Evren
New member
About a week ago, I did some minor damage to the base of my skis. This caused me much grief as I am very fond of my current pair. All day, I was asking lift-mates and employees at Deer Valley for a recommendation on a ski shop. There was no clear consensus and I ended up taking them to Cole Sports in Silver Lake. I am actually loath to give Cole any business because I know them to overcharge. Smith Lens Wipes go for $2 at the cabin on top of Sterling Express where you're about as captive as a customer can be for lens wipes. Cole Sports, in town, charges $4 for the same thing. But my thinking was that you have just about the most prissy-picky clientele at Silver Lake, at a high volume high rent shop. So they'd probably put some good employees there who'd do a quality job.
Turns out, I was wrong. They talked me into a "full tune-up" for $50. Whatever. When I returned some days later to pick up, they handed me the skis and proceeded to ring up the ticket. When I turned the skis around, it was obvious the bases had not been worked on. I pointed this out and after a short back-and-forth the response was that their machine had broken down the night I dropped off my skis. They had, however, waxed over the damage (and sharpened the edges). If I returned tonight, they'd work on them. I took the skis without paying (they didn't ask) and was pretty upset. First off, how do you give back the skis without mentioning they hadn't been worked on? Is this what they did with every pair that was in the shop that night? Secondly, if you couldn't work on them one night but they were not picked up for days afterwards -- why not work on them one of the subsequent nights?
That day, I heard about a newly opened ski shop on Foothill Drive from someone who lives in the same canyon as I do. He was very enthusiastic about how well they had repaired his core-shot. He took off his skis to show me and it took us a while to find the previously damaged spot. So I decided to give Bodeen Ski & Sport a try.
Bodeen is a bit of a gem in the rough. It's obviously run by enthusiastic skiers. Their selection of skis were nothing like what you see at a typical shop. They had a full line of Icelantics, many other exotic brands I had never even heard of in all sorts of shapes-materials and a pair of skis so fat they looked like waterskis for a Sumo wrestler. I'd say it's worth visiting the shop just to see those monsters. On the other hand, their apparel selection is straight out of the terrain-park. We're talking neons in Pollock-esque prints. The very friendly salesgirl admitted that had been a mistake they weren't going to repeat next year. So if that's your taste in skiwear, there should be some good deals in the next month or two(!)
Doug(?) is the guy who works on the skis. He seems to very much know what he's doing. Now, he did start by saying "We do a full tune-up..." which caused me to do a mental eye-roll. Especially since my edges were already sharpened (see above). And the price was $45 which seems a bit much for the valley location and local clientele. But he explained that once he put the skis in the machine, he'd have to put an edge on them. Not knowing better, I'll go with that explanation.
When I returned, he handed over the skis with the bottoms facing me and they looked as good as new -- maybe even a bit shinier than when I got them. Which is what I had wanted all along.
Turns out, I was wrong. They talked me into a "full tune-up" for $50. Whatever. When I returned some days later to pick up, they handed me the skis and proceeded to ring up the ticket. When I turned the skis around, it was obvious the bases had not been worked on. I pointed this out and after a short back-and-forth the response was that their machine had broken down the night I dropped off my skis. They had, however, waxed over the damage (and sharpened the edges). If I returned tonight, they'd work on them. I took the skis without paying (they didn't ask) and was pretty upset. First off, how do you give back the skis without mentioning they hadn't been worked on? Is this what they did with every pair that was in the shop that night? Secondly, if you couldn't work on them one night but they were not picked up for days afterwards -- why not work on them one of the subsequent nights?
That day, I heard about a newly opened ski shop on Foothill Drive from someone who lives in the same canyon as I do. He was very enthusiastic about how well they had repaired his core-shot. He took off his skis to show me and it took us a while to find the previously damaged spot. So I decided to give Bodeen Ski & Sport a try.
Bodeen is a bit of a gem in the rough. It's obviously run by enthusiastic skiers. Their selection of skis were nothing like what you see at a typical shop. They had a full line of Icelantics, many other exotic brands I had never even heard of in all sorts of shapes-materials and a pair of skis so fat they looked like waterskis for a Sumo wrestler. I'd say it's worth visiting the shop just to see those monsters. On the other hand, their apparel selection is straight out of the terrain-park. We're talking neons in Pollock-esque prints. The very friendly salesgirl admitted that had been a mistake they weren't going to repeat next year. So if that's your taste in skiwear, there should be some good deals in the next month or two(!)
Doug(?) is the guy who works on the skis. He seems to very much know what he's doing. Now, he did start by saying "We do a full tune-up..." which caused me to do a mental eye-roll. Especially since my edges were already sharpened (see above). And the price was $45 which seems a bit much for the valley location and local clientele. But he explained that once he put the skis in the machine, he'd have to put an edge on them. Not knowing better, I'll go with that explanation.
When I returned, he handed over the skis with the bottoms facing me and they looked as good as new -- maybe even a bit shinier than when I got them. Which is what I had wanted all along.
