Ski tuneup easy as groomed run

New Web-based firm will pick up, drop off skis and snowboards

Roger Fillion, Rocky Mountain News

Published November 2, 2006 at midnight

Brad Wolfe and Chris Sutter hope to take a lot of the hassle out of getting your skis tuned up.

The childhood friends are launching a "green-minded" company that will arrive at your front door or office to collect your skis or snowboard. The duo will tune them at their shop and then bring them back to you.

ColoradoSkiTunes.com, as the Boulder outfit is named, hopes to be running by Monday.

Once launched, users will log on to the ColoradoSkiTunes.com Web site to arrange to have their skis or snowboard collected in the Boulder-Denver area.

A 1994 Dodge pickup that runs on "waste" vegetable oil will get your gear - and return the tuned goods within about four days. The startup's shop also runs on wind power.

"Both Brad and I are pretty environmentally aware," said Sutter. He's the brother of Vail's Ryan Sutter, who gained fame via The Bachelorette TV show.

Wolfe and Sutter, who both grew up in Fort Collins, are betting their company's pickup/drop-off feature will win over customers. And they're hoping customers will like being able to keep their skis or snowboard until the shop is actually ready to perform the tuneup.

The idea took root in November 2005. That's when Wolfe dropped off his skis at a Boulder ski shop and was told he'd have to wait 10 to 14 days. The shop was booked.

It wasn't a big deal. Wolfe was set to jet off on a trip to South America, where he wouldn't be skiing. But a thought hit him. What if he had been sticking around and it snowed during that 10 to 14 days?

"I'd want to go skiing," noted Wolfe, the owner of a Boulder- based organic lawn-care business, Organo-Lawn, which occupies his summers. He thought about the idea further during his South America tour.

Last March, while Wolfe was waiting in traffic on his way to a ski shop, he called Sutter, who was a teacher at the time.

Wolfe pitched the idea of a new-style ski tuneup venture. Prior to teaching seventh and eighth grades, Sutter worked as a ski technician at a Vail ski shop.

Sutter jumped at the idea.

"What the heck," he recalled thinking. "It's a great opportunity. I can always go back to teaching."

Wolfe's Organo-Lawn plays a role in the startup. Its database will field orders and schedule pickups and deliveries for ColoradoSkiTunes.com. Also, Organo-Lawn's trucks will get a makeover for ski season.

Looking ahead, Wolfe cited one ironic twist for the new business. What happens if it snows and the two friends are busy at work? No time to hit the slopes.

"We'll just be fixing people's skis," Wolfe chuckled.

At a glance

• Business: ColoradoSkiTunes.com
   
• What it does: Using a fleet of pickup trucks powered by vegetable oil, the company collects your skis or snowboard for tuneup and drops gear off within about four days.
   
• Price: $35 for minor base repair, stone grind, wax and buff.
   
• Delivery charge: $5 to $7, depending on location.

fillionr@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2467