By the end of the day we will have processed 1431 pairs of skis for grinding this season to-date, and we’re finally over the Thanksgiving “hump” that represents the peak of our pre-season business. Historically, by this date, we’re at least two-thirds of the way through our seasonal volume.We finished our last batch on Thanksgiving day, and then took a long-weekend, with a day trip Friday to Craftsbury for skiing (OK, and some wax testing) on their manmade snow. Saturday and Sunday were just plain lazy, filled with excitement over the performance of the US women in Gallivare, and a small dose of frustration over the performance of the men. Wow – what a nice break!
Now we shift gears a bit. Snow season is on its way if the forecasts and discussions are to be believed. If you like a bit of technical weather jargon (and some good news on the outlook for the season) check out this weather blog: http://madriverglenweather.blogspot.com/. While we don’t have local snow for skiing yet, we’re going to act as though it’s coming. So, we’ll see a change in the workflow around here.
- Turn-around times will decrease, and we can start to target a one-week turn-around on inbound skis for grinding.
- We’ll start setting up our on-snow demo fleets with appropriate grinds right away.
- We’ll start cherry-picking the new ski inventory for our favorite stuff and pre-grinding it with appropriate grinds so that it’s ready to ship immediately when somebody wants to order a pair.
- We’ll get out the door for exercise every day.
Finally, I’ll get back to developing web content in our wax and tools sections. I’m trying to hit a December 1 deadline (self imposed) to capture some Christmas business on wax and tools. Got to think like a retailer and act like a retailer if you’re going to be a retailer!