We should be having fun now!

We should be having fun right about now up in the Sierra.



But we aren't unless we are up high or at a few select resorts.
Many of the Sierra resorts have closed and a few more probably should. Carson Pass is said to have a few pockets of good snow but not much is good in the back country either it seems.

There are a few exceptions that we keep hearing about:
Mt. Rose is way up high and still skiing well this spring.
Mt. Batchelor has had it's own weather system all year and is holding snow well into the spring.
Alta has considerably more snow than any of the other Salt Lake resorts and is good to go for spring skiing.
Brians Head in Southern Utah is having a better than average year.
When on the phone to Fischer skis back in New Hampshire I actually heard "I am so sick of winter! It's snowing again today!" To which I replied that I was going to golf tomorrow. I'm not really going to golf but I knew that would make him jealous. It was all I had in response to the snowpack in New England.

So it is not dry everywhere at least.

So will you find the time and make one last trip?

It is not seeming that anyone is still enthused here at the shop...

We are having what may be the biggest markdown sale in the history of the business and we only had a few sales today. We spent all day ordering shop supplies for summer maintenance and to be ready for next year.

Which we better start preparing for now because the forecasts are coming in!

Here are two:

ECMWF:  December looks wet, and we all will certainly be crossing our fingers that this verifies. California is in the midst of a truly devastating and historic drought. January and February looks warm. February could be wetter than average for northern California.

Farmers Almanac:  a warmer than average winter, although not by too much. January is slightly on the wet side. 

Fingers crossed! I may try to ski one more time. Then I golf, cycle, fish, etc.

If you are not busy and want to save some serious money come on by before April 12th. All skis are 40-60% off. Everything else is cheap too. We would be happy to see you!

Travelling to snow on the cheap

We have been selling a lot of bags lately. It seems that the customers are willing to travel to find good snow. And traveling to Tahoe has not gotten the job done lately. So our customers are flying all over. Employees too. John just spent 5 days at Jackson Hole and Erik was at Copper Mountain in Colorado this week. 

Basically people want to follow the snow. So how much would it cost to go out of state to ski?

I thought I would do some research...

Where is the snow? Utah has some good snow, and I have gone there enough to know it is pretty cheap and easy.

I like to ski at both Deer valley and Squaw Valley. Both are great. Utah is more exotic and Deer Valley has won the award as best resort in North America 3 of the last 5 years in Ski Magazine. Plus Utah has had better snow this year. Actually it almost always has better snow- it is right on the License plates- they say "greatest snow on earth"!

So exactly how much more would it cost to go to ski Deer Valley for a day? I Picked March 18th as a good day because I have that day off and I looked it up. 

Deer Valley

Transportation:

Southwest Airlines leaves Oakland at 6am on 3/18/15 and arrives at 8:45 for just $49

Southwest leaves for home at 8:10pm so I can have dinner before I leave. It arrives at 9:05 for $59

All Resorts Express charges $90 round trip to take you to the resort of your choice.

Lift ticket is Free with a boarding pass from the same day through SkiUtah.com or go to

Total ski cost $0

Total transportation cost $198

Total cost is $198

Squaw Valley

Transportation:

Leave at  6am and it is a three hour drive covering 183 miles each way.

Eat Dinner and leave Squaw at 6:00pm and you are home at 9:00pm.

 At 20 miles per gallon it is 18.3 gallons of gas. Assuming $3 per gallon that runs $54.90 for fuel

(Using Federal Guidelines of .575 per mile reimbursement cost it is $210.45)

Lift Ticket bought with at least a two day advance is $95 ($24 savings from "at the window")

Total cost is $149.90 with just gas at $3 per gallon)

So you can see it is not that much more to go skiing in Utah.

And you leave and arrive home at about the same time depending upon where you live.

I looked up Lodging and the Yarrow hotel is $139 in Park City Utah. Squaw Valley lodge starts at $159

So a second day is not too much more either!

Something to think about... and if you have other travel tips or ideas let us know so we can pass them on!

Diect link to the free pass at Deer Valley:

http://www.skiutah.com/blog/authors/eric/how-about-a-free-lift-pass-to-park-city-the-canyons-or-deer-valley 

All Resorts Transportation_ http://allresort.com/

Squaw tickets and lodging- http://squawalpine.com/

Jackson has such nice legs!

This last week has been eventful. We were very busy at the shop over the weekend. We have four new hires running around looking confused but interested. We have had multiple product clinics including Dynafit, Fischer, Stockli, Toko...the list goes on.  Then on Monday the shop sent a crew up to Masterfit University boot training in Reno. We do boot training on a regular basis through a variety of different groups that have things they can teach us. This is the one that is the biggest (and the closest) however and I always enjoy it. So this year I went along for the two day class as well.
Three of us were in the "Dark Arts" group which is the most experienced group of fitters. It is always so great to be able to get deep into boot fitting with people that have so much experience. Greg Hoffman, Jack Rafferty, and Jim Schaffner were the instructors for this years session. All three are legends in the world of ski boot fitters and are all very good instructors to boot!

Jackson Hogan's stance is being scrutinized by Greg Hoffman. I think Greg is saying "nice superior extensor retinaculum!" I love this place!

Also in the Dark Arts group were Corty Lawrence, Jackson Hogan, a Canadian or two, some folks from Viking Ski in Chicago (always good boot folks over the years) and a number of other people that I really enjoyed spending time with. It is just not that often that we get to spend time with our peers like this. Most of the time we are working hard to keep your feet happy in our own little world without too much of a chance to come up for air. I always feel very lucky that I get to work with a group of bootfitters as talented as the ones here at the shop. We have gotten to know each other as fitters so well over time, however, that we love to get out and freshen it up with some other boot geeks!
It is also great to be able to talk business with people that I respect very much in the industry. While we are on one level "competitors", we are also all in this together and only wish the best for each other. Also interesting is getting to chat with the many ski shop folks taking the more basic classes from shops all over the place. Sports Basement had some folks there. SSV employees from Any Mountain and Northstar were well represented too. Everyone seemed to be learning a lot, having a great time, and very passionate about selling boots.
There is also a great social vibe and we spent a dinner downtown with Phil Pugliese (Start Haus)and his wife Trish (www.OnTheSnow.com). Trish also works at True North at Northstar and her co-worker came along too. Lots of Chinese food was consumed and a good time was had by all. I went back and turned in early but a few of the younger (or at least feeling younger) boys and girls came back and headed right for the casino floor.
So now it is back to the shop to compare notes from the different classes and breakout sessions. And we will start full time hours this week too. Boreal opened today. It is all happening. I love it. Winter is coming!