Ski industry finishes record year, local shops prosper
- Details
- Created on Wednesday, 11 May 2011 06:00
- Written by Andrew Wineke
One thing Colorado had plenty of this winter (and, to judge by this week’s weather, spring) was snow. What it didn’t have, in many cases, was skis, boots, bindings and poles to enjoy that snow.
For many local ski shops, the only dark cloud in a very good year was that manufacturers, spooked by the recession in 2008-2009, kept inventories lean and the best-selling equipment became scarce as the season wore on.
“We definitely ran out of some stuff,” said Jon Easdon, who owns Blindside snowboard, ski and skate shop. “We have people coming in this time of year looking for the most popular stuff on the market. They’re like, ‘Do you have blah-blah-blah?’ And we’re like, ‘We haven’t had that since Christmas.”
Stan Wolf, owner of Colorado Kite & Ski, said he usually stocks up his shop at the end of the season to offer discounted equipment for next year, but found little overstock.
“There’s not a lot of great deals out there,” he said.
That trend played out across the nation and world as well. It was a record year for the industry, with $3.3 billion in total sales, according to the SnowSports Industries America trade group. That was a rebound from the recession and bested the previous record of $3 billion in 2007-2008. Inventories were down 19 percent, which helped keep prices high — 10 percent higher than last season at the end of the year, the association said.
That effect will stretch into next season, said Rick Uhl, owner of The Ski Shop.
“We normally have preseason sales on stuff that’s left around, but there’s just nothing left,” he said. “We’ve never run into this problem before.”
Local shops, echoing the industry nationally, reported strong sales despite the supply problems. Uhl said many customers had put off buying new equipment for a year or two and were ready to buy.
“It was just a perfect storm for us,” he said.
Wolf said he still saw fewer customers splurging on big-ticket skis and snowboards, but that sales were still strong.
“It’s been up and down and up and down,” he said, “but you take the average of things and it was a pretty good year.”
Other national trends were also echoed in the local shops. Skis are still getting fatter — skis with waists between 80 and 110 millimeters saw sales shoot up 74 percent, according to the SnowSports association, and backcountry skis and snowboard sales were up 87 percent.
“Our biggest segment growth was the backcountry market,” Easdon said. “It was huge.”
Reverse-camber ski sales were up 134 percent (reverse camber means the skis have an upswept profile, like a banana), although Easdon said there’s starting to be a reverse trend toward traditional camber skis, which offer more edge control on harder snow.
Uhl closed his shop for the season last weekend, although the snow is still falling on Arapahoe Basin — the only ski area in the state still open. With a little free time on his hand, Uhl plans to enjoy the snow while it lasts.
“I’m trying to get to A-Basin tomorrow,” he said.
Weather
Current Contests
