buy LOCAL!
look at whats happened to the music industrybecause of online sales (not that its necessarily a bad thing, but it has utterly killed record stores, which are(were) a big part of ur local scene). DO U WANT THAT TO HAPPEN TO SKIING?!
if ur local shop doesnt have what u want, tell them to get it. hang out there, build ur community around it (when ur not skiing, of course)