We Love Henderson’s

N has been asking us about getting twin tipped skis for the past year. I’m all for it, though his skis still fit him, and are still perfectly good, though they are hand me downs from his big sister. His request puts into the realm of wanting something but by no means needing it. N is such a good skier, however, and truth be told, he is not a demanding kid. It’s not as if he’s always wanting something new. Even still, now and then he sets his mind to something and won’t let go of it, driving mom and dad crazy.

Now for the most part, if we get him what he wants, he really makes the most of it and plays with it until he’s sick of it. Now and then, however, he will obsesses over something and once he gets it, he never plays with it. Blongo Ball comes to mind, though in all fairness, the jury’s still out on that one. It’s not as if he’s never going to play with it in the coming years, and we saved a bundle by making it and not buying it.

Anyway, I think the ski thing was a valid request, and again, he’s a good skier and I know he’ll get a lot of usage out of it. The problem was, how were we going to accomplish said goal in an economical and practical way? There was no way we were going to buy him brand new skis, we don’t buy anybody in this house new skis. I scoured the classifieds all Summer and tried to check out thrift stores and yard sales, but no luck. Twin tipped skis are a bit of an esoteric thing.

Enter Henderson’s Ski and Sport. We get all of our ski equipment there, and they are a great bunch of guys. They have a yearly sale to get rid of old stocks and bring in the new, so you can get some good deals, especially on used equipment. Needless to say, N was constantly asking us if we could check out the sale. We went early, and I’ve learned the key to getting a really good deal is to interact with the owner, JH. Not only is a great guy, but he’s the owner, and can make the final decision on a deal. He gave me a fabulous deal on my snowboard, not to mention the kid’s skis. He’s more inclined to cut a deal than his staff, who may not have as much leverage. The problem is, you can’t always get help from him, and without him, there is no room to negotiate.

We got there and they know I’m frugal (cheap?) so expect me to search for bargains. In other words, they don’t bother showing me the new equipment. I lucked out and immediately ran into JH, and we chatted for a bit, and then I asked him if any of the used twin tips were on sale, as well. They didn’t have sale prices, but I think JH pulled his magic and gave us a deal. I was stoked, and thanked our lucky stars that he came over and helped us. I think we benefited from the fact that it was Friday and in the AM, so it was slow.

N was excited, and we also got to upgrade his boots, which had become too small for him, to a killer pair of racing boots. They look cool. We also got A some new gloves and new XC boots, both of which were 50% off. How cool is that? Both of their XC skis still fit them, which is a great thing, but N’s boots are these junky used ones we got from a friend, and you can tell he doesn’t like them. Now that A has new boots, N can wear her old ones, which are really nice and have hardly been used.

Now all we need is a new pair of gloves for N. They didn’t have any sizes that fit him at Henderson’s, but we’ll keep searching. We have a couple of months. I realized after the fact that I need new gloves, mine have big holes in the fingers. Then again, nothing a little duct tape won’t fix.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Gary Cowles for the pic.