Report from Portillo

This post comes from Joe Schmitt, one of our regular customers. Joe lives in Sonoma County and has been a regular customer of ours for a number of years now. Joe helped me connect with Peter Keelty, John Clendenin, the Clendenin Ski Method (http://www.skidoctors.com/ or phone 970.544.0300), and ultmately our association with the Realskiers ski reviews (http://www.expertskier.com/) and their related web site. Joe has spent a good amount of time learning from both John and Peter. He has attended John's camps since 2002. This report is from his most recent experience. Greg This was my third trip to Portillo and proved to be one of the most memorable as compared to the others. Conditions were excellent with ample snow coverage giving us the opportunity to explore the many off piste areas accessible by the lift system. The lack of weekday crowds provided for all the skiing we could manage, especially with the lifts operating until 5 PM. Nancy, and I were part of a group of 20 students attending the Clendenin Method ski week in the Andes. We were split into three groups based upon skiing ability and enthusiasm levels, which were pretty high judging from the fact that most of us were on the hill on the first Saturday afternoon following a long overnight flight from the US. The coaches consisted of three top level Aspen ski instructors and two time world freestyle champion, John Clendenin. A typical day would begin with a warm up run or two followed by intense drills emphasizing the skiing techniques particular to this program. During the afternoon we were on the steeps and bumps applying what we had learned from the able teaching staff. There are some runs that actually drop down from either side of the valley into the frozen lake requiring a hike out and up to access the lifts. Some of the runs are so steep that the only lift system capable of withstanding the regular avalanches is a cable serviced multi-seat poma device that can be tricky to negotiate since you are riding shoulder to shoulder with four others. We enjoyed the US and Canadian world cup teams training while we were there. Several members of the group opted for a day of heliskiing making descents from 13000 feet in the shadow of Aconcagua which loomed above at over 22800 feet. The slopeside hotel supplied us with comfortable rooms and three gourmet meals a day to fuel ourselves for the abundant amounts of vertical taken in. However, the lunchtime vista from a mid-mountain restaurant called "Tio Bob's" proved to have views too incredible to pass up on clear days. Finally finishing with a morning ski on the eighth day, we returned to Santiago for a final evening's dinner with a lot of the people giving testimonial on the past week's highlights and skiing breakthroughs, or as John likes to call them "epiphanies." On Sunday, before flying home, we had a chance to take in some much needed hydration and carbohydrate replacement therapy. I have been skiing with John Clendenin since 2002, attending many of his ski camps and establishing a lasting friendship. Here we are sharing a moment in the South American sun.

Free Avalanche Awareness Class

I got this email from Rich Meyer. He works with both Shasta Mountain Guides and Nastac. Rich guided me on Mt Shasta this last spring. Great guide, and a great guy!

Greetings

The free avalanche awareness slideshow is back again this year.Mark your calendar for Wed evening , Nov. 19th. This show will be very similar to last years show. Lots of good advice and some good raffle booty. Maybe a little more video! Check out the details below.

Cheers,

Rich

FreeAvalanche Awareness Slideshow

Nov. 19 6:30-8:30 pm

AT Clif Bar Headquarters

1609 Fourth Street, Berkeley CA 94710

Warehouse ramp entrance

Rich Meyer, certified avalanche instructor, skiing and climbing guide will be presenting a free avalanche awareness slideshow at Clif Bar on Nov. 19th in Berkeley. Come on out and learn to recognize the hazards of traveling in avalanche terrain. We will cover some of the basics, and give folks the tools to more confidently choose where and when to get out and ski in the backcountry.We will also be hosting a raffle to benefit The Friends of the Mount Shasta Avalanche Center. Participants will have the opportunity to win backcountry gear and help a good cause.

Guide bio for 2008

Rich was hooked on guiding and teaching after completing a fall semester in the Rockies with NOLS in 1992. Since then he has been guiding and instructing in both climbing and skiing in the United States and abroad. His adventures have taken him from trekking in Bhutan, skiing the Haute route in the Alps, to guiding in Ecuador and Alaska. Rich has been a featured skier in the Unparalleled Telemark ski films and has logged numerous ski descents in the lower 48, Alaska, Canada, Argentina, Chile, France, and Switzerland. Rich also guides on Mt. Rainer and Denali, but is most often found in California working for Shasta Mountain Guides, where he guides various routes and ski descents in addition to teaching glacier seminars and avalanche courses. Rich is currently working toward his AMGA certification, and Wyatt’s (his six year old son) reading skills.

Certifications:Leave No Trace, certified trainer

Wilderness First Responder, certified by Wilderness Medicine Institute

American Institute of Avalanche Research and Education, (AIARE) Level I II III

AIARE certified avalanche instructor Level I II

Kickin' it off!

Well we are 2/3 through the fall sale. So much fun! It's like a reunion combined with a busy day at the office. Lot's of "regulars coming by just to say "hi!" combined with lot's of sales. It is always great to see the regulars that are as much friends as customers by now. Some like Joe from Sonoma come from pretty far away just to say hello and check out the shop with little intention of making purchases. Awesome. Others like Cindy and Stefon (Spelled wrong) have decided it's time for killer new gear. Also awesome. David Hudson is always there the Friday before the sale starts bright and early- just to be first. Amazing. John says we are the "skiers barbershop". Pretty close to the truth.

The sale has also gone fantastic from a sales/business point of view. We are WAY above any previous year. Mainly accountable for this is the fact that John talked me into doing advertising beyond our postcard that we send to our customer database. For years, the annual "were back and having a sale" postcard and yellow pages listing were our entire budget. The business has grown every year so I was content with that. Still we have new customers every year that are local skiers and yet did not even know we existed. John argued that we can convert any skier to becoming a regular but they needed to know about us. "Get 'em in the door" he felt, "and we can make 'em ours". Well I cane to agree and did some print ads and an online piece on the chronicles web site. Seems to have worked!

At least as important is the support we get from companies like the Bay Area Ski Bus (BayAreaSkiBus.com). Brian sent an email to his customer base about the sale. That's 12,000 emails! Wow, what a great partnership. You have probably heard me praise his company before and now they are doing week long trips to destinations outside of Califnia as well. Very cool! If you are using the ski bus or want to check it out once, give us a call or drop by and we can give you a code to save $10 on a trip.

Also fantastic is that we have added a few new staff members that are working out great. Gabe is doing the school thing and will be playing a part time/fill in role. He was in shopping last season. We were very busy. Both John and I were dealing with multiple customer at the same time. Gabe started chatting with a customer that was patiently sharing John with a few other boot shoppers. Before we knew it, he sort of jumped right in and sold the customer some boots for us. Not a normal thing for a customer to do. John was monitoring this occurance closely out of the corner of his eye and it was clear that Gabe had some serious bootfitting experience. They chatted afterwards. Yes, he had sold boots and knew his way around the bootfitters bench. He also worked ski patrol at Deer Valley for five years, is very bright, and has an engaging personality. Just my cup of tea. We talked about him putting in some hours this season, traded contact info, and said we would pick up the conversation this fall. I had his info on my desk with the intention of calling him as I checked emails about three weeks ago and the email on top was from him. Oooh- karma at work. Gabe has been working the sale and is everything he seemed to be. Plus he's a bike geek to boot!

Tyko and I met when he was about twelve. His mom Cindy was a regular at my bike shop, and wanted to build him a race bike. She brought in a hand built custom frame that she wasn't using any more with a box of parts. "Can you make a bike out of this" she asked? She left Tyko with me to sort through the parts. Some pieces were missing so Tyko and I got very "creative" in getting the parts necessary. Well, actually we sort of absconded them from an abandoned bike near the shop I had seen slowly being stripped of parts over the past few months. Cindy was not pleased at first, and I think the word "criminal" was even used. She came around however, and Tyko and I sort of bonded that day. Now Tyko is a man and had worked last year at Wilderness Exchange, a local new and used outdoor shop that sells a lot of tele gear. Just back from riding his bike solo around Europe over the summer, he came looking for work. Hired. Tyko will be the "rookie" this year and will work significant hours. An accomplished skier that has been primarily tele skiing the past few years, my goal is to keep his heel down this winter.

I will probably hire one more full timer to take Todd's slot and have a number of quality candidates to interview. I won't say more 'cause I don't want to jinx it, but the staff should round out nicely. As usual it will be a core group complimented by "a cast of thousands". Which seems to just be our shop culture. In any case, it works for me and I am just pumped up to be back at it and giving all of you the best ski shop experience I possibly can. Thanks to those of you that have been patronizing the shop. To the rest of you- come on down!

Boxes and Fires and Powder

Everyday the boxes come. Sometimes a single box the size of a shoebox. Other days we get 60 of 'em, 3 foot square on one truck. Then more trucks come. Some with gloves, some with goggles, some with skis (you can recognize those boxes pretty quick). We are loading up the store with merchandise for the upcoming season. It plays like a movie preview in my mind. This is a preview that better look good. This is what will be playing on my only channel for the next eight months. "Oh yeah" is a common term as we remember the items we ordered when we get a glimpse of the merchandise. Most of it we saw briefly months ago as we made our purchasing decisions. Since then they have become names without faces in our computer and on purchase orders, confirmations, and now packing lists. John, Martin, my daughters and I have been toiling away getting enough boxes to wear out a child on Christmas day.

Not all of us are partaking of the influx management however. Some of us have other things going on. Brian is still based in Oregon fighting wildfires with his hotshot crew. I could barely breath as I read the names of the unfortunate victims of the helicopter crash in which a number of firefighters died. I know he had been working near Chester recently but don't know day to day where he will be working, so I was worried that he may have been involved. I went to the detailed version of the AP report to get the 411. All victims were from Oregon I read...gulp, all were in there 20's and 30's...gulp again. Only a few survivors...names are...deap breath. Brian was not on the list so that's good but it is still such a tradgedy. Brian is to be commended for taking on a job that serves the people but is riddled with danger in so many ways. It will be great to have him back in the bay area when the fire season ends. I would imagine his parents will be happy to have him back at the ski shop too!

Erle is also missing out on the preseason prep but he is doing things a bit less dangerous. I recently got this emsil from him.

Hi Greg,

greetings from Argentina!!! THe snow is incredible - it has snowed everyday we have been here except for yesterday and yeaterday the powder was awesome.Willie says THANKS for the poles!This trip is incredible - you may have to try this next summer!By the way, the Watea 84s are perfect for this.

Best Regards to all.

Erle

I would imagine that Erle is having more fun right now than any of us. He is with his son Willie and his best friend in the Andies skiing great powder. Backcountry skiing in Argentina next summer sounds great. Anyone else up for a little road trip?

End of summer thoughts

I lost a good one this summer. Todd has moved to Maine. His wife Ashly is in the Coast Guard and she has been relocated so off they went. It should be a good move for them. Maine is a slower pace and they were looking for that to settle down and raise their kids. If they love it there, Ashly will not re-enlist and they will stay. Losing one of my employees is always rough. Everyone can be replaced they say, and I guess this is true. But it is never the same. Just as good maybe but never the same. I miss Todd already and his family too. My wife and daughters baby sat for them quite a bit and all three were in tears saying good bye to the Thomas family. Todds presence will be missed around the shop as well. Todd is a great guy and worked into our shop dynamic in a special and unique way. We all wish them the best!

Well, on August 1st my summer officially ends. Shipments start coming, and preperation for the big Fall Parking Lot Sale are in full swing. The store upgrades are just about done. The carpet is in and the entry way has paint drying as I write this. A few more precious days to golf, ride and play and then it all ends. Tonight is a BBQ with sand volleyball. I will appreciate it all the more. Martin is up at Mt. Hood training and racing. The master class kicks off their season pretty darn early and Martin hopes to pick up points so he can go into the winter as the leader in his age group. John and I offered to go up with him and be his personal ski techs. He must have thought we were joking however because he took off on Tuesday without letting us know. Maybe he thinks his skis will be faster if he doesn't let us mess with them!

I got an email from Yelp! last week. This is a site that consumers can go on to rate businesses. I looks like our ratings have been great so they sent me a little packet with some stickers and other promotional dodads. I guess if your average rating is above a certain level, you get this package. I was thrilled to check out the reviews and want anyone that has contributed to them to know that I love ya for it! Thanks! If anyone else cares to add a review I'll love you too!

Sale dates are August 23,24 and August 30, 31 and September 1, 6, 7. Hope to see you there!

Summer Time and the living is easy

Skis lean against a cabin with no snow. It can be done. Skiing is still out there. I'm not. Too much effort. Neil has been going to Mt. Hood. Brian is already up there- fighting fires. Except that as of the 15th there had been no action in the fire business so he was splitting his time between skiing and Mountain Biking.

John is in Hawaii (not skiing). Me? Tentative plans to hit Hood late July but so far nothing epic as far as skiing is concerned. I have graduated a daughter from high school (Rebecca-above). You may know her from the store. We then spent a few days in Chico for her freshman orientation (the best part was shad fishing the Sacramento river- we killed it!). Graduation week means Friends, family, parties. My dad was out from Colorado for a week or so. Graduation means good times! This took us through the middle of June.

Now I have ramped up the golf and bike outings and have been working at the shop about 15 hours a week. I'm chipping away at computer input for next years items and reviewing all the order confirmations for next years merchandise. Lot's of mistakes are found in this process. It's pretty much a dead heat in the competition for most mistakes, but I think I am slightly ahead of the sales reps at this point. Customer appointments and random drop ins have kept the cash flow pretty solid too. Lot's of insoles for things other than skiing. Plenty of golf shoe inserts. Next Wednesday I'm doing some for a pair of hockey skates. Some tune type labor and hardgood and soft goods odds and ends for the group that is still backcountry skiing too. A duke binding one day. A pair of socks "with good shin padding please" yesterday. It also always surprises me how many of you see the front door open and just stop by to say "hi!". It always makes my day when this happens...

Now I am turning my attention to the retail space. John and I cleared out the back shop and pressure washed all the mats and cleaned the floor as soon as we got back from Mammoth. Yuck, what a grungy job, but it's done now. Now we are in the sparkle and shine mode. Yesterday a new carpet was put down. Finally some relief for aching retail legs- we now have a pad under the rug! We had to clear the floor and the walls up to 5 feet install it. Now we will procede to finish clearing the walls and scrub, dust, scour, and polish it all back into a sparkly winter wonderland. After that we will re-do all the merchandising. Both daughters will be involved with this process. Neither would be interested at all except that gas is now bleeding them dry and they need extra income. I'll be glad to have the company. Once we get it cleaned up John will be back from Hawaii to help set up the sales floor with the girls. I will migrate back upstairs to work on next years signage and finish all the purchase orders by August 1st.

It has to be ready by then because after that it all starts to happen pretty fast. All the product for the year comes in the next two weeks. I call this the "Every day is Christmas" phase of my job. So there it is. Biding our time, prepping the space and waiting around for Christmas!

A Brief Spring Fling

Well, we have another Mammoth trip under our belts now. Good times! Six days of skiing consecutively- awesome! I had a really good time both on and off the slopes. A bit different than the last few years, we actually got normal spring conditions. It turned out to be that week in the Bay area when San Francisco hit record temperatures over 100 degrees. It was much better to be in Mammoth where it was only 80 degrees. Super soft snow. I sunburned my knees between my boots and my shorts. We would ski from 7:30 (more like 8:30) until 1:00 (more like noon). Then a quick tasty lunch and a beer on the deck of the lodge and back to the homestead for some hot tub action or a sauna perhaps. Maybe take in a museum in the afternoon or a hike or a bit of fishing. It was a very relaxing way to wrap up the retail year.

Interesting going's on at Mammoth centered around the US Ski team being there at the same time as us. Mens and Womens A,B, and C teams all seemed to be there. It was cool to watch them running the courses. Better still for me was hanging around with the tech's that support the skiiers. As we know many of the techs we got to check out the rooms they employ all the new tricks and tweaks they are using to help people ski really fast. Very cool stuff if you are an equipment geek. The downside is that John has another list of "must have" boot fitting tools that will be very cool to check out and will then maybe get used occassionally on customers boots. Worth the purchase every time! ;)

So now we are back and doing the summer thing. John, Todd, Erle and I golfed last Friday together. I shot a 92. Not bad for me right now. Erle shot an 82- nice! I am riding with Becky tomorrow. She wants to see some more East Bay mountain bike trails so I am happy to help out. John and I have been spending some time at the shop as well. A fair number of you have asked for appointments to shop for boots or skis plus we need to take care of the yearly maintenence stuff around the store.

So now it is graduation for my daughter Rebecca and all the hoopla that will surround this big event. Then...who knows. I have a list of things I would like to do. We shall see how many items I get to cross off over the next few months. I wil keep you up on my progress!