Gear West
Store Hours:
Monday -Thursday: 10am – 8 pm
Friday: 10am – 6pm
Saturday: 10am – 5pm
Sunday: 12pm – 4pm
Website: gearwest.com
Phone: (877) 473-4327
Intro
Gear West is a unique shop — with a campus spanning three buildings and green space on the banks of Long Lake outside of Minneapolis, Gear West is both an expansive and beautiful establishment. But Gear West is more than just a nice campus — multiple Masterfit certified bootfitters; one of the largest selections of skis in the midwest (including DPS, Armada, and Faction); a premier race tuning facility; and a huge selection of snowboard, nordic, running, and biking gear make Gear West a gear head’s dream.
But what really sets Gear West apart from the other shops is their sustainability ethos and community involvement. Their roofs are covered with solar panels, and Gear West regularly hosts in-house and off-site events to help people get out and explore.
Brands
Gear West is well-known for having the largest ski and boot selection in the region, and not just that – their selection is incredibly diverse, including all types of skis, snowboards, nordic equipment, and more.
Top ski-related brands include Nordica, Tecnica, Volkl, Faction, Line, Look, Marker, Kästle, DPS, Black Crows, Lange, and Dynastar.
Services
Gear West is more than a cool, year-round sports campus. It has multiple Masterfit certified boot fitters; one of the largest selections of exclusive ski and boot brands in the Midwest; a staff of top-notch race specialists with a world-class tuning facility; a specialty AT department with all the accessories and the skills to get your AT gear dialed in.
Gear West has developed quite the reputation for bootiftting in their region and beyond, and with good reason. With over 50 cumulative years of experience, Gear West will help you achieve the best possible fit from your ski boots, whether you are a recreational skier or racer.
They are equipped to get your boots fully customized, including crafting custom insoles, boot molding and adjustments, and more. They have defined their bootfitting process as: Information / Assessment, Creation, & Examination, and will work with you through this process to make sure the end result is a boot that matches your needs.
And if you go through this customization process with Gear West, they guarantee the fit of any boot that they sell. They also provide gait analysis, and craft custom insoles for cycling, nordic, and plenty of other sports where a neutral foot position is also imperative.
Gear West has a full-service shop with knowledgeable techs who will mount just about any indemnified binding. They also offer Phantom Guide application (which Blister Members receive 20% off), and are the only Midwest shop aside from the Detriot region that can provide this service.
Ski Demos
Gear West offers ski demos (more of a try-before-you-buy program) for a large selection of their ski wall, as well as Dahu ski boot demos. The fee for this service is $45/day, and up to 3 days of demos can be applied to the purchase of a new ski (or Dahu boot) when purchased within the same season.
Gear West also has a pretty expansive rental service, year-round. This includes quality rental gear in all aspects of biking, wetsuits, race wheels, travel cases, snow shoes, bike trailers, and more. Check out what’s available based on the season, via this link.
Online Presence
Gear West has a pretty impressive website. This doesn’t just include being able to shop all the gear they stock, as well as incredible sales, but they also provide a comprehensive look at all that they do.
Check out Gear West’s blog for plenty of interesting and informative articles, plus their Events page for plenty of exciting, community-led events throughout the year.
Bottom Line
If you’re planning to ski or ride the Midwest or you have your sights set further afield, Gear West will help you have your best ski season yet. You can swing by their shop if you’re in the area, give them a call, or check out their entire product line at gearwest.com.