The same La Nina snowfall that wreaked havoc on commuters last week in the greater Seattle area also got another group of people quite fired up.
Winter sports enthusiasts have been coming out in droves for ski and snowboard tune-ups and are getting ready to hit the slopes in what is forecasted to be a wet and wild winter.
“It makes me real excited,” said Brian Gierke, owner of Gerk’s Ski and Cycle on Redmond Way. “Our business lives and dies on a good forecast and a good snow year.”
While Gierke said that he and his crew are often working until midnight on orders, even large retailers are raking in the profits, according to Steve Ellis, assistant manager at the Redmond REI store in Redmond Town Center.
“They’ve been stronger already,” said Ellis on his company’s sales compared to last year. “Anytime there is a snow day, on the days that schools are shut down, the businesses are shut down, we had one of our largest increases in sales. People like snow, and they enjoy spending time outside.”
ROCKIN’ OUT
Ski and snowboard technology is constantly evolving, and the biggest craze on the market this year is the new “rocker” technology.
In a nutshell, the new design makes the front of the ski bend upwards earlier, and will handle the deep snow that everyone is expecting much better.
“The manufacturers are playing with the shapes of the camber (a ski that arches slightly in the middle) and rocker on skis now,” said Gierke, adding that rocker technology used to be a powder-only tool. “Now they’re making it good for all mountains and hard snow as well.”
Ellis added that the new technology will help skiers of all levels with added maneuverability and confidence on the slopes.
“It makes it easier for people to ski on unconsolidated snow,” he explained. “If it’s easier to do, you get to do it more and feel good about it.”
And no matter where you go, expect to part with about $500-700 for a good, high-end pair of skis with this new feature.
PASS GO
Both Ellis and Gierke maintained that Crystal Mountain, nestled in the Cascades about 100 minutes southeast of Seattle, is their favorite getaway to find fresh powder in the wintertime.
But most locals will usually hit up Snoqualmie Pass, a short jaunt away on I-90. The pass opened up earlier than usual, on Thanksgiving Day this year.
“The close one is Snoqualmie, if you’re going to just get out for a few hours,” Gierke said. “But if you have the time, Crystal Mountain is the place to go locally.”
But as the winter weather approaches, both Gierke and Ellis were thankful not only for their respective businesses, but the opportunity to enjoy the freedom and adrenaline rush of swooshing down a mountain on skis or snowboards, a sport enjoyed by over 18 million people worldwide.
“(The weather) is beginning to impact all the ski areas now,” Ellis noted. “Snoqualmie Pass, which is our lowest pass, is open right now and that excites me the most because that’s where people can go sledding, snowshoeing, or cross-country skiing, and of course the downhill resorts are open too. It’s not every year we count on Snoqualmie having snow by early December. That’s great, and everything else is a bonus.”
For more information on either The Summit at Snoqualmie or Crystal Mountain, visit their websites at www.summitatsnoqualmie.com or www.skicrystal.com.
