Getting picky while picking. |
Last week I took a quick trip to Ogden, UT, to pick skis at Atomic & Rossignol. Ultratune has a lot of beautiful new skis on the way. The first stop was Rossignol, working with Ryan Green, on the 7th, and things went really smoothly. I didn’t get all the skis I wanted for inventory, but all the pairs I picked are very nice. I picked all pairs to be matched within 1 kg.
On Thursday, I picked skis at Atomic’s warehouse. This year Rick Halling was out of town, so I worked on my own to pick through the huge inventory that they’ve got in the facility. I’ve done the trip to the Atomic warehouse a few years in a row, and apparently they’re confident that I won’t mess anything up.
This year’s Atomic skis look particularly good. The introduction of the new hard track skate ski the Atomic SDS Classic ski gave added reason to take a careful look at the ski picks.
The Atomic warehouse is quite tidy and well organized – for a warehouse – but the lighting is still a little dim.
I start with a pick list, then make preliminary selections from a huge rack of skis that are sorted by model and size. Each of these pairs is then unwrapped, tested for a few key parameters, and repacked. The pair is either saved or returned to the rack. This process makes sure that I get the spectrum of flexes that I need, and also screens out a few pairs that I don’t find satisfactory.
Some of the Ultratune picks. |
It’s not particularly exciting work, at least not after getting through the first dozen pairs or so, but very worthwhile. Careful measurements for sure, and reassuring to know that I get exactly what I want for the pre-ordered skis and also for the shop inventory.
After picking all the skis, they get checked by warehouse staff, then packed for immediate FedEx shipment to Ultratune. With a little luck, they’ll arrive at the shop before Oct 11th.
Check out Ultratune’s new ski program, and let me know if you’d like a pair selected for you! Send an email with questions or to be added to the pick list.