Hi all, going to Canada for the first time this season and looking to pick up some new skis over there, wanted advice on where would be the best to buy from/any good or well known shops to buy from? I have a good idea of what I am looking for, so just after advice on where to buy?
what are you looking for - that may detemine where to buy. In Van there's also a bunch of stores at the bottom of 4th ave in Kits that have a big range. https://www.kitsilano.ca/2018/12/19/where-to-get-ski-snowboard-and-snowshoeing-gear-in-kitsilano/ If by chance you're heading to Canada soonish, the Turkey sale at Whistler has a a lot of skiis at big discounts. That's on Canadian Thanksgiving weekend Oct 11-14th
If you’re in San Fran, check out Sports Basement Presido. They have EVERYTHING and if you can luck into a sale, it’s gold!
I am also a big fan of buying where your skiing to tweak...that said good bargains off the hill in Vancouver if you know what you want already
Honestly I think some of the other shops are a better bet, we had a great winter and are up on last year with good stock levels, but I’ve heard most places were down on hardware sales and are still overstocked and as a result have bigger discounts.
As long as the ski's you want are available. Lots of posts on the forum about not being able to buy a specific ski. Eve @CarveMan acknowledge last year that he had no black pearls in stock when I bought mine in Tahoe.
Range is definitely worth considering as well as exchange rate/value of your spending dollar. I do and have paid a premium to have the range selection, but if it’s a choice of skis available here or there and the exchange rate means you’re spending much more, then buy before you go. Totally situation dependent. If you wanna browse the biggest range and don’t mind the possible extra dollars on a weak exchange rate then buy there. If tweaking and after sales service is important to you, buy where you ski.
