Today we’ve got another Shop Talk episode for you, where we talk with folks from one of our Blister Recommended Shops to get their perspective on a mix of topics ranging from broadly applicable to all of us, to topics that help us better understand what’s going on in the local community that each shop serves.
Megan Shenton is the head of the ski department at Outdoor Gear Exchange in Burlington, Vermont. We talk about how this ski season is going so far in New England; the history of Outdoor Gear Exchange; some of her personal favorite gear and some of the OGE staff’s favorite products; and more.
TOPICS & TIMES
- About Outdoor Gear Exchange (1:42))
- Burlington, VT (8:55)
- Backcountry Skiing & this ski season (9:56))
- EC skiing (20:53)
- Some of the OGE staff’s ‘go-to’ products (26:38)
- Adjustments OGE has made for COVID (41:44)
Having lived in both Colorado and New England and skiing both, the typical conditions January to March in middle and southern Vermont is very similar to Colorado April skiing where it’ll be refrozen with granular in the morning that’ll soften up in the afternoon depending on shadows. The pow days are the same, but I feel like the groomers knock it down on a lot more trails in new england before the lifts are turning. It just stays colder overall more consistently during the day on Colorado mountains which prevents things from getting refrozen. Eldora is possibly the only exception.
The biggest ski culture shock for me was that nobody boots up at their cars in New England unlike Colorado where that’s the norm.
@Alex, tell Jonathan. He thinks it’s the same at Stratton as Crested Butte. That means it rains in January. Then goes below zed.
OGE is a sweet store. Love the basement with the colored tags and consignment stuff just gets cheaper over time. Hit it in the summer for ski gear for kids.