snowboard equipment successfully be purchased in the heat of summer? Are there advantages to shopping for winter sports gear in the wrong season?
Yes. And yes.
A short story: years ago I was wandering around Middlebury, Vermont, during a blistering July that turned out to be a record breaker for the state. I was just killing time while the wife was off shopping for a gift for someone.
I wandered into the local ski shop, just because it was there. Heck, I'm always glad to think about winter. I was soon deep in conversation with the sales guy about the latest developments in ski boots. We chatted about how technology had made ski equipment so much better (a never-ending and always self-renewing story, it seems), and he invited me to see for myself.
I tried on a pair of boots. I tried on another. And another. By the time I left that shop, I'd not only tried on every pair of boots he had in my size - I'd purchased a pair at an outlandishly reasonable price.
The moral of this story? Well, for one thing, shopping for winter equipment in summertime can yield terrific savings since shops are often quite happy to rid themselves of last season's overstock.
For another, because ski shops aren't necessarily very busy in summertime, you can command a salesperson's attention for quite a while. And buying ski or snowboard boots requires time and patience.
But, that having been said, remember that off-season purchases - like prime time purchases - still require the buyer to do his/her homework. One must always give the salesperson an honest understanding of what kind of skier or rider you are (how often you snowslide, preferred terrain, level of expertise, etc.), and it pays to understand at least the basic differences among products.
The real downside to off-season buying, however, is limited choice. You're looking at last year's gear (or, possibly gear from the previous season, or even two years back). Guard against the impulse to buy no matter what. Especially with footwear, but with all equipment: if the shoe doesn't fit, don't buy it. Snowsports Industries America (SIA) offers plenty of basic equipment buying advice, plus a handy zip code-based list of retailers nationwide.
I was greeted by a blast of 90-plus degree heat when I left that Middlebury shop. But, the new boots I carried provided the perfect air-cooled psychological antidote to the sweat that quickly formed on my brow.
© 2006
Text and photograph by Mitch Kaplan Month & Suite 101, May, 2006. Reproduction without permission prohibited.
