If there is any “perpetual” post here at WildSnow, this has got to be it. Please readers, we continue to curate this article. If you see any ski shops mentioned that have ceased to exist or fallen in the standings, let us know. Our publishing partner Cripple Creek Backcountry is supporting this content, while we retain 100% editorial control and will of course include any shops that appear legit.
This thread should be about the shops that all of you, our esteemed WildSnow readers, have EXPERIENCED to be good. I’ll admit we’ve bashed ski shops now and then here, but with good reason, as I hear seemingly endless stories of botched shop work and poor customer service. Nonetheless, GOOD SKI SHOPS EXIST and here is the place to list them.
(This is intended to be an honest assessment by ski shop customers and potential customers. Any spam or shill posts will be removed. Please keep most comments as those of customers.)
There are some things you just can't do at backcountry.com -- like this airbag deploy party at Cripple Creek Backcountry, Carbondale Colorado.
We’re talking ski touring shops that can handle things such as mounting tech bindings and knowing how to get the boot heel aligned with the heel unit, or repairing a stripped screw hole, or giving you solid real advice about what ski/binding/boot combo would work for your style of glisse riding. Mainly, we’re talking the best ski shops — where you can simply go with confidence for any need in ski touring, and shops that if they do mess up (no one is perfect), own their flubs and make them right without you having to contact us here at WildSnow to try and figure things out.
Related links:
Binding shopping tips for newcommers to ski touring
Budget ski touring shopping.
More budget shopping tips.
(For the record, this post first published August 2010.)
WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder Lou (Louis Dawson) has a 50+ years career in climbing, backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. He was the first person in history to ski down all 54 Colorado 14,000-foot peaks, has authored numerous books about about backcountry skiing, and has skied from the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest mountain.