TrueNorth - Northstar Village — Attraction in Truckee

This was a year of treating myself to some new gear. I've been hitting Northstar pretty regularly so I figured I'd check out True North for some new skis.

After a day out on the slopes, I came into the shop and started browsing skis. I picked a few up and after a while, started to look around for an employee. I saw 2-3 people roaming the floor so I figured they would eventually make their way over, or I'd succeed in making eye contact that might indicate I was looking for some help.

While employees walked around me (as in, within 5 feet), none of them looked to me nor asked if I needed help. At one point, I said "pardon me" aloud, but only to a back that walked away.

Alas, no one came.

Meanwhile, there was a mother and a daughter up on the chairs behind me meant for trying on new ski boots. They were also looking around for someone to help as well. I heard the mother mention, "we'll give it another minute, then we'll go." (I originally assumed they were waiting for someone to bring them out boots.)

After at least 10 minutes of without being greeted, part of which I spent flabbergasted at the view of passing yet aloof staff, I put back the skis I had set out and walked over to the cash registers, which were manned by two associates and no customers to ring up. Line of sight from the skis? It's maybe 20 feet.

"Hi, I'm over by the skis and wondering if I can get some help. Is that possible - do I need to make an appointment?"

"No, you don't, but the person who helps with skis isn't here. They leave around 5."

I asked for a few more details, like when they’d arrive in the morning, but that kind of made my mind up. Time to look somewhere else. I ended up going to True North down in Tahoe City, where I had an awesome experience that very night, and got a great set of skis and bindings. Moreover, Any Mountain's prices were $100 less than at True North. $995 well spent :) PS: take a look at my review of Any Mountain, Tahoe City.

The only thing I couldn't get at Any Mountain were the 48" Leki Carbon 14s ski poles I wanted. They had 46," but not 48". True North and Any Mountain are all owned by Vail, so stock cross-checking said True North had them. I picked them up there the following week (23 January 2017). $166 after tax and less than three days out on the mountain later, however, one of the carbon poles sheared off after planting it for an aggressive pivot.

While it's not True North's fault that the pole broke, when I went in to get advice on what to do, the manager confirmed that that is what I can expect of the Carbon 14s poles, and that he could sell me another pair if I wanted.

I might have hoped that being less than a week into my purchase they might swap out the pole and duke it out with the manufacturer, but no dice. I broke out my phone and started to look at the Leki website where I found warranty information that seems to say I can get an RMA for replacement. After some prodding, the manager mentioned that I could seek warranty repair, but unfortunately they couldn't do anything. It was a brief and sparse interaction, which kind of sums up the customer service I had received the first time I came in. Kick me once, shame on you, kick me twice...

I'm sure you can buy great products here, but I'm not sure you're going to enjoy that journey, nor any follow up that might result. If you're looking for a transaction: be careful. If you're looking for a relationship: it's them, not you; they're just not ready to...

Since we ski at Northstar, we stop by the shop after skiing. They have great selection of skis that fit the terrain here, as well as varieties of boots for all level of skiers and foot shapes. We had purchased skis as well as boots (and a few accessories).

Both Ben and Blake are very knowledgeable on the gears. They are both skiers, so they tried the skis themselves, and can tell us how different skis will do under different conditions and skier types. Both are also amazing at boot-fitting. I have very weird feet, but Ben and Blake helped get them right for me.

Even better, there is a large overlap between skis available here with skis available in the demo shop next door. So, we just went next door to pick out the skis we wanted to demo, and then applied the demo costs as credit onto the skis when we bought them. Very convenient!

Also importantly, none of the staffs is pushy, so we could always just browse and no one would bother us. But when we did have questions, they were there, especially when not super busy (it does get busy during...

Awful. I left my board overnight to get my edges sharpened, and when I went to retrieve it the next day, they couldn’t find it. An hour later, after multiple employees (and eventually even my boyfriend enlisted to help), someone found it in the demo shop next door (sketchy!) The tag said the work had been done, but I quickly felt the edges, and it seemed like nothing had been done, so at least I didn’t have to pay. I didn’t ride that day because this whole ordeal took so long . But the next day before I went to ride, I inspected the board and realized they had sent it through the edging machine, but messed up and ground the side wall and further dulled my edges. Went back into the shop, no one wanted to help, no offers to help remedy it, and left with a...