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Damn it's hard to buy Nordic Skis Nowadays!



 
 
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  #11  
Old March 8th 10, 03:57 PM posted to rec.skiing.nordic
SMS
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Posts: 25
Default Damn it's hard to buy Nordic Skis Nowadays!

Edgar wrote:

Its also interesting that SMS's wife wanted lighter skis than here
E99s with NNN-BCs, but Marmot didn't have 3-pin bindings.


Marmot was sold out of three pin bindings. REI Saratoga was sold out.
REI Berkeley had two pairs left.

Unfortunately, too many Nordic skiers only want to buy skis at
season's end sales.


It didn't really matter to me. $120 sale versus $150 non-sale for the
skis is no biggie. I just wanted the skis in March because the spousal
unit won't go XC skiing any more with her Blisterfield II boots, and she
just started complaining about them.

I would rather have a pair that "fit" than a
cheap on-sale pair that are too stiff or too soft.


Who ever said that they were looking for something "cheap on-sale?"

You're inventing scenarios that don't exist.

What caused the loss of so many stores selling nordic skis were two
things. First, REI went from one store to thirteen stores in northern
California, taking a large portion of the very high margin sales for
clothing and footwear leaving the other stores little to offset lower
margin equipment sales. Second, the number of XC skiers has been
decreasing steadily.
Ads
  #12  
Old March 8th 10, 07:31 PM posted to rec.skiing.nordic
Eugene Miya
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Posts: 166
Default Damn it's hard to buy Nordic Skis Nowadays!

In article ,
SMS wrote:
Marmot was sold out of three pin bindings. REI Saratoga was sold out.
REI Berkeley had two pairs left.


That last two pairs of any kind of ski I bought outside the Bay Area.
Either way, the pickin's have tended for me to be the further North one goes.

Unfortunately, too many Nordic skiers only want to buy skis at
season's end sales.

;^)
It didn't really matter to me. $120 sale versus $150 non-sale for the

....
I would rather have a pair that "fit" than a
cheap on-sale pair that are too stiff or too soft.

Who ever said that they were looking for something "cheap on-sale?"

You're inventing scenarios that don't exist.

What caused the loss of so many stores selling nordic skis were two
things. First, REI went from one store to thirteen stores in northern
California, taking a large portion of the very high margin sales for
clothing and footwear leaving the other stores little to offset lower
margin equipment sales. Second, the number of XC skiers has been
decreasing steadily.


Hmmmm.
Maybe all skier numbers going down, but I certainly know a few who stick
to XC due to downhill cost. The industry as a whole is certain
evolving, especially in a place like CA which gets marginal winters.

--

Looking for an H-912 (container).

  #13  
Old March 8th 10, 07:51 PM posted to rec.skiing.nordic
Bob Schwartz[_2_]
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Posts: 49
Default Damn it's hard to buy Nordic Skis Nowadays!

SMS wrote:
What caused the loss of so many stores selling nordic skis were two
things. First, REI went from one store to thirteen stores in northern
California, taking a large portion of the very high margin sales for
clothing and footwear leaving the other stores little to offset lower
margin equipment sales. Second, the number of XC skiers has been
decreasing steadily.


Well, that mystery is solved. There are fewer stores selling
ski stuff because not many people were ever interested in
buying ski stuff.

I wonder if living in a place where it doesn't snow contributed
at all to that. Could that be another question that no one knows
the answer to?

Bob Schwartz
  #14  
Old March 8th 10, 07:57 PM posted to rec.skiing.nordic
Edgar[_2_]
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Posts: 24
Default Damn it's hard to buy Nordic Skis Nowadays!

On Mar 8, 7:57*am, SMS wrote:
Edgar wrote:
Its also interesting that SMS's wife wanted lighter skis than here
E99s with NNN-BCs, but Marmot didn't have 3-pin bindings.


Marmot was sold out of three pin bindings. REI Saratoga was sold out.
REI Berkeley had two pairs left.

Unfortunately, too many Nordic skiers only want to buy skis at
season's end sales.


It didn't really matter to me. $120 sale versus $150 non-sale for the
skis is no biggie. I just wanted the skis in March because the spousal
unit won't go XC skiing any more with her Blisterfield II boots, and she
just started complaining about them.

I would rather have a pair that "fit" than a
cheap on-sale pair that are too stiff or too soft.


Who ever said that they were looking for something "cheap on-sale?"

You're inventing scenarios that don't exist.

What caused the loss of so many stores selling nordic skis were two
things. First, REI went from one store to thirteen stores in northern
California, taking a large portion of the very high margin sales for
clothing and footwear leaving the other stores little to offset lower
margin equipment sales. Second, the number of XC skiers has been
decreasing steadily.


Sorry SMS if you thought that my observations were intended to apply
to you or your familily. My observations regarding Nordic skiers (at
least the touring or casual cross country skiers) looking for cheap
skis is a general observation.

I also have to say that I have bought skis and ski stuff in part
because I came across a "good deal". That's why shops put stuff on
sale - to get rid of the merchandise that didn't sell. I also buy pre-
season for good ski selection.

But I do have to reiterate my obervation that I know a lot of American
Nordic skiers who only buy stuff on sale, or at ski-swaps or at the
Goodwill used stores. In a free market economy, where skiers vote
with there dollars, mercants tend to stock what folks will "vote"
for. No dollar votes, not XC skis on the racks.

What I find especially sad is the new skiers looking for bargin XC
gear at ski swaps or on E-bay when they do not have the knowledge (or
friends with knowledge) of how and what to buy. Then they get skis
that drag or don't grip. Some even leave ski-swaps with boots that
don't match the bindings mounted on the used skis.

The local ski shop mentioned eariler (prospective buyer wanted the
$100 trade-in) use to stock bargin 3-pin boots for all the folks
buying old skis with 3-pin bindings.

PS. Several years ago (4 or 5), I bought my Fisher waxable
Outtabounds and Excursion boots w/ 3-pin cable bindings from Marmot in
Berkeley. Paul spent about 2 hours helping me with ski selection,
doing a special order for the waxable skis, and fitting and custom
mold the boots. I did this mid-week when Paul could spend the proper
amount of time taking care of me.
  #15  
Old March 8th 10, 08:01 PM posted to rec.skiing.nordic
Bob
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Posts: 73
Default Damn it's hard to buy Nordic Skis Nowadays!

SMS wrote:
The spousal unit really hates her 16 year old Asolo Blisterfield II
boots, and wanted NNN-BC boots and bindings. She also really needs
lighter skis than her Europa 99's for the kind of stuff she does.

There used to be at least 10 stores selling nordic skis on the San
Francisco Peninsula, including North Face (x2), Sierra Designs, Western
Mountaineering (x2), REI, Any Mountain, Helm of Sun Valley, The Co-op,
Mel Cotton's, and several other stores that I can't remember the names
of. Most of those stores are out of business, and of the remaining ones
no longer carry nordic skis. Only _one_ of the four REI stores on the
Peninsula carriers Nordic skis, and their selection and stock is awful.
I ended up driving 50 miles to Berkeley to go to Marmot Mountain Works,
a store that's a real PITA because it's busy but has only one employee
working the sales floor, going nuts with all the people bombarding him
for help. I also got a new pair for myself at Marmot, but they were out
of 3 pin bindings so I went to REI in Berkeley to buy bindings because
the REI near me in Saratoga ran out of bindings (both NNN-BC and 3 pin).

It's pretty bad that an area with a population of 3.5 million people
can't support a single actual mountaineering store.

Hi SMS,
In my view, you were lucky to have it good in the past ;-) Being
relatively new to the sport, I've never known the SF Bay Area to have
even one decent shop for XC gear. I've bought all my (and spousal
unit's) equipment at either Sierra Nordic or Paco's - both in Truckee.
There may be other shops in the Tahoe area for BC gear - Just go there
and let them set you up with a modern kit.

Bob
  #16  
Old March 8th 10, 09:37 PM posted to rec.skiing.nordic
Terje Mathisen[_2_]
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Posts: 173
Default Damn it's hard to buy Nordic Skis Nowadays!

Bob wrote:
SMS wrote:
It's pretty bad that an area with a population of 3.5 million people
can't support a single actual mountaineering store.

Hi SMS,
In my view, you were lucky to have it good in the past ;-) Being
relatively new to the sport, I've never known the SF Bay Area to have
even one decent shop for XC gear. I've bought all my (and spousal
unit's) equipment at either Sierra Nordic or Paco's - both in Truckee.
There may be other shops in the Tahoe area for BC gear - Just go there
and let them set you up with a modern kit.


I think we have it pretty tough here in Oslo:

Only 3-4 really good xc stores, and I had to stand in line with a queue
ticket for half an hour or more, even in the middle of the day on a Tuesday.

The half-price Madshus racing skis which were all in the 60-64 kg
(factory-)marked range turned out to be too long: 210 cm, which
explained why they were half-price. :-(

I believe Norwegians buy more xc racing gear than the next 3-5 countries
combined (Russia/Sweden/Finland/Germany/?/?).

(I just googled around a bit, and it turns out that in 2008 Norwegians
bought 137,000 pairs of racing skis, out of a total of 300,000 xc skis.
Russians buy even more skis but not nearly as many racing skis.)

Terje
--
- Terje.Mathisen at tmsw.no
"almost all programming can be viewed as an exercise in caching"
  #17  
Old March 9th 10, 12:26 AM posted to rec.skiing.nordic
SMS
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 25
Default Damn it's hard to buy Nordic Skis Nowadays!

Eugene Miya wrote:

Hmmmm.
Maybe all skier numbers going down, but I certainly know a few who stick
to XC due to downhill cost. The industry as a whole is certain
evolving, especially in a place like CA which gets marginal winters.


I'm thinking of our local Sierra Club Ski Touring section. We used to
have monthly meetings with 100+ people, and probably 70 trips a season.
Now we get maybe 15 people at a meeting and about 12-15 trips a season.
In the 1980's we had a mix of people from their 20's to their 80's. Now
it's mainly 50's to 80's with almost no younger people interested.
  #18  
Old March 9th 10, 02:35 AM posted to rec.skiing.nordic
[email protected]
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Posts: 572
Default Damn it's hard to buy Nordic Skis Nowadays!

I thought you were describing LA's chapter, until rechecking your
first post. With a total membership of 50-60,000, the Angeles chapter's
sections had lots of x-c ski trips locally and to the Sierra in the
1990s. It was through them - and occasionally hopping a ride on an
aircraft co. alpine club bus - that I got started. I wonder if they've
had the same diminution of numbers in LA.

Gene

On Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:26:11 -0800
SMS wrote:

Eugene Miya wrote:

Hmmmm.
Maybe all skier numbers going down, but I certainly know a few who
stick to XC due to downhill cost. The industry as a whole is
certain evolving, especially in a place like CA which gets marginal
winters.


I'm thinking of our local Sierra Club Ski Touring section. We used to
have monthly meetings with 100+ people, and probably 70 trips a
season. Now we get maybe 15 people at a meeting and about 12-15 trips
a season. In the 1980's we had a mix of people from their 20's to
their 80's. Now it's mainly 50's to 80's with almost no younger
people interested.


  #19  
Old March 10th 10, 01:57 PM posted to rec.skiing.nordic
jeff potter
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Posts: 191
Default Damn it's hard to buy Nordic Skis Nowadays!

On Mar 8, 9:35*pm, wrote:
I thought you were describing LA's chapter, until rechecking your
first post. With a total membership of 50-60,000, the Angeles chapter's
sections had lots of x-c ski trips locally and to the Sierra in the
1990s. *It was through them - and occasionally hopping a ride on an
aircraft co. alpine club bus - that I got started. I wonder if they've
had the same diminution of numbers in LA.

Gene

On Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:26:11 -0800



SMS wrote:
Eugene Miya wrote:


Hmmmm.
Maybe all skier numbers going down, but I certainly know a few who
stick to XC due to downhill cost. *The industry as a whole is
certain evolving, especially in a place like CA which gets marginal
winters.


I'm thinking of our local Sierra Club Ski Touring section. We used to
have monthly meetings with 100+ people, and probably 70 trips a
season. Now we get maybe 15 people at a meeting and about 12-15 trips
a season. In the 1980's we had a mix of people from their 20's to
their 80's. Now it's mainly 50's to 80's with almost no younger
people interested.- Hide quoted text -


- Show quoted text -


Maybe it's a brief blip caused by a fad in snowshoeing? Hightech
snowshoeing is going to fade and maybe folks will shift back to
skiing.

Our local outdoor shop only sells mountaineering stuff -- but not
really -- that can't last either. The kids cannot be buying much
climbing rope in an area 1000+ miles from climbing. Expedition tents
can't be moving quick. This stuff must be in the shops as props. It's
close to campus -- it has to be about the fluffy clothes.

I've seen a couple snowshoe tracks out there this winter, but we live
in ski country not shoe country. In the 80's the local outdoor shop
sold skis and there were traffic jams of skiers out at the edge of
town. Ever to return?

I'm going to attend an MSU Outing Club meeting here soon. (It's the
Spring Break pukefest this week.) The OC today is set up for doing
long-distance trips. When I was in school, and a member, we did local
stuff. They seem agreeable to local stuff still. I'll test the water,
check the vibe. I'm curious as to why local activity hasn't been a
mainstay. That's the Nordic Way. Biking, canoeing, seakayaking, small
sailboats, rowing, XC skiing... all this can be done cheap and close
to town. Yet the OC mission is stated as being about climbing,
whitewater and caving -- all 500+ miles away. Somehow, to me, this
relates to activity popularity shifts... Let's see what I find!

--JP
  #20  
Old March 10th 10, 02:25 PM posted to rec.skiing.nordic
SMS
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 25
Default Damn it's hard to buy Nordic Skis Nowadays!

jeff potter wrote:

Our local outdoor shop only sells mountaineering stuff -- but not
really -- that can't last either. The kids cannot be buying much
climbing rope in an area 1000+ miles from climbing.


People like to buy their equipment close to home. That's why stores that
are hundreds of miles from the closest snow sell skis (ditto for
climbing equipment).

I remember when REI didn't sell downhill skis or snowboards, and they
had a tiny selection of rather crappy road bicycles. Now they are into
downhill skiing and snowboarding and mountain biking big time, and less
into stuff like backpacking or XC skiing. In the Bay Area, only two of
their nine stores carry XC skis (Berkeley and Saratoga). I don't blame
them; stocking ten different sizes of ten different ski models, and 15
different sizes of five types of boots, is tough when the TAM is so small.

REI is one of the few stores where you can buy a commuter bike or
touring bike--few bicycle stores carry them any more, but REI still has
them made for them under their Novara brand.
 




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