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CONWAY — With Mother Nature doing her part to lay down some natural white stuff, coupled with snowmaking efforts at local ski areas, interest is strong for the start of the ski and riding season.
It always helps when the trails open: Bretton Woods opened Nov. 26 with four trails and two lifts. Cranmore and Wildcat were both set to open Friday with Attitash, Black and King Pine opening in coming weeks.
“We had a good opening weekend. We saw a lot of happy people, excited to be out there,” said Craig Clemmer, director of marketing for the Omni Mount Washington Resort, owner of Bretton Woods Ski Area.
Bretton Woods Ski Touring Center opened with limited snowshoeing terrain and is awaiting more snow to open up for cross country skiing.
Cranmore and Wildcat followed suit on Friday, with other areas and ski touring centers looking to follow as conditions permit.
The desire to get outside has created a big push in ski sales, according to local ski shop operators.
Although national supply chain issues are affecting everyone, including the ski products industry, they note they have product — it’s just a question of how long that inventory will last on the shelves once February comes.
“It’s definitely a case of ‘get it while you can’ — we have our walls lined with skis but as the season goes on it may be difficult to get some product because reorders took place sooner than suppliers were expecting it, and demand has been so strong that manufacturers were not ready to meet that demand,” said store owner Kyre Cluett of Stan & Dan Sports of North Conway.
His comments were echoed by Chris Kebler, owner of Andes Ski Shop in Bartlett, who said they have product, but it will be harder to get exactly what you want come late season.
“We’re quite pleased that we were able to get everything shipped to us this year, concerning the global supply chain issue, and at the moment we are well-stocked,” Kebler said.
“We always put in our orders in February, and I think there will not be much left to sell after we sell what we have in stock and reorders will become an issue,” said Kebler.
Echoing those thoughts was Nate Harvey, manager of Great Glen Trails Outfitters in Pinkham Notch. “Specifically to this store, our inventory (for ski touring gear and apparel) is pretty decent — although we may be lacking in some categories with some weak spots in certain sizes and models,” he said.
“It depends where the product was made — stuff made in Asia is not arriving as fast, and I think that’s due to the issue of product sitting in container ships off the ports. The product was made, it’s just that it will come later, but there will not be reordering this year because the suppliers are saying they don’t have it,” said Harvey.
He said Great Glen Outfitters — open weekends until the snow flies and daily operations commence — had its strongest November in sales in its 27 years of operation. “It’s a pretty good mix from beginner packages to high-end stuff. I think it’s a carryover from last year when everyone wanted to get outside,” said Harvey.
Erica Frieswick, manager of Sun & Ski Sports of North Conway, also said that her store has a full line of ski and snowbaord inventory but that she has experienced some delays with some vendors.
“We usually receive (clothing) in September, but some have had delays and it may not arrive until mid-December. We are lucky that we are fully stocked with our ski equipment; however, there may not be product to reorder come later in the season,” said Frieswick.
For those in need of a ski tune, Stan & Dan, Andes, Joe Jones, Jackson Ski Touring and Great Glen Trails Outfitters all have the equipment and know-how to take care of pre-season tune-up needs.
Kebler noted that his store just bought a new Wintersteiger Scout to go along with its older Wintersteiger Microjet.
“It uses ceramic disc edging, which provides some amazing consistency to our tunes,” Kebler enthused.
Ski & Sports also has a Wintersteiger.
“The repairman who services it always says when he visits that we have the best one in New England,” said Frieswick.
Stan & Dan, known for ski tuning and ski boot fitting expertise, has a Montana infrared waxing machine that does the job to get the most performance out of anyone’s skis.
For cross-country skiers, Jackson Ski Touring and Great Glen Outfitters are among the prime places to prepare both skate skis and touring skis for the season.
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