“Skiing is a very technical sport,” says Rob Parent, owner of Sun & Snow, the last real ski shop in town. Ski boots, for instance, aren’t supposed to fit like street shoes, but “most people wear boots two sizes too big because they buy them in their U.S. shoe size.” A foot that has too much toe room will curl the toes under, desperately gripping for balance on the slopes. “We call it ‘the claw'”–he demonstrates with his hand.
Boots these days have heat-moldable linings, finished by an in-store process that allows many a big-box sporting goods store to claim a “custom fit,” but Parent wouldn’t call it that: “They throw it in a heater, put it on your foot, and ask for a credit card.” He says the heat treatment is only the beginning of properly fitting boots–at Sun & Snow’s workshop on the mezzanine of its new space in the strip mall in front of Quality 16, technicians can “reshape the entire boot to mimic the shape of your foot, like an exoskeleton.” He shows the worksheet he uses to fit boots, which documents the position of every metatarsal.
Parent is a self-described nerd about details like this–he even takes his technicians on training trips around the world to learn from the experts. “We just got back from a boot-fitting workshop in Denver. We were working with behind-the-scenes techs from the Olympic ski and snowboard team.” He’s not a ski snob though. He quickly puts in a word for Mt. Brighton. “It has just enough vertical. Two-ten [210 feet] isn’t a lot, but it’s the best two-ten you can find anywhere,” he says.
Parent and his wife, Heidi, took over the shop from his dad, Bob Parent, a ski bum who opened the store in the Seventies: “Back then there were multiple shops in town. We’re the only one left standing.” Parent senior moved the store a few times, eventually landing at Westgate in 2001. Rob and his brother, Alex, “grew up in the shop, but my dad always said the shop was his own dream. He wanted us to find ours.” After college (at WMU, where he met Heidi) Rob did a stint in insurance, which was a rude shock–he had never been around a business before where “it was all about income.” He came back to Sun & Snow, and his father recently retired.
The technicalities of ski equipment don’t stop at boots. Skis too have seen an ergonomic revolution. A ski used to be shaped like a popsicle stick but is now slightly spoon-shaped, to cut a better turn. Does this make it easier to choose skis? Of course not–it multiplies the choices. Technical conversations–they can last for days–tend to take place on the mezzanine. Downstairs, where a south-facing picture window lets in plenty of sun, are clothing and accessories for both the slopes and the street. Parent particularly likes his Quebec-based Lole line of women’s tunics, tops, and dresses. At this time of year, even with the mild start to an El Nino winter, it is hard to imagine the “sun” part of S & S, but the merchandise does revolve with the seasons.
In 2010 the Parents opened a Sun & Snow store in Plymouth, and over the summer they moved the ski equipment and clothing to Jackson Rd. Their swim gear is now at a separate location, Sun & Snow Swim HQ, which they refer to as Sun & Snow Wagner: “Technically it’s on Jackson Plaza; no one knows where that is, and it looks like it’s on Wagner,” Parent explains. While the Wagner shop keeps regular retail hours, it’s a warehouse/showroom, where competitive swimmers come to be fitted for suits.
Parent says he’s aware that “good customer service” can be a meaningless cliche, “but here it has a tangible result. It’s not just that you come out feeling warm and fuzzy. If you have the proper gear, it’s the difference between miserable and the time of your life.”
Sun & Snow, 3780 Jackson Rd., Ste. J (Scio Towne Plaza), (734) 663-9515. Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sun. noon-5 p.m. sunandsnow.com
Sun & Snow Swim HQ, 462 Jackson Plaza off Wagner, same phone, hours, and website.
