I was driving along between the Napa and Sonoma valleys over a favorite road. It was a great little two day road trip and I was having a great time. Life is pretty good at moments like these and I had been reflecting on just that thought.
Then my phone rang. Being ever worried about the shop burning down while I am away, I picked up the call. It was Erik Anderson.
Erik is the VP of Fischer Skis who runs the show in North America. I assumed he wanted to discuss my vacuum boot order, which we had been trying to finalize. “Hey do you want to go to Austria?” Erik asked? “What??” I asked back?
“I called to invite you on a trip to Austria with some other dealers” Erik explained.
And there it was. An invitation to go to Austria, tour the Fischer factory and ski in the Alps for a few days. I accepted the invitation…
Well there are road trips. And then there was the 2011 Fischer dealer trip to Austria. All the fun gods got together and conspired to help us all let the good times roll. The crew consisted of six dealers, a few sales reps from around the country, four magazine writers/editors, and Erik Anderson and Matt Berkowitz from Fischer USA. No other dealers from west of Sun Valley and a sure east coast feel to the group. All super fun people, and I could tell a story about each one easily after knowing them for just a few days.
We got to tour the entire Fischer manufacturing facility (except the race room) including the opportunity to build our own skis (see photo above), have lunch with the staff in their lunchroom, and discuss the next few years products and the company’s direction beyond that with the product managers. Fischer is indeed a very impressive company. After seeing smaller ski companies like moment, the Fischer tour was overwhelming. This is a very clean and organized operation. The level of what happens here is simply a few notches above anything that a smaller builder could emulate. This is serious ski making! I walked away with a new found respect for the brand- and they were already one of my favorites. I was very impressed.
To top it all off there were two glorious days of skiing in the Alps. After weeks of no snow on the Alp, we got lucky. We ended up skiing one powder day and one bluebird groomer day. I got to ski (as is often the case) with some really, really good skiers. I was skiing in the Alps. I was skiing in mid April with great conditions. Not a bad gig! Now after 27 hours of travel, I am back in the Bay Area. Just a few weeks now until I am planted firmly onto the leather seat of a bicycle for three months on another great adventure. I would love to take a few days to digest the experience I just had but I cannot. There is no time. One thought keeps running through my head though- I am a seriously lucky man!
Erik is the VP of Fischer Skis who runs the show in North America. I assumed he wanted to discuss my vacuum boot order, which we had been trying to finalize. “Hey do you want to go to Austria?” Erik asked? “What??” I asked back?
“I called to invite you on a trip to Austria with some other dealers” Erik explained.
And there it was. An invitation to go to Austria, tour the Fischer factory and ski in the Alps for a few days. I accepted the invitation…
Well there are road trips. And then there was the 2011 Fischer dealer trip to Austria. All the fun gods got together and conspired to help us all let the good times roll. The crew consisted of six dealers, a few sales reps from around the country, four magazine writers/editors, and Erik Anderson and Matt Berkowitz from Fischer USA. No other dealers from west of Sun Valley and a sure east coast feel to the group. All super fun people, and I could tell a story about each one easily after knowing them for just a few days.
We got to tour the entire Fischer manufacturing facility (except the race room) including the opportunity to build our own skis (see photo above), have lunch with the staff in their lunchroom, and discuss the next few years products and the company’s direction beyond that with the product managers. Fischer is indeed a very impressive company. After seeing smaller ski companies like moment, the Fischer tour was overwhelming. This is a very clean and organized operation. The level of what happens here is simply a few notches above anything that a smaller builder could emulate. This is serious ski making! I walked away with a new found respect for the brand- and they were already one of my favorites. I was very impressed.
To top it all off there were two glorious days of skiing in the Alps. After weeks of no snow on the Alp, we got lucky. We ended up skiing one powder day and one bluebird groomer day. I got to ski (as is often the case) with some really, really good skiers. I was skiing in the Alps. I was skiing in mid April with great conditions. Not a bad gig! Now after 27 hours of travel, I am back in the Bay Area. Just a few weeks now until I am planted firmly onto the leather seat of a bicycle for three months on another great adventure. I would love to take a few days to digest the experience I just had but I cannot. There is no time. One thought keeps running through my head though- I am a seriously lucky man!
I probably will not get a chance to add another entry before fall, so have a great summer! I will miss you all and be damn glad to see you in the fall!
PS_Nicole already has an online story up in freeskier: http://freeskier.com/stories/pow-and-parties-austria-fischer-skis
PS_Nicole already has an online story up in freeskier: http://freeskier.com/stories/pow-and-parties-austria-fischer-skis
