Tahoe Techs

[Sinecure]

Here are my experiences/opinions from being in Truckee/Tahoe City the past few years.

Dave's Truckee: Quick and decent. I don't take my boards there any more after they got one sort of stuck in the grinder and it shot out, across the shop and got impaled in the wall. Props to the guys for admitting what happened, showing me the problem and fixing it free. They could have just fixed it and not told me (I wouldn't have noticed). I sold that board. Its the best shop for rentals/demos. Sing the University of Michigan fight song for a discount.

Granite Chief Truckee: Soren is one of the only techs I've ever met who actually knows what an alpine carving / racing snowboard is. I have him do all my tunes, in part because I buy their discount card in August where you give them $100 then in exchange for a $200 use-it-or-lose-it credit for any shop work for the season. Every tune I've gotten there has been perfect.

Start Haus: Busy place but one of the few that seems to do everything by hand and really knows race / high performance equipment. You can find a lot of stuff in that shop that otherwise is only available online. Both Start Haus and Granite Chief have hot boxes if you want real wax penetration. I've never had them tune my gear, but I see the Squaw Snowboard Team's gear there all the time.

Head North: Awesome guys and OK prices. For Head/Tyrolia mounts I might take them to John. Probably wouldn't ask him to do any high-end tuning though. If you have kids on a local team, be sure to ask for a team discount. I really like that they try to cater to local team kids.

My house: I can't tune edges worth a damn and my p-texing skills leave a bit to be desired. But I do have one of the few snowboard-sized roto brushes in Truckee. If you are in Truckee, know how to tune your own gear and just need a place to do some waxing, feel free to PM me. We have a tuning table, iron, scrapers and that cool roto brush.

Hey Darkside: How about the Truckee Porter's? Who do we send people to there if they don't want to drive all the way to TC to see you?

[Walter Sobchak]

Beware of Sports LTD in South Lake. I bought my Jaks there for a screaming good deal but they fucked up on the mounting. One binding was mounted 1/4" off from the other.

Gary Bell's Sierra Ski and Cycleworks shop is a good alternative to Sports LSD for tele and AT mounts on the south shore. Good people, good prices, and they do consignment gear sales too.

http://www.sierraskiandcycleworks.com/

Brent at Tahoe Boot and Ski, as Arty and 666 said, is definitely the shit for serious tunes and tricky alpine mounts.

Powderhouse near the 7/11, in the old Cutting Edge Sports location, has good machines (ceramic edger, extruder) and two solid techs I know of. For standard, straightforward stuff they might be cheaper than Brent.

[descender]

I don't know any of the techs in N. Shore. However, Brent at Tahoe Boot & Ski in South Lake can definitely do this. He's located on Hwy 50 just a couple doors down from Tahoe Keys Blvd.

Ty and splat talk about him in this thread.
http://tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49121

He's good; really good.

Another rec for Brent. It is nice to know when you bring something in you are talking to the actual person that will do the repair and not some sales person who will fill out an order for a high school tech. He has done a great job on many things for me, including complex repairs.

[Arty50]

Mr. Sobchak covered it perfectly.

FYI, Tahoe Boot & Ski is now Tahoe Bike Shop. Brent changes the name with the change of seasons.

[Darkside]

Hey Darkside: How about the Truckee Porter's? Who do we send people to there if they don't want to drive all the way to TC to see you?

The guy in charge there is Dirk, and supposedly he's pretty good, but I can't vouch for him personally. I'll find out who to go to and I'll report back.

[Alkasquawlik]

Tahoe City Porters. Sean and Link are your guys. The reason why Granite Chief used to be so good is because of those two. But they switched teams this year and have lifted the Porters backshop up to top quality production. Seriously, they probably have the most experience with fat skis, 916's and anything else related to freeski than any other tech in the Tahoe area.

[Jim S]

+1 for Bobo's IF you are in Reno

[The Dad]

Bump for the impending season.

I've had it with Granite Chief after last year's screwups.

Basically, then, I'm looking for feedback on the following shops:

• Tahoe Dave's in Truckee (Basom: Are you still working at Dave's? Who should we ask for, and what beers do they like?)
• Tahoe Dave's on 89 at Squaw Valley Road
• Alpine Ski & Sport on Alpine Meadows Road at 89
• Porters Truckee (next to Albertsons)
• Porters Tahoe City (Darkside: Are Sean & Link in the fold again this year?)
• Start Haus
• Alpine Meadows Base Lodge Shop (the "silver pass" gets you $200 worth of tunes for $100)
• Anything else in Truckee or Tahoe City

[freshies]

Porter's in TC: Alex use to be the manager at Grainte Chief, but moved over there a few seasons ago. I have taken all my fat skis to him to have mounted (done by Sean or Link). They have done an excellent job on several pairs for me.

Darkside (Ben?) - I think you sold me my Kryptons at the tent sale over Labor Day weekend!?

[StormDay]

Bump for the impending season.

I've had it with Granite Chief after last year's screwups.

Basically, then, I'm looking for feedback on the following shops:

• Tahoe Dave's in Truckee (Basom: Are you still working at Dave's? Who should we ask for, and what beers do they like?)
• Tahoe Dave's on 89 at Squaw Valley Road
• Alpine Ski & Sport on Alpine Meadows Road at 89
• Porters Truckee (next to Albertsons)
• Porters Tahoe City (Darkside: Are Sean & Link in the fold again this year?)
• Start Haus
• Alpine Meadows Base Lodge Shop (the "silver pass" gets you $200 worth of tunes for $100)
• Anything else in Truckee or Tahoe City

Start Haus: I had bunch of work done at the Start Haus last year. Very happy with it all - 2 mounts , a few thermal bag and a few tune-up. On 2 of the tuneup, they also cleaned up/fix the bases after some early season damage w/out charging for a repair. They did a particular nice job on my 6*.

One major downside with Star Haus – Hours 9AM opening on Weekend. If anyone from Start Haus is reading this, 8am or 8:30am opening on the weekend would be appreciated. I have used other shops for work b/c of the opening time issue.

Key Tip for using Start Haus: Pre paid for the work when you drop of the gear. They are very busy and it can take forever to get someone’s attention and pay. If you have already paid, they are pretty good getting you your ski while that work w/ another customer.

Alpine Meadows Base Lodge Shop: I have gotten the Silver Pass the last 2 years and would recommend for waxes and basic tunes. The setup is very nice for parents that are swapping off watching the kids. You ski can get waxes/tunes during the 1.5 hrs you are watching the kids. They open at 8:30. If you are there at 8:30 with 1 pair, good chance they will get a wax done before the lifts open. Most of the waxes and tunes on my wife’s skis are done by the Alpine Meadows tune shop. Also, they carry over any unused balance from one season to the next.


Porters both TC & Truckee: I have gotten some very good repair work done at both shops over the years. Plus, numerous skis & bindings purchased and mounted by Porters. For me, the Albertson Porter does not seem super convenience. Again, the opening time on Sat/Sun is not great.

[The Dad]

Thanks, guys.

Start Haus doesn't open until 10am? That seems really foolish, especially for a race shop. Too bad -- I'd like to throw them some business to make up for the smoking deals I got there on kids' twin tips at the close of the season.

According to Porters' website, they open at 8am and stay open until 8pm (Truckee) and 9pm (Tahoe City) on Fridays and Saturdays. That should work.

Sounds like the Silver Pass makes sense regardless.

[StormDay]

Thanks, guys.

Start Haus doesn't open until 10am? That seems really foolish, especially for a race shop. Too bad -- I'd like to throw them some business to make up for the smoking deals I got there on kids' twin tips at the close of the season.

According to Porters' website, they open at 8am and stay open until 8pm (Truckee) and 9pm (Tahoe City) on Fridays and Saturdays. That should work.

Sounds like the Silver Pass makes sense regardless.

Start Haus: It is was 9am last year.

Porters: Opening issues were when Alpine opened at 8:30. There were a few morning they opened 15-20 minutes late when I was picking up stuff. The late Friday night hours are nice. Got Julia's Luv Bug there last year and did the buy them Friday night and pickup Sat morning routine.

[The Dad]

Start Haus: It is was 9am last year.

Well, the website says 10am now. Maybe that's an off-season issue.

[Arty50]

FYI: Brent is no longer at Tahoe Boot & Ski. Supposedly he's going to be working at the Powderhouse where 50 & Pioneer meet near the casinos. It's a bigger shop though, so I don't know if he'll be doing all the work like he used to. He's an amazing tech though.

Excellent work can also be had at Sierra Ski & Cycle Works, which is next to Safeway. I'll probably be taking my boards there this winter. Awesome owner and great employees.

[G]

x10 for sierra ski & cycle works. I've been going there for 15 years & always leave happy.


I've heard that Brent is renting space in the powderhouse ski shop, and will only be doing boot fittings.

[GapersGoHome]

I know this is somewhat of a stale thread, but...

Nobody mentioned Village Ski Loft in Incline. I've had 90 % of my work done up there in the last 5 years, and it has all been perfect. No arguments when I ask for wierd mounting positions, everything is always dead-on, turnaround is uber fast, I've never really paid full price, so I don't know how spendy it is, but I love the shop, and the guys really know their shit.

Talk to Elko or Justin.

I always take in some maker's mark to keep 'em lubed up...

[dookeyXXX]

AD;

My buddy who used to work at Alpine gave the thumbs up to the base shop (the little "nook" on the way to the rental area behind the ticket booths). I believe he told me the guy's name is Dylan and has been there for a spell and was the apprentice to the former longtime oldtimer who used to run the shop. For basic tunes he suggested I just bring in one pair of skis every weekend I ski there and get them fine tuned for the season.

As per the suggestions, I'mma have my Spats mounted at Porter's TC.

I have a couple pairs of Blizzards to get mounted and sadly it seems like I may have to make the trek to Bobo's since they're the only Blizzard dealer this side of forever. I've heard good things about the shop, it's just out of the way for me.

I bought me Hot Rods (boots) at Village Ski Loft. I keep blowing out the inside tongue flap (the screws keep pulling through). They've replaced 'em twice with no questions asked and were thrifty and quick. Dunno about tuning as I haven't taken any skis there yet.

[dfinn]

I know this is somewhat of a stale thread, but...

Nobody mentioned Village Ski Loft in Incline. I've had 90 % of my work done up there in the last 5 years, and it has all been perfect. No arguments when I ask for wierd mounting positions, everything is always dead-on, turnaround is uber fast, I've never really paid full price, so I don't know how spendy it is, but I love the shop, and the guys really know their shit.

Talk to Elko or Justin.

I always take in some maker's mark to keep 'em lubed up...

Elko is super friendly. He helped me out several times when I was in a pinch with MTB related issues. Never had any ski work done there though, I used to get free work done at Daves in KB. Berger knows his shit

[kidwoo]

Elko is super friendly. He helped me out several times when I was in a pinch with MTB related issues. Never had any ski work done there though, I used to get free work done at Daves in KB. Berger knows his shit

You got more free work than at my house?