Annual used ski and snowboard sale gets people in the mood for winter
For nearly half a century, local winter sport enthusiasts have looked forward to the annual ski sale. It has evolved from humble beginnings into the pinnacle pre-season ski event in Juneau.
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"Ski season doesn't officially start until the ski swap," said ski patroller Sean Edwards.
The 49th Annual Ski Sale is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9, at Centennial Hall. Three different sale item check-in times are available: Thursday and Friday from 5 to 9 p.m., and Saturday just prior to the sale from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. Admission is $2 and youths 12 and under are free.
The sale is a fund-raising event for two nonprofit organizations - the Juneau Ski Club and the Juneau Ski Patrol. For the club, it's a big fund-raiser, but for the patrol, it's the only fund-raiser of the year.
"All our budget comes for the swap," Edwards said. "The proceeds go to buy training equipment, uniforms and other things."
The event is more than just a simple ski swap. Juxtaposed with Friday's Warren Miller film, the ski swap weekend is a major social event that brings the entire ski community together.
"It's more than just a fund-raiser; it's kind of a social thing too," said event co-organizer Russell Kunibe. "Just about everyone you will see at the hill will be at the ski swap."
"All the skiers kind of get together and get to see everyone," Edwards said. "It kicks off the ski season."
Kunibe and Edwards have been jointly running the ski sale for a better part of the past decade. Kunibe says the planning starts in August to efficiently run the swap, which can draw upwards to 2,000 people, but he gives most of the credit to the numerous people who unselfishly volunteer thousands of hours.
"A lot of people volunteer year after year that are not involved in the ski patrol or ski club any more," Kunibe said. "We have racers working with patrollers - the same ones who will be telling the kids to slow down on the hill. It makes the whole ski community a lot closer."
"It's quite a production," Edwards said. "For 49 years it's been going on and it's a well-oiled machine. Everybody kind of shows up and knows what to do."
Bill Hodge, manager of Eaglecrest's rental shop, will have his technical staff available at check-in and throughout the sale. He says the rental shop, as well as other local retailers, also will have a lot of good quality equipment for sale.
"We'll help screen equipment and give advice on the value," Hodge said. "We can tell you what type of equipment you need, the length - we're here to help."
For the person looking for a good deal on used equipment, there couldn't be a better scenario than the Ski Sale. Anthony Zenk will be bringing his daughter Elizabeth, 8, to the swap to pick out some alpine gear.
"She has brand new snowboard equipment, but I'd like to get her some ski equipment," Zenk said. "I'd like to find used equipment in brand-new shape."
"I want to get skis that go fast," Elizabeth said.
According to organizers, the quality of the equipment keeps getting better and better every year. Equipment that is too old or marginal quality is being turned away at check-in, ensuring only good quality gear is for sale.
"There's more and more of the new shaped ski designs," Edwards said. "We haven't sold skis 200 cm or longer in a couple years. If people have the older skis, they should just leave them at home."
In addition to ski and snowboard gear, other winter sport equipment can be found such as ice skates, snowshoes and even some tents. Kayaks and scuba gear have shown up in the past.
"Everyone benefits from the swap," Kunibe said. "If you have old gear, you could spend many hours trying to sell it at garage sales. It's so much easier to drop it off at consignment."
Jeff Kasper is a free-lance writer and former Empire sports writer. He can be reached at 463-4645.