Thoughts on Three Ski Swaps

Yesterday I went to my third and final ski swap of the pre-season. As was the case with the other two meets, I looked but did not buy.

Every sport has its gearheads. I used to think that golf was the most extreme case; there’s a new gimmick for drivers or irons or (especially) putters every year. And that’s just the clubs. A visit to a local “outdoors” store made me reconsider, however: maybe it’s fishing, with the variety of rods, reels and (especially) lures.

I’m not much of a gearhead when it comes to snowboarding, and I can take only so much tech talk. Still, I look forward to the swaps as an easy low-pressure way to see what’s new–or perhaps more accurately, what was new a couple years ago.

The first two swaps I went to this month were at local ski hills. Oddly enough, the new gear that was being sold came not from local shops, but from two shops at a distance–as in adjacent states!

Here is another oddity: you may think that snowboarding is taking over everywhere. Yet at each of the swaps I attended, there was much more ski gear for sale than snowboarding equipment.

Yesterday’s festivities took place at the fairgrounds, not at a ski hill. Perhaps that’s one reason why I had to pay an admission fee. Bummer. On the other hand, I got two lift tickets for the trouble, each one of which is worth more than the cost of admission.

I talked with a ski area representative about the show. He recommended to the organizers that they include the word “board” in the title of the event. They did. It didn’t help. There was even less snowboarding equipment at this event than at the two on-hill events. It was interesting to see a whole table of rental boots, however; they all had a metal rod, used for step-in bindings, that was perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the boot.

There were several exhibitors, with tables, distributing brochures, candies, and tickets for drawings. Sign your name, address, and get put on a mailing list–and perhaps win something.

I was going to stop at one table, but the woman attending the table was yakking on her cell phone. “Yah, it’s kinda boring here.” So much for customer service!

I bought my board from this swap a couple of years ago. If I get a different board (something smaller and more manuverable), it won’t be coming from a swap. At least not this year.