other Utah ski venues. With about 100 extra pounds he would look a lot like Santa Claus- and he has a matching "ho Ho Ho' type laugh to go along with the image. Mostly we should all love him because of all he has done for the sport that we love.
Peter has been a director of instructors, rental department setup guy, an industry sales rep and a host of other titles at snowy places all around the country. All the usual mountain jobs. Peter has also been a reviewer and writer for many important ski publications, and high level skier and instructor. He has designed or contributed to the development of products that many of you are currently using. Peter has for some time now been working with Harold Harb and John Clendenin on a variety of collaborative projects. Both are highly regarded ski industry icons. (see http://www.expertskier.com/members/index.html) . Together these folks have created a complete methodology for teaching and learning the art of skiing.
As a writer, Peter has now moved from magazines and newsletters to the world of the internet. Peter builds websites for CalSkiCo and many other ski industry folks. His own www.Realskiers.com site has (what I consider to be) the best ski reviews available anywhere. Done on a much larger scale than the standard magazine format, this is the only source of reviews that I really find to be accurate across the board. In addition, there are boot reviews, instructional information and links, a number of good articles on various and pertinent ski topics, and a members forum. Anyone looking to buy a ski really needs to use this resource. Check it out. It is on my short list of favorite places. I simply love good ski reviews!
Anyway, that's my unsolicited endorsement for Peter Keelty. Thanks for showing us around Utah. Also my personal thanks for about 40 years of contributions to our sport. Hope to see you in Mammoth this spring.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Happy people in Utah




As you can see from the photo, Rebecca was pretty happy to be sking in Utah. We all were. We were able to ski with Peter Keelty of www.realskiers.com fame on Monday and Tuesday and that was great. Peter combined a passholders tour of the resort with some great instruction each day. Monday at Deer Vallay was great with 6 of us. Tuesday at Alta with 7 in the group was great too. Wednsday we made a great decision and went back to Alta with a smaller group of 4. Todds dad's rental boots were fine so that was great. We were sking the greatest snow on earth and that was great. Both resorts we went to had no snowboarders and that is great. Todd picked all the resteraunts which were all great. I saw really great moguls for the first time in a while. We were all on gear that we think is great. The greatest thing however is being able to share these great things with people you enjoy spending time with and enjoying the experience together. SOOO glad I was able to take my daughters. They are simply the funniest and most fun girls on the planet. Throw Todd into the same room and I feel like I am watching a sitcom. Great times!

Thursday, March 6, 2008

The buying part is over

The Reno trade show has come and gone. I am now home contemplating various decisions that I made and packing to go to Utah on Sunday. I brought home some fresh new Head Mojo 94's to mount up and take on the trip, so that's exciting! Negotiations in Reno went well. A few new faces on our sticks will include a Palmer model (won't sell many but it is just SO awesome!), two models of Line skis, Full Tilt boots, POC helmets, and some new clothing lines. John and I had a great time amoung all the candy and brought home some Fischer race skis, the Mojo's, a pair of boots, a POC helmet and various other items. Leaving the building with all our loot we took some ribbing from various sales reps about having to pack up more goodies than them! The trip was mostly business but as is my way I always try to have a bit of fun as well. Tuesday night we went to a WWSRA sponsored party for cocktail and dinner with Brad our Stockli rep. There we closed the place down with "Alvie" from Rossignol, Neil from Sun Valley Ski tools, and Steve Baugh of Scott (as well as the namesake of "Baugh's bowl" in Grand Targhee). At the end the group of us was standing around one of the tables after everyone else had left. When the hotel staff cleared out the mess and eventually took away the kegs we all moved on to the Brews brothers bar. There we continued our Merriment and about 11:30 added Tequila to the group fun. Somewhere along the way I literally bumped into Doug Yeggy. He is one of my closest friends and lives in Chico. Doug was more than happy to join the fun. After a number of rounds of shots we headed up to John and my room for a final session of war stories. At about 2:15 the final hangers on gave in. All except Alvie. He went to have breakfast before bed. What a great group of people there are in the ski industry! A special thanks to Alvie for taking so much abuse about all things French the entire evening. All in good fun of coarse! Tuesday night was all work as John helped me make the tough decisions. A few tweaks will be made over the next month or so, but I now have a picture of the product mix for next year and it will be stronger than ever before. Now there are o few days of work at the shop and then Todd, his father, myself and both my daughters will be ripping up the slopes of the state with the greatest snow on Earth! Hopefully I will get in a few turns with Peter Keelty from Realskiers.com and Tony Hedgecock who is the Western sales manager of Head. Appropriately we will be skiing a Head Mojo 94 (me), a Head iM88 (Todd), a Head iM78 (Todds dad), a Head Wild Thang (daughter Rebecca), and a Fischer Vision Vapor (daughter Jennifer). At least Tony will know that we are comitted to his brand! I'll let you know how it went when I get back.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Time to buy!

So in this wacked out industry it's time to buy for next year. I leave for Reno for three days tomorrow and by the end I will have turned in my orders for next years inventory. Yes, a month ago I first saw it, a few weeks ago I tried the skis, and tomorrow I go to place my orders for next year. I think it is appropriate that the show is in Reno since I will basically be rolling the dice. Two big question marks: 1)It has been sunny and warm for a few weeks now. Will winter return with a vengence and clean out lot's of inventory, or will March be warm and sunny and pretty much end the sales season? and 2) How will the economy/weather treat me next year? On both points you can guess what I would like to have happen. The real question is "do I feel lucky"? If I go conservative on the buy I am safe but risk losing sales because I will run out of inventory items. If I go for it and commit to more product I can reap the benefits of a huge year (That's exactly what happened this year) but I could also end the year with too much carry over and no cash. That means boiled potatoes all next summer instead of steak (or at least hamburger)! A few years of bad choices in a row and I could be the next independant retailer to disapear. That would suck for me and I believe for you and indeed for all of America too. Therefore, if you have any inside information regarding the rest of this season or next years weather, please let me know. Untill I hear from you I will simply be driving up the hill, putting down my money, and hoping for a blackjack. Wish me luck!