As February comes to an end and we get ready for Spring, so does the planning for Spring cleaning. Every year we always have people contacting the gallery if their vintage skis are valuable. I’d be underestimating if I said at least ten people, it feels like thirty! While this topic typically leads to sad news, there are some minor exceptions to the rule. You might be wondering how I came up with this topic but I’m writing to you from Frisco, Colorado. Typing this article before hitting the mountain later in the morning. I love to snowboard, so I’m surprised this topic hasn’t come up before, but here we go!
The short answer is no, your vintage skis, especially if from the 1950’s and up are nearly worthless. Even if you have wood skis, they fall into a purely decorative category. What that means is if you own a cabin in New Hampshire and ski every weekend, you might spend $50 or $100 on a pair of vintage skis as a wall decoration. Otherwise, you will be hard pressed to find that collector with 247 different pairs of skis in their collection. What most people don’t realize is skiing has been around for over 5,000 years beginning with hunters in the late Stone Age. By the eighteenth century the Swedish army was training their soldiers to use skis. So unless you have a pair of skis that’s 300 plus years old you just have a pair of wall hangers.
Now while I’ve learned most skiers hate us on the mountain, if you were an early snowboarder of the 1980’s and 1990’s there is a chance you’ll have something. Not something great, but something slightly better than a pair of skis. In today’s market early Burton boards are the best. If you have a fishtail form board with vibrant color in great shape, it’s easily a $200 to $300 piece. Again nothing spectacular, but definitely better than junk skis.
You might be asking where the exception is. Well, if you have a pair of skis worn by Phil Mahre in a winning race that’s a big deal. But if they were your grandfathers skis they can stay in the garage.
