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Snow-lovers pack the annual Great Falls Ski Swap

Snow-lovers pack the annual Great Falls Ski Swap
Posted at 8:49 AM, Oct 17, 2021
and last updated 2021-10-17 10:51:03-04

GREAT FALLS — The annual Great Falls Ski Swap made its way back in town after missing a year due to Covid, but the Ski & Board Club and Showdown Montana are expecting a good season given the turnout of this year.

Cars packed the Montana ExpoPark fairgrounds and then got packed with ski and snowboard gear to get ready for the winter season.

There isn’t any snow yet, but more people are prepared for it now with the return of the Great Falls Ski and Board club ski swap. Event workers said customers could get gear and supplies for pennies on the dollar and that they were excited to see people back at the fairgrounds after missing last year. Whatever you needed for the season, the swap had it, and plenty of people as well who were eager to have the ski swap back in the community.

Ski swap chairman Bill Ferrin said it was hard not having the event last year but is glad to see such a great turnout for this year’s swap.

“The community really looks forward to having this and it’s a great way to set kids up with skis and boots. We had six checkout people going, it was still an hour in line, and no one was upset. They just said thanks for doing this,” Ferrin said. “

Like any event it’s always a lot of work and you get the volunteers to commit time out of their busy schedules but when you get the feedback from these people, they just love it and thank us for doing it.”

Showdown Montana was at the swap as well, getting skiers and snowboarders ready for the upcoming season, and they expect this season to be a great one. They said last season went well even without the swap and are hoping for a better one with a popular swap this year.

Will Gold is Showdown’s Ski School director and said they had had a good season last year despite the lack of a ski swap and are ready for this season.

“It definitely helps people get skis so that was a bit of a challenging factor last year. It’s a great indicator of how the season’s going to go so we couldn’t use that. Despite that we still had an awesome season, and this ski swap had a great turnout so leads us to believe it’s going to be another awesome season,” Gold said.

Montana patiently awaits the snowfall needed to ski and snowboard, but this year’s ski swap has helped many people get ready for winter activities. Showdown’s opening day is set for December 10th. You can visit their website for more info.