The couple said they were primarily looking for a couple of new pairs of skis.<\/p>\n
Rachel Crone attended the ski swap Saturday as a vendor. Her outlet is Ski Exchange and she sells imported goggles, ski poles and socks under the brand name DRT Optics, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe swap is awesome,\u201d she said. \u201cI think it\u2019s a great opportunity for people to come get used gear at a discounted price. If you go online, you\u2019re normally going to get new equipment and you\u2019re going to pay three times as much. I think it\u2019s (the swap is) a win-win for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crone has been attending ski swaps since she was a child, she said. Her father owned a ski shop in Aztec, and Crone moved back to that area about six years ago. She\u2019s been attending the Hesperus Ski Patrol Ski Swap in Durango ever since.<\/p>\n
Crone said the 2021 ski swap was the busiest she\u2019s seen since 2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh my gosh \u2026 I feel, like, three times busier than I\u2019ve seen it, (since) 2019,\u201d she said. \u201cI think everyone\u2019s making up (for 2020). Outdoor sports have kind of blown up since COVID. Everyone\u2019s going outside, which is a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scott said attendance had been \u201cgreat\u201d so far mid-morning Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were having major technical difficulties with our database and our internet, so we\u2019re not being able to process people out as quickly as we normally do, but we\u2019re working on it,\u201d he said. \u201cPlus, the fairgrounds were double-booked, so we don\u2019t have quite the space as we usually do.\u201d<\/p>\n
A COVID-19 booster shot clinic was also being hosted in a separate facility on the La Plata County Fairgrounds on Saturday morning.<\/p>\n
\u201cA little bit of a tough swap,\u201d Scott said. \u201cBut we\u2019re happy to be back. Last year, it was not our normal swap operations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scott said the ski swap was hosted at Ski Barn, one of the vendors participating this year as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich worked out, we were able to get people in and out, checking out stuff,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it\u2019s a lot more fun when it\u2019s a big event, one-day thing, and getting people in and geared up for the winter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking of winter, what do skiers have to look forward to this year in terms of snowfall?<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now we\u2019re forecast for a La Ni\u00f1a year, which, you know, doesn\u2019t look great,\u201d Scott said. \u201cI would hope that we\u2019re still going to get at least a couple decent snow storms that come through and get us going. At least at Hesperus. Purgatory should be good. Wolf Creek, Telluride \u2026 The forecast doesn\u2019t look wonderful but we\u2019ll take whatever we can get.\u201d<\/p>\n