meet, educate, and provide demo prod- ucts for long term field testing,” he said.
THE VALUE OF PRODUCT DEMOS
The next step: getting hands-on with the actual products. Gear selection can make a big difference in the overall rental expe- rience for customers and in the profits a resort makes. Therefore, many experi- enced operators have various stakehold- ers at the resort test rental product, both in the shop (to evaluate convenience for the staff, set-up ease and speed, compat- ibility with the shop’s space and layout, and durability) and on snow (to evaluate performance and ease of use for the cus- tomer). Many areas involve the snow- sports school in the on-snow portion. At Arizona Snowbowl, the team tests gear from a variety of vendors. “Our gear gets lots of wear and tear, so we give it a solid test,” said base area operations man- ager—and former rental manager—Elise Rodriguez. “We get multiple models and brands of boots and skis, snowboards, whatever we’re testing that season. I want it to go out every day so we can get a true test on it. We review what went well, what didn’t. How is it holding up? We then build our buys from what we learn.” “Testing the product is an over- looked part of the rental buying process,” said Massanutten’s Rekitzke. The resort stocks 1,800 alpine sets and 900 snow- boards, and they get rented twice on a busy Saturday. “So efficiency is key,” he said, “but as a beginner-oriented ski area, the performance from a beginner stand- point is important as well.” At Loveland, Albertson keeps the test- ing simple. “I’m the number-one tester for all of our ski equipment. My assistant manager tests all of our ride equipment. We take into account what our clientele is looking for: a boot that fits, that’s com- fortable, that skis well.” The approach has worked; Loveland has tripled it rental business in the past three seasons, thanks in part to new gear (Fischer for alpine, Nitro for snowboards). If you can’t find the time to test gear, said Snowbowl’s Rodriguez, talk to those who have. Call operators who have similar clientele and volume, she suggested. “I’ve done cold calling and said, ‘Can you chat
Massanutten, Va., stocks 1,800 alpine sets and 900 snowboards in its rental shop, and prioritizes effi- ciency and performance for novices in its rental buy.
HAVE A PLAN
Every resort approaches its rental pro- gram in its own way. “They vary wide- ly depending on the category— alpine, snowboard, or Nordic—and the rental buyer,” said Salomon marketing direc- tor Erik Anderson. “Some buyers are still focused primarily on price; they just want to know, what’s your lowest net? Others attend their regional rep and on-snow shows” to see their options and get hands-on time with the gear. Some are looking for comfort fea- tures like good walking soles, more adjustability, and durability features such as screwed-on buckles vs. riveted. Operators with large fleets are often looking for “improved data treatments, pre-stickering, ASNs, bulk packaging and more sustainable packaging solu- tions,” he added. The process often begins with dis- cussing your options with company reps, typically with the rep visiting the resort. “We have a great team of regional reps who are more than happy to discuss all things rentals with our potential or existing accounts,” said Nidecker rider services coordinator Brian Hankerson. Several other supplier reps said much the same, including Elan/Alpina U.S. director of product and marketing Ben Fresco. “Our sales reps work closely with rental buyers in their territory to
tors have a limited window for making decisions. “Deadlines have moved up because we can’t get raw materials oth- erwise,” said Rossignol vice president of marketing and sales Kurt Hoefler. Mid-February to early March is now the main purchasing window. Partly, this change reflects operator requests for earlier fall delivery dates. Many need time to prep gear, get it racked, and enter it into the resort’s tracking sys- tems. “Resorts often have fewer employ- ees than in the past, which means they need more time to prep gear,” said pres- ident of Head/Tyrolia USA Wintersports Jon Rucker. Many operators have moved delivery dates to Oct. 1 rather than Nov. 1 (the traditional date) as a result. A lot of resorts plan for a three- or four-year replacement cycle. Some stretch that to five to seven years, and some, even longer. To some extent, “it comes down to what kind of winter it was,” said Massanutten Resort (Va.) rent- al manager Philip Rekitzke. Regardless of the time span, most also switch out entire sets of gear—all skis, all snowboards, or all boots, for example—when they do. “We like hav- ing skis of all the same vintage,” said Nub’s Nob (Mich.) GM Ben Doornbos.
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