(Photo: Christy Sport's new location at Steamboat Resort's Gondola Square on the grand re-opening night, Monday, Dec 12. Courtesy of Trey Mullen.) 

Steamboat Springs, CO - On Monday, December 12, the Christy Sports at Steamboat Resort’s base area celebrated its grand reopening after undergoing a stunning transformation alongside the ski resort’s “Full Steam Ahead” on-mountain and base area improvements. 

The renovation changed the Christy Sports building to reflect the company’s mission, emphasizing the service departments with rentals on the bottom floor and tuning and hard goods on the top.

“It’s very much reflective of our philosophy towards the business,” says Christy Sports’ CEO Matt Gold. “We think of ourselves not as a retailer but as a service and experience provider.”

Alongside the rental department, the bottom level also houses daily rental lockers, while the main floor showcases Christy Sports’ expanded retail department. The top level holds ski hard goods, a new repair shop and an elevated boot fitting area, which was a main focus of the top floor renovation.

Since the process of getting boots fitted can take up to an hour, the staff wants clients to be comfortable and content throughout. The section features a 360° cushioned bench surrounded by huge windows showcasing panoramic views of the mountain and illuminating the space with natural light. It’s pleasant not only for the customer but also for the employees, who have personalized workstations to make work more enjoyable and efficient.  

Upstairs in the tuning room, the star is the Wintersteiger Jupiter, a fully automated servicing system for skis and snowboards. 

Gold explains that guests can look in on their tunings and see the machine at work through the rooms’ wide windows. “We wanted to make this – what we do and how we do it – visible to the public,” he says.

And while Christy Sports already had a long-standing partnership with Wintersteiger on the tuning side, they now provide more than just the Jupiter. 

“We took our existing partnership to the next level by envisioning a next-level rental and repair experience,” explains Gold.

Christy Sports now uses Wintersteiger hardware and software for all rentals, making the process mess and paper free.

Customers can start on the website and send their information straight to the shop’s Wintersteiger machines. When they arrive to claim their rentals, the machines pull up their reservation, the clients electronically sign the waiver, employees hand guests their gear from the sliding racks of boots, poles and skis, and guests head for the hill.

While Christy Sports was already one of the leaders in snowsports rentals in the U.S., the new technology has cut processing and fulfillment time in half. 

“That’s a big win for everybody,” Gold says. “For the customer–it’s faster, and we don’t have to mess around with paper. For our operational efficiency and employees, it’s a lot easier.”

The Steamboat Square location was first opened in the 70s as a SportStalker, and it has now become the first Christy Sports Signature Store at a resort base area and one of the largest Christy Sports locations in the country.

The company has built trust with the community and staff, and these loyalties show after 50 years in Steamboat. And while folks in Steamboat don’t need much encouragement, Christy Sports provides the avenue to help people step outside.

“Customers are already inspired to get outside,” says Gold. “We provide the service and experience to help them enjoy the great outdoors and maximize their experience. Our renovation only expands our ability to do so.”