The Starting Gate

I felt compelled to write about Maria W’s review. The Starting Gate is owned and operated by a couple of pro skiers. If the selection of skis they offer were «limited» it’s because the brands you mentioned are not up to their quality standards. Yes, the brands they did not carry are popular but perhaps that year’s run was not good enough. I have been using them for years, my skis are tuned to perfection every time, the advise is always expert and the clothing lasts forever. The purchased a jacket in 1992 and wore it for 22 years before it was time to retire it. The zippers all still work and it is the most comfortable best performing I have ever owned. I guess Maria is just a real pro when it comes to ski shops or may be not. You get what you pay for and an extra $ 20 to have a pro tune your skis is well worth it!

Buyer Beware — Warning — this outfit engages in unfair and illegal trade practices! Specifically it uses unfair price manipulation. I had been searching for a pair of Postcard of Italy ski pants and found them on the web for a listed sale price. However, the sale would be final sale because they were last years merchandise,. I asked if I could return if they did not fit and was told no because they were final sale. I then drove 2.5 hours to the store to try on and purchse the pants. They fit fine but I was denied the internet price — because they were now priced full price in the store and the store refused to honor their internet price unless I purchased over the internet specifically. When I complained, the manager then said she would «check on the internet pricing because it was too low and it would be raised to match the store price». This is totally illegal and unfair trade under vermont law, I am writing a letter to the attorney general,

We were greeted at the door by a friendly Black Lab who took an instant liking to my hat pompom hanging out of my coat pocket. After a little tug-​o-​war, I won back my hat with bonus dog slobber. Cute. She came back with a tooth gnarled beer can and we played toss for a bit until I decided to get in out of the cold.
The first thing that caught my eye when we entered the shop was a display of Turtle Fur balaclavas, just the kind I was looking for all week at home in NYC and couldn’t find. Taped onto the display was a picture of Jerry Garcia holding a Happy New Year! sign. Jerry, my hero! So far, so good.
Spencer, the manager, was knowledagble about the limited choices of skis at the shop. We had come to demo different types and the selection was limited to Atomic, Head, Fischer, and Élan.
No Volkl, no Zag, no Nordica, no Saloman, no Movement, no Rossignol, no Blizzard, no Dynastar, no K2.
The fee to demo is $ 50 a day and this is put towards the final cost of any skis purchased post demo. I needed to get my snowboard tuned, a $ 60 fee. It was Christmas Eve Day and I was concerned that it wouldn’t be done before the shop closed.
Spence mentioned the shop would be closing early. We explained that we could be back well before closing and that we only lived down the street close to the Stratton access road. Spence offered to discount the tuning to $ 50 and didn’t charge us a demo fee for today since we wouldn’t be hitting the mountain with them until tomorrow. Neighborly of him.
We thanked him and almost headed out then saw they stocked Warm, a transdermal L-​Arginine that improves blood flow to the extremities, helping to keep them, right, warm. Spence joked that we were getting the cream free with the $ 10 off. Alright then, sold. We paid in full for everything, thanked him again and said we’d be back before closing to pick up the board.
We stopped back a few hours later. The kid that did the tuning work was proud of the outcome and pointed out to us how well it had come out. Sure enough, the board looked tight.
My Husband was next to Spence who commented that he hoped that ‘too much time hadn’t been spent on the tune since the charge was only $ 50.” Odd comment to make within earshot of customers, especially ones with a house in the neighborhood.
Note, the cost for a full tune is $ 20 less on the mountain that what Starting Gate charges. Found that out once we got to the Base Lodge later. We visited other gear shops looking to demo a wider variety of skiis and found that a full tune is less at every other gear shop in town.
So, I’ll definitely be back again. One more time. Gotta return the skis. Next time we need a demo, there’s Equipe Sports and Mt. Riders also on Route 30.