Ever wonder where and how all of those cool cross-country ski products you may drool over come from? There’s one man who has an outsized role in bringing very ski specific products into the United States. But he’s also on a larger mission. He doesn’t want to just sell cool ski stuff. He wants to change your mindset about skiing, and the way the country buys skis.
The man’s name is Andy Gerlach, and he’s the owner of EnjoyWinter. You may know them from their ubiquitous “EnjoyWinter” e-mail newsletters, which have information ranging from new products to travel ideas. But Gerlach has a larger mission than just selling gear. For those who have been in the sport for a while, you may remember the Factory Team. The team was run by Gerlach with athletes who were sponsored and travelled around the country competing in races. The team broke up in the late 2000s, but Gerlach is resurrecting it one skier at a time. His revival of the Factory Team isn’t necessarily about winning races, rather it’s about being ambassadors to local skiers, not for a particular brand, but for the sport. Gerlach has noticed—along with many people who have been in the sport for a while—an unsettling trend which can best be summarized like this: How many times have you walked up to someone at the ski trailhead, asked them how they are doing, and the response is an immediate recitation of their most recent training schedule, injury report, and race results? It seems to happen a lot. Gerlach thinks it’s because the sport has developed a mindset which needs a reset. He believes people are asking themselves the wrong question. Instead of asking yourself—or others— “how did you do,” he wants to change the framing to thinking about “how do you do?” It’s a small one word change of verbiage, but gets to a big change of mind set. Instead of thinking always about performance and results, think more about the experience. That’s what the guy who is selling ski stuff is trying to do; change American’s mindset about skiing, one cool product at a time.
Andy Gerlach was generous enough to devote several hours to a discussion with FasterSkier about his interesting personal history, importing ski goods into the U.S., and how he’s determined to change the way people think about skiing and buy skis. Gerlach has a unique perspective with a degree in engineering and a master’s degree in economics.
This interview has been edited and condensed from a two hour conversation with Andy Gerlach.
FasterSkier: Let’s talk a little about your history and how you started in the business.
Andy Gerlach: I started out in 1996, I was in Bozeman having skied for Montana State University. I took over what had been the Fischer Marathon Team, which I managed, and I created what was known for 14 years as the Factory Team. At the time it was the biggest professional team in the world, with the goal to promote brands through ski racing. We closed it down in 2008 during the auto crisis when we had just signed Saab as our title sponsor. Then I worked for Salomon in race service and athlete management. In the Vancouver Olympics I saw athletes wearing Bliz so I reached out to them and in 2011 started importing Bliz.
FasterSkier: Did you move away from engineering and economics because of your love for skiing?
Andy Gerlach: Yes. When I graduated with my engineering degree I tried getting jobs in a ski factory, but I didn’t end up getting the job, and engineering didn’t seem to be my passion. I was involved in ski racing, and got a job as an investment banker, but Fischer kept pulling me back in to help with race service. Then I was able to turn the program into the Factory Team and it just took off.
FasterSkier: What’s the name of your business now?
Andy Gerlach: EnjoyWinter.
FasterSkier: What does EnjoyWinter do?
Andy Gerlach: EnjoyWinter is America’s largest independent importer and distributor of cross-country ski equipment. We distribute over 20 brands that each specialize in one product category for cross-country skiing. For example, Bliz is our sunglass brand, and they specialize in sunglasses. Peltonen is our ski brand, and they make skis. 4KAAD is our pole brand and they specialize in poles. Rottefella is our binding supplier, and they only make bindings— which is the only product where we’re not the exclusive distributor. We sell through 200 cross-country ski dealers throughout the country, which is our primary distribution network, and we also sell through our showroom and Enjoywinter.com. Many of the brands we compete with are category generalists, and they’re selling their brands. They are great companies, but they are in the business of selling their brand. Our brands specialize in one product category. That’s what differentiates us.
FasterSkier: Does that make your brands better?
Andy Gerlach: All the brands in cross-country skiing love cross-country skiing. The people driving their brands are passionate about it and make great stuff. But our brands really specialize in one specific thing. I don’t want to come across as saying any of these brands don’t care about the sport. The good thing about cross-country skiing is that it’s so specialized that any company involved in it has to be making good stuff. But, for example, Peltonen only makes cross-country skis, and they make every one of their skis in one factory in Finland. So, their $180 kid’s ski is on the same production line as their top end World Loppet skis. The other major brands can’t say that.
We are providing cross-country skiing solutions. When a dealer comes to us and says I have “x” problem … they come to EnjoyWinter and we can solve their needs. We’re the only place a dealer can come to and get everything from one supplier, and the expertise from us and from the brands. We’re selling the sport of cross-country skiing and skiing solutions rather than a brand. What also makes us different is if we don’t have a solution, we try and make one. When we need something different in a product, our brands make it. Peltonen just launched some touring skis, which they haven’t needed in Finland, so we now have American styled touring skis.
FasterSkier: I used to love Peltonen skis, and I miss them.
Andy Gerlach: Your story is common. We’ve only been distributing it for a year. But the number one story has been everyone coming up to us and saying, “I used to ski on Peltonen, it used to be my favorite.” There’s a big affinity for Peltonen. The rest of the brands we carry were unknown when I launched them.
FasterSkier: One of the solutions you sell is Anti-freeze face tape. Did EnjoyWinter create that?
Andy Gerlach: That’s my own brand and my own creation, my son’s face is the logo.
FasterSkier: Are there lots of knockoffs?
Andy Gerlach: What you’re seeing across the U.S.— if it’s pre-cut and cut well for the nose and cheeks, it’s my stuff; Anti-freeze face tape. Ours holds up to the moisture that can come from snow and is pre-cut for the face and cheeks.
FasterSkier: Were you your own guinea pigs for that?
Andy Gerlach: Oh yeah! Back in the day we even used duct tape, but that can make things even worse. You can even use face tape on your fingers if you have old frostbite spots. Our tape has been on the faces of Olympic champions and happy kids across the world. It’s just about trying to find solutions that Nordic skiers need, and making it ourselves if it’s not already made.
FasterSkier: Let’s talk about another product. You carry Ogasaka skis from Japan. What’s their story?
Andy Gerlach: Those are perhaps the most beautiful hand crafted skis in the world. During Covid when we couldn’t get enough skis in the U.S. I was searching for a ski brand to add to our quiver. I reached out to them and got the skis and was blown away by the precision and how exact every ski was; and the base finish was the nicest I had ever seen. Every 192, for instance comes out of the mold exactly the same as designed, there’s no variation in flexes due to manufacturing. Every ski comes out as designed or it’s not accepted. They use Japanese carbon fiber with the most precise manufacturing. And the bases are the softest, freshest most wax absorbent I’ve ever seen in production skis. Everyone who’s gotten them has loved them. They’re not inexpensive. I wish I could do it more service and sell it more, but right now our focus is on Peltonen with a wider and more affordable solution. All these fluctuations in flexes in skis aren’t design variations, they are inconsistencies in the manufacturing. Most manufacturers don’t know what a ski is going to flex at until after it’s made. Ogasaka knows before it’s made, what the skis are going to flex at. This is part of EnjoyWinter existing to sell cross-country solutions rather than to sell a brand. We love the sport for the sport’s sake and not for the equipment’s sake. We have a great dealer—Start Line Inn—right at the Birkie start, is one of the places to demo them.
FasterSkier: How bad were supply disruptions during Covid and how have recent big price increases in shipping containers affected you?
Andy Gerlach: I’m moving stuff constantly; we have small shipments coming all the time. We’re more flexible than the big guys. It hasn’t dramatically changed the way I do business. But shipping costs are the biggest driver of inflation in the industry. And the logistics of having orders coming in from over 20 brands is an ongoing process every day. But, my biggest risk is dealers going out of business due to the boom and bust of Covid and the lack of snow last winter. My biggest threat is getting dealers to pay us on time when we’re delivering them small brands. We have no way of collecting.
Please return to FasterSkier when we go in depth with Andy Gerlach and talk about his plans to sell skiing to the masses and changing skiers’ mind set.
