Oooh, sportchek demands 100% on binding certification tests. That's precious. Let's make sure we all understand that this "certification test" is really just a multiple choice test that you can write online at any time, and get 85% on after watching a 20 minute video on "how to mount skis". This video, differing slightly from manufacturer to manufacturer, tells you little about the actual process of mounting skis, and discusses none of the intricacies past "get the DIN setting, make sure the DIN and boot are appropriate for the binding, get the right jig, set it to the boot size, put it on the ski and align with the mark, drill the right holes, get rid of the shavings, put white glue in every hole, screw shoot the bindings in, manually check the screws with a posi-driver, then adjust binding forward pressure, DIN, and salomon's case, wing adjustment and toe height on high end bindings only. Then check for release values if you're in the sue-happy US"
A fucking monkey could get 100% on these so called "certification tests". Proof: we have girls who've spent less than one season working in my shop that are "certified" to mount bindings. They got 100% on the tests. They don't even ski. They've spent their lives snowboarding. But they're certified. This begs the question: Is certification the only thing that qualifies someone to mount your skis? Clearly, the answer is no.
The guys we have mounting skis eat, sleep, and breathe the sport. We mount hundreds of pairs a year, and because we're involved in the freeskiing side of things, we get it when you say "+5 from the line", and if you advice on mounting, we can give it to you. You don't learn this shit through watching a badly produced video, or by reading a tech manual, but by experience.
I've worked in more shops than you can imagine. Some of the best, some of the worst, and then Sportchek. By far, the lowest standards I've seen for tech work, overall, were Sportchek's, and the shittiest techs worked there too. You can't tech if you don't participate in that sport, yet Sportchek seems to think so. Hiring losers who just want a job, as opposed to people who know their shit and participate in the sports they're teching for, is what Sportchek does, because they don't have to pay someone with no knowledge more than minimum wage. That's what being a multi-million dollar corporation lets you do. Ya, they replace skis, but is that REALLY a good thing? Not really, it just shows that they're inefficient and bad at what they do, and that their techs, who BTW get 100% on all those certification tests, really aren't that good. I've misdrilled no pairs of skis this year, and I'm not about to either.
I'm stoked to hear Sportchek gives away fat brakes though, I'll make sure to stop by sometime and stock up. In case you didn't know, brakes COST MONEY TO BUY. That's right, shops PAY for them. That's why we'll sometimes sell them instead of giving them away. You mad about that? Go talk to Salomon, Look, et al, about why they don't make a fatter brake standard.
Basically, here's how it is. Sportchek sucks, it's an awful place to work, but more importantly, it's an awful place to buy gear(there are exceptions to this, very small ones). Sportchek bleeds the industry dry by demanding high discounts on the product they buy, as well as special markups. What are those, you ask? Things like a cheap Rossi sprayer twintip with a graphic that looks suspiciously similar to that of the Scratch FS, for example(this hasn't been done, it's purely for example's sake). Why? Because they can sell it for more money than a scratch sprayer and make a higher margin off it. The customer probably doesn't know any better, and as a result, it drives down prices on ALL skis, and hurts the industry even more.
If you give a shit, don't buy from Sportchek. Unless they're having one of those $99 boot clearouts, where they usually have a ton of high end, 26/26.5 boots because their staff ALWAYS oversizes customers, leading to foot pain, lost toenails, and shitty skiing. Other than that, stay the fuck away from one of the worst big box retailers out there. Support your local shop, support d-structure, jibij, and decade, and support the mountainside shops you see when you're on vacation. They're the retailers with passion, the ones who drive the gear side of the sport you love. Not Sportchek.
