Ski Chalet Experience
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19 users
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Bumps
February 18, 2006
Member since 12/29/2004 🔗
538 posts
Well, We are going for a week trip starting on the 25th and I thought I would get my son his own board. I figured at this point it would last the rest of this season and next. First I tried a new local shop here in Fredericksburg, but they didn't have any small boards. So I called Ski Chalet up in Chantilly and they said they had lots of boards in the 130 to 140 range. So we packed up and drove the 1 hour to hour and a half to get there. We went in and after being ignored asked for help and the guy working said he was busy but he would call someone. A kid came to help and was rushing us the entire time. 1st they only had one type of 140 board. a generic Wolverine graphic board. My son wasn't trilled with the graphic, but when I said we could put it off and go elsewhere he figured it would be ok. Then the guy did a quick measurement of my kid's feet and he immediately brought out boots too small. I didn't think much of it because nobody ever measure my kids feet right; I don't think he stands on those measuring devices correctly. After I saw them fighting to get this boot on, I told the guy that he needed a larger size and I think he thought we were being unreasonable and just didn't understand the concept of a tight boot. He went and got the next size and my son still had a tough time getting them on, but I think at this point we were all feeling frazzled and rushed. Then the guy went and grabbed a set of bindings and when he pulled them around the top strap didn't go around, but he said it would adjust out. The guy never asked any questions, just kept throwing stuff at us. We asked if they would mount them and he said sure and started writing up a ticket. He then asks when we wanted to pick them up. It will be at least Tuesday. I told the guy it was a long drive for us and would like it done today if possible. But it's too late in the day (around 6) and not possible, so I decided to set it up myself. I didn't want to go out to Chantilly. Well I get home and we are starting to get excited. The board looks better out of the wrapper and a check of the bootie and the boot looks like it fits perfectly. After a few trials and errors, I get the binding set up. I adjust the top strap as far as it will go and discovers that it will only fit the boot if I push real hard and catch a ridge. Even with the boot empty it will only ratchet about two clicks. No way my son is going to get this hooked up on the mountain, and probably not safe. I'm going back up tomorrow to see if I can get a new binding setup. I'm wondering if they are going to try and get me to buy longer straps, but I'm not sure if the safety of the binding is compromised if you go larger. Anyway, the whole experience turned out to be terrible. First I wish when they said they had a lot of boards, that they had clarified of 1 type; Second, I wish they had slow down a bit and engaged us in some conversation, to help us feel better about what we were getting ; Third I wish they had taken more time to make sure everything they gave us worked together.
wojo
February 19, 2006
Member since 01/17/2005 🔗
335 posts
since your going back, check out extreme all sport (about a mile away). Pete will talk your ear off and help you get some good gear at a reasonable price. I have bought ski gear and know people who have bought snowboarding gear.
http://www.extremeallsport.com/
Bill
February 19, 2006
Member since 01/5/2005 🔗
42 posts
Sorry the hear you had such a problem. Unfortunately, thats the exact reason I stopped going the Ski Chalet over 6 years ago. That and it seemed like every time I went into the store, they had new people. I could never get any consistancy of what I considered experienced salespeople.

I now use Alpine in Sterling almost exclusively (especially for inline skate stuff) even though its farther away. I will also use Pro Fit in Leesburg if I am up that way.

Cheers,

jBill
Coach13
February 19, 2006
Member since 12/16/2003 🔗
56 posts
Unless you're buying clothes or know exactly what you want, don't go to Ski Chalet. You're just setting yourself up to be pissed off.
ScotS244
February 19, 2006
Member since 01/29/2004 🔗
122 posts
Well this is just a fantastic post. You know, for every complaint based rant like this there are 10 times as many positive experiences that no one will ever write about. I'm not saying there is no reason for the complaint and the experience at Chantilly sounds like a cluster-eff from word go but please think about more than yourself when you write a character assassination on a multi store ski shop.

I can't excuse the way your son got boot fitted because this needs to be done properly and with patience. It sounds to me like the store was extremely busy and they were just trying to get anyone back there to help you. It's unfortunate that they would get somebody unqualified to do that. I was surprised to read that you went on what is likely to be the last extremely busy weekend of the season (it's Presidents Day weekend, remember), showed up late in the day and expected the board to be mounted same day. Please. The workings of a ski shop that serves an entire region on one of the busiest weekends of the season just can't do that.

You were right to expect to have all three points you made met by the Chantilly Ski Chalet. It's disappointing that they weren't. Now we have a post that describes this experience and more people come out of the woodwork to pile on. Well folks, if you didn't know it, five shops have been culled down to three and in our area, the Tysons store was closed down last May. Where do you think all the customers who used that shop go now? Arlington and Chantilly. Like everything else in life, most people wait until the last minute to get sh!t done and expect things to be done NOW. This is always exacerbated around the holidays and if you don't think there are dedicated employees at these stores trying their best to meet your needs then that's just crazy. Just for once it would be great to hear someone write about something good that happened in one of the stores because it happens every day. I've had customers come back thanking me for getting them in a boot that has changed their skiing for the better or who come back from a ski trip raving about the ski I recommended for them. We have customers who have been coming to us for over 25 years. They know they have other options and it's not like the same person has been their personal ski guru for all that time because yes, you're going to see plenty of new faces each year. That's how it is.

My suggestion is you talk about your issues experienced yesterday with a manager and then see what they do to make it right, because they will try to make it right. You have to travel an hour? Don't put that on Ski Chalet - the location isn't going to change. You want it done today? Call ahead and ask when such a request could be best suited.

Has anyone on this board ever had a great experience at Ski Chalet? I know many of you have so write about it. It's not like these people are working on tips. They thrive on positive feed back, which is regularly given in our stores but unfortunately not on this fickle online community of skiers. I'm not going to keep coming back in defense for every negative post about Ski Chalet from here on out because I'm sadly leaving them in a few weeks and I don't feel every negative story warrants a response. I leave Ski Chalet with TONS of great memories and many of those due to smiling faces of the customers I helped. Rant over. Pray for snow and may you all have great turns.
Ullr
February 19, 2006
Member since 11/27/2004 🔗
532 posts
Sorry to say Scott that I live in Richmond and the two experiences I had with the old Ski Chalet were unpleasant. Bought some ski's and binding off of a friend for my wife and asked how much to get them adjusted to her boots. $75! I know I didn't buy them there, but darn that much for a pair binding that mount to rails? Took them to the Ski Center in Midlothian, $25 and since it was still early season he threw in a wax and sharpen at no cost.

The other issue was about 10 days before leaving for Whistler. Wanted a new pair of pants, but they didn't have my size in the pants I wanted. They called the Tysons Corner Store and they had them. Said they would send them down. After 9 days of waiting, phone calls and still no pants, I drove from Richmond to Tysons Corner to pick them up, only to tell me they had no record of me wanting them. Was leaving the store, and looked behind the counter, and you guessed it, my pants on a hander with a note attached, "Hold for Anderson, send to Richmond store. I asked the guy why he hadn't sent them since I was leaving the next moring. He said he had just been too busy.

Sorry Scott, no sympathy from me.............
skier219
February 19, 2006
Member since 01/8/2005 🔗
1,318 posts
My main impression of Ski Chalet in Richmond is that they were overpriced and out of touch with the needs of experienced/educated enthusiast skiers. I like shops where I can have a good one-on-one dialog with another enthusiast who knows as much or more about equipment than me, and maybe even cut a deal. At Ski Chalet, I never encountered very many enthusiasts, and their idea of cutting a deal was looking at a "retail" price list in a notebook. So my impression is that they were a good shop if you want to walk in off the street and pay full retail with no questions asked.

While skiing at Wintergreen earlier this year, I did meet a nice young lady who works at the Richmond Store (now Peter Glen) and she was clearly an enthusiast who chatted with me about skis quite a bit. So there are some good people there, I just never encountered any when shopping at the actual store.

I have good relationships with ski shops in Washington State (Village Bike & Ski), California (Sierra Ski & Snowboard), and Maine (Ski Depot and Al's ski barn). These are all brick and mortar shops who take phone and/or internet orders. They are staffed by hardcore enthusiasts, they are eager to talk with customers, and they have great deals -- typically 20-40% off list (or more) every day. They also stand behind their products. I will gladly give my business to these shops -- I can wait 2-5 days for UPS to bring my gear....
The Colonel - DCSki Supporter 
February 19, 2006
Member since 03/5/2004 🔗
3,110 posts
Well, I, for one, have almost always had a better than good experience with shopping and equipment repair at Ski Chalet, at least when Wilbur was the owner, and Freed his right hand man. I have shopped Ski Chalet for over 35 years without any real bad experiences, and lots of great ones.
I have held my judgement of the new ownership, but I must say, at least for my experiences at Chantilly, I am not real impressed. I went to pick up my skis in December as promised and had to wait while the work was done and the fellow doing the work (good work, by the way) complained that all the guys had gone to Snowshoe for demo days and left him with a mess of unfinished work. I an less than thrilled with the physical changes in the shop and the fact that very knowledgable folks re specific areas of inventory are now not available to help customers, but rather have to man the cash register. AND MOST IMPORTAMTLY...the Ski Chalet needs to bring back Freed and his expertise at running a first class operation, and thus get themselves right with old and new customers alike.
I made a major purchase of boots this year and drove the extra miles to Pro Fit in Leesburg because I was not made to feel like a "customer" at Ski Chalet in Chantilly.
Scott, I have not been to the Arlington store for a couple of years, so I can not speak for the operation there...which always in the past was better than first class.
The Colonel.
Ullr
February 19, 2006
Member since 11/27/2004 🔗
532 posts
skier219 I know all you have close is the Ski World in NN, but have you ever been to the Ski Center here in Richmond? If not you should try it out next time you are up this way. Steve Stallard (the owner), Patrick, Mark and all the others really know their stuff and their prices can't be beat!!!
Bumps
February 19, 2006
Member since 12/29/2004 🔗
538 posts
Wojo,
Thanks! We stopped by on the way up and met and talked with Pete. He originally told us what we could do to make the setup we had work. Get a longer stap, get a pro disk to offset the bindings so the toe wouldn't drag over the edge... We asked and he showed us his boards and we decided to go with a santa cruz board and bindings(i Belive its a last year model) and some Head boots with BOA tighten system, which my son loves because he always fought getting the strings good and tight. It ended up being about $100 cheaper. and he took the 3 minutes it took to mount and make sure the mounting and boot fit well on the board.I think I ended up with a better board, slightly less in the bindings and about the same quality boot. I will say when I returned the items to ski chalet, he asked why and I explained that it didn't fit and I decided to go another way and they accepted the return with no issues.

ScotS244,
Hey sorry if you feel my rant was unjustified. Not my intent to character assassinate. Your right that people do tend to rant more then rave when things are going bad versus good. But I have noticed that people also tend to come to the defense of said object when they feel differently. However, I doubt that my rant has any bearing on the success or failure of these stores. I was sharing my latest experience as I do many in this forum. Some good some bad.
skier219
February 19, 2006
Member since 01/8/2005 🔗
1,318 posts
Quote:

skier219 I know all you have close is the Ski World in NN, but have you ever been to the Ski Center here in Richmond? If not you should try it out next time you are up this way. Steve Stallard (the owner), Patrick, Mark and all the others really know their stuff and their prices can't be beat!!!




Whereabouts is Ski Center? I will try to stop in there and check it out on the way home next time I do a Wintergreen day trip (hopefully later in the week). I also want to check out FreeStyle in Charlottesville.

Craig
ScotS244
February 19, 2006
Member since 01/29/2004 🔗
122 posts
I think if you have a bad experience it is your right to complain about it. I guess I can really only speak for my shop where at least 75% of us are totally passionate about skiing and riding. Please don't think that we don't feel a little uncomfortable telling anyone that they have to throw down $75 to mount bindings onto rails. Hell, back in the day I had Lego sets that were tougher to put together. I guess that kind of price is justified when you're scoring great deals off the internet and shops suffer because their inventory can't match those kind of deals. In any case, I'm not really trying to stir it up with y'all. Just making the point that you almost never hear about the positives and that it's disappointing to me to read only about negative experiences.
wojo
February 19, 2006
Member since 01/17/2005 🔗
335 posts
Glad I could help. I have gotten some great advice on this site. I am happy to return the favor. I know what it is like to return to a place I wasn't happy with. As a price conscious buyer, I hit all the stores. I bought a pair of skis at Ski Chalet in Chantilly for my daughter and was happy with the price and customer service. Not sure what that means :-0

I do know when I go in to Extreme All Sport and talk to Pete it is a fun experience! I think he does try to give everyone a good deal. He seems very focused on good price and good product.

Quote:

Wojo,
Thanks! We stopped by on the way up and met and talked with Pete. He originally told us what we could do to make the setup we had work. Get a longer stap, get a pro disk to offset the bindings so the toe wouldn't drag over the edge... We asked and he showed us his boards and we decided to go with a santa cruz board and bindings(i Belive its a last year model) and some Head boots with BOA tighten system, which my son loves because he always fought getting the strings good and tight. It ended up being about $100 cheaper. and he took the 3 minutes it took to mount and make sure the mounting and boot fit well on the board.I think I ended up with a better board, slightly less in the bindings and about the same quality boot. I will say when I returned the items to ski chalet, he asked why and I explained that it didn't fit and I decided to go another way and they accepted the return with no issues.



Roy
February 20, 2006
Member since 01/11/2000 🔗
609 posts
When I first moved to DC, I had great experiences with Ski Chalet. However, all I was doing was purchasing clothes (and renting skis). Then the day came that I wanted to buy my own boots. Oversold, underfitted, and they would not do followup service of canting, blowing out the boot to make it fit better, etc. The response: "What do you really want us to do?" (literally the quote).

Then I bought a ski bag. The day I was packing it, I discovered it had been cut with a razor knife (like someone cut it when opening the box). I took it back and the manager said he could do nothing, called the entire staff over so they could see him say he couldn't do nothing, and then accused me of cutting it myself.

My letter to Ski Chalet's Corporate Office only prompted the same manager to call me with the obligatory "I'm sorry but the corporate office is making me call you and do something to rectify this situation" (ok not really a quote but you get the drift). His offer was to pay half of getting the bag sewn up by someone he knows. I sewed the bag myself and never went back.
Ullr
February 20, 2006
Member since 11/27/2004 🔗
532 posts
Quote:

Whereabouts is Ski Center? I will try to stop in there and check it out on the way home next time I do a Wintergreen day trip (hopefully later in the week). I also want to check out FreeStyle in Charlottesville.




Take 288 to the Woolridge exit. 2nd traffic light and make a left. Go to the end and make a right on Midlothian Tpk, take first left into Sycamore Sqare Shopping Center. Check Mapquest for better directions.

http://www.theskicenter.com/

Craig


JohnL
February 20, 2006
Member since 01/6/2000 🔗
3,563 posts
Quote:

Just making the point that you almost never hear about the positives and that it's disappointing to me to read only about negative experiences.





I've been posting on this board since 2000. There have been plenty of positive things said about numerous ski shops in the DC area; I'd say the positives comments are more frequent than the negatives. Ski Chalet has had a higher ratio of negatives than just about any other local shop. From my own experiences with Ski Chalet (since the very early 90's), I agree with the general board consensus.

Also, board members come forward and back up a ski shop if they feel it has been unfairly bashed in a post. We still have to shop at these local ski stores.

I've delt with some very knowledgeable sales/service people from Ski Chalet over the years, but I've also delt with some clueless dogs and I've ended up just walking out the door. Constrast that to a place like Ski Center in DC, where I've never delt with any sales/service person who wasn't very capable. And I'm willing to pay extra $$ for service, especially when it comes to boot-fitting/purchase and the major tune of the ski year.

Scott, I understand that the negative comments about Ski Chalet tick you off, especially since it sounds like you are a capable and dedicated professional. However, if numerous customers are not getting good service, the owners/management of Ski Chalet have to answer to that. Fellow posters want to know the good & bad of shopping at the various places in the DC area, since our money is hard-earned.
skier219
February 20, 2006
Member since 01/8/2005 🔗
1,318 posts
Thanks for the link Ullr -- I recognize that logo, have seen stickers on chairs/towers at various resorts in the region.
snowcone
February 20, 2006
Member since 09/27/2002 🔗
589 posts
In defense of Ski Chalet ...

We shopped at Ski Chalet for several years after Innerski closed. The staff were helpful and friendly and if they didn't know something or didn't have a certain product, they would bend over backwards to accommodate us. Then came Wilber's death and the downslide of Ski Chalet.. The employees were treated like dirt, as well as member of the buying co-op that Ski Chalet belonged to; everyone knows the story or at least the most salient parts. The new owners do not have a clue as to what the DC market is and consequently stocked low/middle level goods the likes of which Galyans used to carry; a pseudo-'upscale' Dicks'. The few part timers left find the management won't listen to their advice as to the clientele. There are a lot of new hires that just do not have the interest or dedication and consequently seem do little more than collect a paycheck. It's a shame because Ski Chalet used to be a respectable shop.

I guess things just change and sometime not for the better. In any case there are still a couple of great shops in the DC area. Pro Fit in Leesburg and Ski Center in DC which is now our shop of choice; top end gear at decent prices and a great staff, knowledgeable, really helpful and standing fully behind any product you buy from them.
TerpSKI
February 20, 2006
Member since 03/10/2004 🔗
167 posts
Snowcone- I'm sorry but I just don't buy this. Ski Chalet has been this way for years and IMO has nothing to do with the new ownership. The culture seems to be totally unchanged.
snowcone
February 20, 2006
Member since 09/27/2002 🔗
589 posts
Maybe I should have qualified my comments; we dealt exclusively with the Gaitherburg store.

The one time we went to the Tysons store looking for a particular item was ended up in the we-will-never-come-back-here category. I think there probably were significant differences from store to store.
Jim
February 20, 2006
Member since 11/22/1999 🔗
317 posts
My experiences at Ski Chalet have been mixed as well. The Arlington store employees weren't overly friendly and seemed too interested in entertaining each other than helping out customers. On more than one occasion, I've walked in and the employees were too busy talking to each other about their social lives to help me out.

The Tyson's store of Ski Chalet was 180 degrees in the opposite direction. I had even come to build a personal rapport with the ski shop guys and the GM. I ALWAYS took my gear and my wife's gear to the Tyson's shop for mountings, tunings, and repair. I recommended many friends there too. You can imagine my dismay when I learned the Tyson's store was disbanded. I have no idea where all those great people went, but I hope they landed on their feet okay. I really did come to rely on their friendliness, professionalism, and customer service attitude.

I can also say that I haven't been a fan of Ski Center in DC either - $69 to mount a pair of bindings/skis?? Please. The shop at Liberty did it for HALF the cost and just as professionally. So what if the skis and bindings were purchased elsewhere. And I don't mind paying a bit more than someone who purchased in-store. But to jack up the service price so astronomically just serves to drive away business, not earn it.

So after years of having a reliable location (Tyson's Ski Chalet), I am back to searching for a shop that can do right for a fair price.
ScotS244
February 21, 2006
Member since 01/29/2004 🔗
122 posts
Damn, it's cold in here.
warren
February 21, 2006
Member since 07/31/2003 🔗
485 posts
Bumps,
I would STRONGLY encourage you to return all that stuff and go to Willis in Fairfax (not much longer of a drive from Ski Chalet). Willis will NEVER just throw stuff at you and rush you along. I have posted on several different places here about how they were fantastic with my daughter

-Warren-
JimK - DCSki Columnist
February 21, 2006
Member since 01/14/2004 🔗
2,992 posts
Quote:

Please don't think that we don't feel a little uncomfortable telling anyone that they have to throw down $75 to mount bindings onto rails.




I had a good experience at the Arlington Ski Chalet in Nov. Had bought some gear at the Swap there for kids and they did a remount and tune on one set of skis and binding release check/adjustment on another. Total cost was something like only $35. The guy at register acted confused about price, but I didn't object. Maybe it wasn't confusion, but sympathy?
My wife had a very positive experience at the Tyson's store. She bought a lot of clothes for the family during the going out of business clearance.

Ski Chalet equals skiing to me. I've made occasional visits to the Arlington store since the late 60s I believe. When did Wilbur first open it?

I also have memories of when Alpine Ski store was in Tyson's. My mom won a pair of new Yamaha skis (which she gave to me) from Spyder Sabich there in early/mid '70s, not long before Claudine Longet got him.
Coach13
February 21, 2006
Member since 12/16/2003 🔗
56 posts
For the record, there have been some positive comments regarding Ski Chalet on this board. In the recent "Local Shops" thread, there were some who reported good experiences there.

That said, I'll agree the vast majority of the comments have been negative. That should serve notice to the management of Ski Chalet that there's a problem. To ignore it, or debate it, only reinforces the fact in consumers minds that Ski Chalet is not dedicated to servicing their needs. When you run a specialized retail facility, people expect specialized service. When they don't get it, they follow the old marketing adage and tell others.

On the flip side, if I walked into Pro Fit in Leesburg tomorrow and told the owner I heard that one of his customers was unhappy with either a product or service that his shop provided, he'd definitely want details. Why? So he could take care of the situation, and make the customer happy. That's the way a shop is supposed to be run.

As to Ski Chalet, I've come to the conclusion that they either don't have enough experienced employees to provide top notch service/advise or they don't care to do so. Either one it enough to keep me away for anything other than soft goods.
Ullr
February 21, 2006
Member since 11/27/2004 🔗
532 posts
Just to clarify, Ski Center in DC is not associated with The Ski Center in Richmond. After reading through this thread, I didn't want anyone to get confused.

Thanks,
Aaron
February 21, 2006
Member since 01/12/2005 🔗
54 posts
The shop I go to right now is willi's. Always first rate - and they even offered to warranty bindings for me that I didn't even buy there for only a $10 shipping charge (no handling) just because they happened to be a dealer. The site I got them from was able to give me a free shipping label and money back, but I did get new bindings through willi's and they met backcountry.com's price when asked on the bindings I got from them (this was a $40ish difference after factoring in mount) and had them mounted and ready to go in four days. Always personal service, and I've never seen them try to rush anyone nor been rushed myself.
RiverHill
February 22, 2006
Member since 01/16/2005 🔗
28 posts
The Coach told me about Pro Fit and I have been very pleased with them. I visited many shops in the area and I know for a fact, I could take my skis and boots back at anytime if I had a problem and they would make good on them. I was very pleased with there service and fitting
Reisen
February 22, 2006
Member since 01/25/2005 🔗
368 posts
I'll chime in with support for Ski Chalet, especially the Arlington store. I know Scott, Jason, and a few others there, and they're all great guys with strong Customer Service ethics. The relationship between strong ski enthusiasts and ski shops is a tough one. On the one hand, we're reliant on them for specialized equipment, top skis, and the best tuning. On the flip side, we're also knowledgable enough to know pretty much what we want (ie. reading reviews of gear/skis on the web, understanding sizing) and can get it cheaper online. I want to support the store and the people it represents enough to allow a win-win relationship, but I also just can't see paying $1100 for new top of the line skis, or $75 for a mount.

My answer was to try to find a compromise. In the area of boots, where I wanted/needed help in terms of getting a great fit, I paid full retail at Ski Chalet, which was over $500. I've also bought lots of items with smaller markups, such as poles, softgoods, DVD's, a Camelbak, etc. In return for all this, I'm treated well, and hooked up on a reasonable fee for mounting bindings, even if the skis/bindings didn't come from Ski Chalet. Seems completely reasonable to me. Plus, I know that most of the people there are true enthusiasts who will enjoy talking powder with me for 20 or 30 minutes while I browse.

I've also had good experiences at the Tyson's store, but negative ones at the Chantilly store. Nothing horrible, but I just didn't feel I was getting the level of expertise I'd expect at a specialty retailer. Then again, the exact same thing happens at golf stores, so...

As for other local stores, Leesburg is simply a hassle to drive to, and I wasn't overly impressed with ski center. I might try Willi's, though, just to have an alternative in case the people I find the most helpful move on (sorry to see you go, Scott, where you headed?).
ScotS244
February 23, 2006
Member since 01/29/2004 🔗
122 posts
Amen brother. That's what I'm talking about! Hey everyone, thanks for hashing this out. I know some other SC'ers read these posts so hopefully we can make some changes to better the circumstances. Now that we are under corporate ownership from an outfit based in Texas I'm not sure what type of progression will be made. You wouldn't believe the Sun and Ski policy of bootfitting - it's much like that of Sports Authority and it was something we fought against and won. There are people doing their damnedest to maintain that specialty store feel but it's not easy when the choices are being trimmed down and the soft goods are mainly generic. If Ski Chalet is one of your only choices it doesn't hurt to voice your opinion to management about things you'd like to see done for improvement. Choose less mainstream times to visit and hang out to talk about sliding. You'll always see new faces come in and out but there will usually be someone there you know if you come around enough. I'd just like to say that my years at the Arlington shop were awesome because of the people I worked with and the customers I helped. I'm off to Utah in two weeks with my wife and our gang of animals. I can see LCC from the driveway and be up to the 'Bird or Alta in about 20-30 minutes. Cheers!
warren
February 23, 2006
Member since 07/31/2003 🔗
485 posts
Scott,
Man, I'm jealous So, what's your address out there? I'll have to come by and stay .. er .. I mean say hi on my way to BCC and LCC!

-Warren-
ScotS244
February 23, 2006
Member since 01/29/2004 🔗
122 posts
Haven't committed the address to memory yet but needless to say, I'll try to be as hospitable as Crush is. If you're heading out here definitely shoot me a PM. The place is big, has a hot tub, wet bar and the BBQ will almost always be blazing. Service charges will be accepted in the form of liquor (no less than 1 litre) or red vino.
skitheworld
February 24, 2006
Member since 02/24/2006 🔗
1 posts
I am going to chime in. I have had dealings with Ski Chalet for about 7 years. I have never felt rushed EVER! If anything I find myself spending too much time in the store, just hanging out. I deal exclusively with the Arlington store. Almost everyone there is passionate about skiing or riding. Jason and the gang have all done a great job by me. They have always bent over backwards to help me as much as they can. Notice I said as much as they can. I don't live in this world alone and I'm quite sure I'm not the only skier either. If I walk in and need skis mounted now (which I have done) I go there in the hopes they can achieve this gold, not with the expectations that it WILL happen or ELSE. They always have come through. The people there are only human and have many other customers to help and assist. I seem to take the viewpoint of "they were there first." I guess sometimes you need to exercise some patients or at least call a head to find out how busy they are. Scott I hate to see ya go brother. I also hope you the best with everything.
warren
February 24, 2006
Member since 07/31/2003 🔗
485 posts
It sounds like the Arlington store is VERY different than the others. My last experience with the Chantilly store with my daughter was VERY rushed and they had a miserable selection of junior equipment. When we went to Willi's ski shop, it was 180 degrees different than that. They had a GREAT selection of junior equipment and we were patiently waited on for about an hour until my daughter found the right pair of boots
-Warren-

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