Following a year off, the annual Park City Ski Swap will be back with a room full of gear again early next month.
The sale will take place November 5 to 7 at the Basin Recreation Field House on Center Drive in Park City.
That follows a donation period when people can drop off their old items from November 1 to 4 at Jans Outfitters and Cole Sport, both located on Park Avenue. Organizers will accept gear between one and seven years old.
Tickets are on sale to give access to the three-day sale. The new ticket system will have people wait in a staging tent next to the field house shortly before entering. Shoppers will have 90 minutes to spend inside, but that depends on the case.
“We certainly don’t want to rush people,” said Pete Stoughton, Park City Ski and Snowboard events and development director. “We’ll have wristbands and will be able to manage waves of people as they come in and out. It takes time to bring in your kids ad put on the boots and try everything out. So, while, we’d love for people to take about 90 minutes and our checkout time will be a lot faster this year, at the same time, if someone is actually shopping, great.”
Shoppers must wear masks inside. Whereas the record capacity was just under 1,900 once, they’ll be capped at 500 this year.
Hours are 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 to 2 on Sunday.
Tickets cost $15 for Friday, $10 for Saturday and $5 for Sunday. Stoughton says tickets for Friday or Saturday might grant re-entry on Sunday, but that’s yet to be confirmed.
Items available won’t cover all needs, but many essentials.
“Because we’re covering all the divisions now, there could be backcountry gear, there could be any of those hard goods. So, any of those hard goods. We are accepting those, as well as helmets, but not goggles. Mainly, predominately, hard goods,” Stoughton said.
The swap is a fundraiser for Park City Ski and Snowboard, which provides ski and snowboard training programs. After missing a year because of COVID-19, the event is especially important this year for program funding.
“Park City Ski and Snowboard is growing significantly,” Stoughton said. “We’re seeing growth in all of our programs, record registrations, double the participation from previous years. So, all of the programs need that support, and 30% of all of our expenses are covered by fundraisers just like the ski swap. It’s a huge component of our fundraising, and last year we were not able to do it, so we’re kind of crawling back up out of that.”
For tickets or more information, visit parkcityskiswap.com or parkcityss.org.
