Ski Sharp Powder Magazine


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Ski Sharp- Shop of the Month October, 2002
Fresh Wax	-Adam Howard, Powder Magazine
"If you have the stuff, people know" says Rick McAllister. And, if the people want a mean hand-tune to help fend off the competitors in ski bum races up and down the Green Mountains, "the stuff" is found at Waitsfield, Vermont's Ski Sharp. Operating out of a rented garage at his former Ducati motorcycle shop on Route 100 since 1988, McAllister is known from Pop Warner through the World Cup as one of the East's most capable hand with a file. One of a few North American shops that still stock downhill boards, Ski Sharp is also the single largest seller of Marker MRR bindings in New England. "There is no fluff here," McAllister says. "We sell one brand of skis, goggle, poles, and helmets because that's what we use."	Shop: Ski Sharp
	Location: Just south of the Waitsfield Village on Route 100, Waitsfield, Vermont
	Operating since: 1988
	Phone: 802.496.6001
	Website: www.skisharp.com
	Machine: Sports Service Micro 84, ski tuner Gemini belt, but mostly hand files, dated when entered into service.
	Tune Cost: $35 including minor base repair, $25 race tune for kids.
	Employees: Rick, his son Travis and various apprentices
	Reputation: "We hand file every pair of skis," says McAllister. "People can always count on getting the same tune every time because the same guy who tunes their skis, owns the shop."
	World Cup Connections: "I used to have to ask Daron Rahlves how to spell he name every time he came in for a tune. I've tuned for Darion Boyle, Doug Lewis, John Egan, Al Hobart- everyone, down to the local kids."
	Tip of Choice:"We treat everybody equally. We don't accept beer or cookies. What we like is a good word on the hill."