Snow is now visible in the Sierra Nevada, which means snowboarders and skiers are getting ready about the upcoming season.
"Driving up from Truckee today you can see the snow caps on the mountains and it was really getting me exciting for the winter season coming up," Jack Scott, Truckee resident, says. "Hope we get a lot of snow this year."
"I'm super excited," Blake Schmitt, University of Nevada, Reno masters student and Reno resident, says. "I actually went to another sale we had in Reno the REI Garage Sale, and I got myself some snow shows so the winter activities are coming and I'm super excited."
So, you can imagine the excitement people felt at the 2018 UNR Ski Swap. The event is a fundraiser for the university's ski team, but thanks to a partnership with Ski Pro and locals bringing their gear to sell, this fundraiser is also one of the best places to get cheap winter gear, especially considering it's October.
"I've seen skis that are probably three or four hundred dollars skis go for one hundred dollars," Greg Mason, Director of UNR Ski Team Boosters, says. "The brand new equipment I would say they're heavily discounted anywhere from 50 to 75 percent off."
Ski Pro supplies most of the products, and almost all of it is new. They go around and buy excess inventory from manufacturers, which saves money. They also provide a wholesale discount to UNR, which means more savings. As for equipment others bring in to sell, they take 25 percent of the sale.
"The rest of the equipment that comes in comes from individuals like you or me or anybody out there that would like to sell their equipment from previous years," Mason says. "As long as it's in reasonably good shape."
While Ski Pro provides most of the workforce, the UNR Ski Team and the Reno Ski and Rec Club have volunteers who work the event, too.
Last year was the first year the UNR Ski Team and Ski Pro have this kind of business relationship, since they used to have multiple vendors selling to people during the swap. During the swap last year, they made about 10 thousand dollars, and Mason says Friday of this year was so busy, they almost sold as much as they did all of last year.
Schmitt and Scott were first-timers at the UNR Ski Swap, and they'll likely be back.
"I had an awesome day," Schmitt says.
"Yea I'd say I'd come back," Scott says. "It seems like a good stop."
