Page 29 - Flathead Beacon // 1.7.15

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BUSINESS
JANUARY 7, 2015 | 29
While the shape of skiing has trend- ed toward fatter, wider skis designed for deep powder skiing, Prather said the ter- rain at Big Mountain, which doesn’t of- ten accumulate the powder dumps seen elsewhere in the western region, is bet- ter geared for a narrower ski, though not always.
A decade ago, most skiers were on something that measured 72 to 82 milli- meters underfoot; 92 to 102 millimeters is now the underfoot average.
“Most of the skis we offer, on the oth- er hand, are between 85 and 95. We don’t offer much over 100,” Prather said.
And that’s what makes Prather’s shop unique while not stepping on the tips of other local ski shops.
“We noticed some people buying skis built for the kind of snow they wanted to be skiing, but that weren’t necessarily representative of what they were skiing on a regular basis in the valley,” he said. “Our lines of skis are meant to comple- ment your big powder boards, because most skiers have two or three pairs of skis that they rotate through based on the conditions. You’ve got your all- mountain skis and then your fatter skis for the glory powder days.”
Prather’s shop also offers something unique for the snowboarding set.
Brittan Ellingson, owner of Notice Snowboards in Whitefish, started his custom snowboard shop online three years ago.
Prather took notice of the custom de- sign and, when he decided to expand the shop’s inventory, decided to carry a se-
Duie Millette molds a custom footbed insert at Great Northern Cycle & Ski in Whitefish. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
lection of Ellingson’s top-selling boards. “We liked the custom designs of Brittan’s boards. He’s been a friend to the shop for a long time and we really thought his custom product would be a
good fit.”
Call Great Northern Cycle and Ski to set up an appointment with the Fit Ar- chitect at (406)-862-5321.
A fitting generally takes about 1.5 hours, but customers can enjoy an espresso from the shop’s coffee bar, The
Daily Habit, while they wait.
Check out more about Great North-
ern Cycle and Ski’s winter and sum- mer products on their website at great- northerncycles.com.
[email protected]
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