Bay Area ski and snowboard shops say they have been fired up on all cylinders – and more – ever since December's snowfall created some of the best conditions in years at Lake Tahoe area ski resorts.
Demand is so great that one Marin County shop is low on gear.
At San Rafael's Demo Sport, business has been crazy busy.
"I would have to say controlled chaos," owner Steve Merrifield told KCBS Radio on Monday. "The customers have been very good. We've had a line out the door."
Following the Christmas and Thanksgiving storms, Merrifield said Demo Sport has averaged about 200 customers a day. That's twice the amount of shoppers they normally see, and customers have needed to line up outside the small shop's door.
Merrifield said after Thanksgiving he knew was in for a lot of business, but he couldn't have predicted the Sierra Nevada would receive so much snow barely a month later.
"We ran out of ski poles," Merrifield said. "We ran out of some of the minor equipment, but we were well stocked in skis, boards, helmets, goggles."
Merrifield said the store is averaging between $800 and $1,000 per sale, with entire families coming in to purchase the latest gear. The ski rental business has been solid, too.
That's because the Sierra ski resorts are offering perfect conditions, according to Merrifield. He expects to be busy all winter, with spikes over the Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend in January and the week of Presidents Day in February.
"It's so great to have a snowpack that's phenomenal for this time of year," Merrifield said. "And we've always said, 'Bring it on early, and then everything else is icing on the cake.' "
A storm making its way through the Sierra on Monday and Tuesday should bring another several inches of powder.
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