The road to the mountain starts in a two-block radius in downtown Hood River.
Two shops — Doug’s and 2nd Wind Sports — are competitors yet collaborators in providing for locals’ and visitors’ snow gear needs. Both sell new gear and rent a wide range of equipment for beginners to advanced racers.
The needs the two shops meet run the gamut: From repair of skis damaged to the core, to a set of new stickers to cover up the old ones on a just-purchased consignment snowboard.
On a given day, you might find technicians Seamus McMorrow at 2nd Wind or Andrew Boyle at Doug’s repairing or refurbishing snowboard surfaces, ski treads or edges (skis do have treads, not unlike tires). They could be rewaxing a board or repairing rust on a ski edge or burrs, nicks or other damage, be it cosmetic or severe, or resolving an issue with boots.
“Ski boots are pretty technical, a big part is the integrity of the DIN sole,” the square or rectangular part at the toe of the boot, Boyle explained.
Erika Gerald of 2nd Wind said boot upgrades are often required because the liner has worn or become compacted from use.
“You don’t want your foot moving around inside the boot,” she said.
Both stores have new gear for sale as well as rental services.
New snow has changed conditions and brings changing ski and board needs, according to the gear shop folks.
“Now people are coming in with their skis they didn’t want to fix because they were skiing on them,” Doug’s shop manager Sam Benoit said. “I just got a pair in that were damaged early season, they skied hard on them, and now they want to switch over to bigger mountain powder skis and these are coming into the shop for a tune.”
“With low snowpack in December, we had a lot of core shots, where the (ski’s) base material is removed and the core is exposed,” Benoit said. “That’s a problem because moisture can get in.”
“Water is like cancer to skis,” Boyle said. “Once it gets in it causes worse damage if left untreated. Like any wound, you need to treat it right away to keep it from getting worse.”
With plenty of new snow on the mountain, what keeps 2nd Wind staff busy these days is “Mostly everything,” joked Erika, who owns the shop with her husband, Pepe.
“This has definitely been our busiest time,” said Pepe.
2nd Wind, at State and Second streets, and Doug’s, at First and Oak, both sell a wide range of gear and garments, and 2nd Wind is a long-time purveyor of consignment goods.
“Tuneup work is like taking care of your car,” Benoit said. “You slide better when wax is right and your edges are taken care of, especially on hard pack: Proper waxing equals better gliding.”
A hot wax treatment takes 24-48 hours, Boyle said. “We’re pretty backed up on these, like all the shops.”
Benoit and owner John Moleski remodeled the space last year, installing new floors and counters, and space-saving gear racks, Benoit built new benches and re-faced the counters.
“If people came in even in the spring, this was different, a whole different configuration,” Benoit said. Doug’s installed a self-service check-in computer station, allowing customers to create an account or go to an existing one to place an order for rental equipment. It uses the Easy Rent system by Wintersteiger, creating a digital library with records of each customer’s rental history, to be retained at least seven years.
2nd Wind’s shop is in the rear of the store, next to new and consignment gear ranging from boots and poles to snowboards and skis of all dimensions, and snowshoes.
Doug’s shop entry is off First Street, where you can get repairs and rent all manner of snow sport gear, including helmets and snowshoes. Doug’s sells garments and gear on the main level and basement.
The shops have in common selection spread over multiple store levels. And located two blocks apart, they behave as neighbors.
Benoit said, “It’s really great having 2nd Wind in town. One thing we do really well is to help each other.”
“Sam and Pepe talk all the time,” added Manager Dana Riviello.
“If I don’t have it or I don’t have the timeline to meet their needs, we send them over. The biggest goal for us. between the shops, is to keep people local, and for people to know that local shops can provide them what they need,” Benoit said.
“We’re definitely competitors when it comes to retail, but with repair, we definitely work with them a lot,” Pepe Gerald said, “and sometimes with retail. We’re checking in with each other every day asking how things are going, what are you seeing and are there ways to help each other out. If someone comes here looking for a particular binding, if they’d be better served at Doug’s or by Bob Olsen up at Mt. Hood Racing (in the town of Mt. Hood) or Meadows and even Timberline, we’ll give them a call. We’re most interested in ensuring people’s needs are satisfied locally, and I’d rather they go a couple blocks to another brick and mortar rather than going online to Amazon. We’re really glad Doug’s is here.”
He gave the example of goggles — “We don’t carry Oakley but if they really don’t want a Smith, then we send them to Doug’s.”
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