Well we have closed the doors for the season. This year the staff went to Bend Oregon after closing to ski Mt. Bachelor just as we had last year. A great time was had although the snow was not fantastic. Not that I am complaining. Spring skiing is great and we didn't need to ski for eight hours every day. This is meant to be a thanks to the staff and a general wind down as we head into the summer months. Swimming, Golf, mini golf, Mountain Biking, and hiking filled in the time in the afternoon. Cooking big meals and hanging out topped off the evenings. A great ending to a great ski year!
As I looked at the people present at the condo, I thought of how much of a diverse group we were. I saw people from 9 months old to 74. My eighteen year old daughter had headed over from school in Eugene. Roman had driven up from Lake Tahoe as had Neil "the squirrel" Harris. Rick Copeland came from Mendocino. And then there were the East Bay employees of the ski shop. We covered about every race, religion, political bent, age, and socio economic category. What brings us together? Skiing! What a great activity!
And what a year to be a skier! Awesome snow conditions. Fantastic new types of skis. Cheaper than ever seasons passes. I hope you took advantage of it!
Here at the shop we had a great ski year as well as a great year for sales. The register started ringing early. Overall sales volume was record breaking. The staff was (as usual) simply awesome. The customers were (also as usual) fantastic. We sold down to a very clean position on inventory. What can I say after a year like this except- THANKS!
Now for the summer break. What will I do? There may be a Mammoth ski trip coming up. There will be some golf played with staff. I will get to ride my bike(s) a lot. My Miata will get some track time and a lot of twisty road action. I will be building a friend a new road bike.
My daughters will be around to play with. Maybe some co-ed soccer?
I guess I will also have to cross some chores off the list too. You know, clean the garage, fix the fence. That sort of thing. But that's ok. I can schedule it around the fun stuff!
At work the list is pretty long too. As usual John and I will be doing general maintenance on the machines. Painting and polishing is needed here and there. Some new slatwall will be getting installed. A big project will be the boot areas for both retail and in the lab part of the back shop. Two more boot presses, another water tank, a freezer, and another grinder will have to be fit into the lab. On the retail floor we are finally going to raise the boot fitting benches so that we can get up off our knees when we do a fitting. Yes!
So for now, I will be going into the shop 2-3 days a week and playing hard the rest of the time. If you need something ski related, just give us a call at the shop. If we are not there, we will get back to you to make an appointment. Fall seems a long way off right now. Experience suggests that it will come sooner than expected. Before you know it we will be skiing in Tahoe again. In the meantime, we must all do what we need to so that we are ready for the season. Have a fun Summer!
