When do skis go on sale?

[UtahBrian]

I wanted to buy a new XCD rig last year after COVID driven chaos forced me to move to Colorado in December, but every ski shop was sold out of everything. REI had switched the skiing center over to selling Kayaks by February because they couldn’t get skis to sell.

So I rented old Fischer 88s and gray Alpinas all winter. Probably paid nearly enough to buy new ones.

Now as summer draws to a close on the Queen City of the Plains, I wonder when new gear becomes available and when it goes on sale.

I have other doubts and questions, too. Should I be paying closer attention already or wait for November? It turns out Sniagrab has been gone for years; do prices actually drop at the early season at some point anymore? When will we find what the pricing on new stuff like XPlore is like, or if it even launches at all this year? And when do the 100°F days finally end so the 0° days can start?

[lowangle al]

I would be prepared to pay full price and hope you get what you want, otherwise look at something used to save money and ride it out another year.

[phoenix]

I'll second what Al said. All outdoor gear sells out fast and early these days; if you know what you want and can find it, buy it quick... things go out of stock quickly, and re-orders are scarce for the retailers.
As far as when things go on sale, spring is a popular time for people selling gear. You can also look for sales from the bigger retailers around various holidays.

Used is always a good option for ski gear. Where in Colorado are you? I always see loads of xc/xcd/tele stuff on the Colorado Craigslist; start with your local area, then other ski town hubs around.

[Tom M]

I don't know anything about this company, but a quick ebay search turned this up
https://www.ebay.com/itm/203555656095?h ... SwSJNhEpsH

[Leo Tasker]

I was speaking to the Rossignol rep here in Norway a couple of weeks ago, he told me that for alpine equipment pretty much all the available stock has been presold to retailers and there won't be much (if anything) available for reordering this winter. Same goes for XC gear.

It'll likely be the same story with other manufacturers, so don't expect there to be a lot of bargains in shops anytime soon. Either be prepared to pay full price or hope that as restrictions lift, that there'll be a lot of lightly used second hand gear up getting put up for sale as people revert back to pre-covid way of life!

[fgd135]

If you're in the Denver area, I'd watch for sales at the smaller outdoor shops that might have inventory from last season; also check frequently with resellers like "Play it again Sports" who seem to always have some used gear, esp. in Boulder;
https://www.playitagainsports.com/home
Also Boulder Sports Recycler:
https://bouldersportsrecycler.com/
and there are several other independent ski shops, although most only sell AT and DH gear...but it pays to visit all these places in person as inventory changes quickly.
Neptune Mountaineering in Boulder occasionally has sales and otherwise has good inventory in season, esp. Asnes skis/but expect to pay full price 99.99% of the time.
Best of luck!

[UtahBrian]

I don't know anything about this company, but a quick ebay search turned this up
https://www.ebay.com/itm/203555656095?h ... SwSJNhEpsH

Mmm. I’m looking forward to a nice set of 2021 SB-98s. They’ve cut the weight by almost a pound this year which will be nice on uphills. And I love uphills.

But that’s well above suggested retail price. The regular retailers don’t have any of them yet.

[kumachan]

I spoke to a R.E.I. store manager last week asking when they will get new X-C skis in stock and was told: Probably October.

The Neptune Mountaineering website says they have some skis left in stock: https://neptunemountaineering.com/

I think that the Cripple Creek guys run a ski-mo/AT exclusive shop, but you never know, they might get some used XCD gear for sale: https://cripplecreekbc.com/

[Tom M]

I don't know anything about this company, but a quick ebay search turned this up
https://www.ebay.com/itm/203555656095?h ... SwSJNhEpsH

Mmm. I’m looking forward to a nice set of 2021 SB-98s. They’ve cut the weight by almost a pound this year which will be nice on uphills. And I love uphills.

But that’s well above suggested retail price. The regular retailers don’t have any of them yet.

It looks like that includes a set of NNNBC Magnum bindings. Based on the Fischer website Price of $11,598 US dollars for the bindings, I'd say that is quite the bargain.
https://www.fischersports.com/us_en/bcx ... 109?c=5368

[fgd135]

REI now has their 21-22 skis up on their website. Sadly, no Äsnes. Good luck.