Ski Selection Trip to Ogden

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.