Regina sports store sees spike in demand for winter gear like cross-country skis

Trevor Norgan knew something was up when he was already having conversations about cross country skiing in June.

"I was totally shocked," said the manager of Regina's Fresh Air Experience sports store."I thought it was kind of a one off."

But by July he was getting multiple calls every week about winter sports equipment.

"It was really interesting," he said. "I've had ski conversations in the summer, but not with new people."

It's been a challenge for those wanting to get into a new winter sport, Norgan said, because Regina's annual ski swap is cancelled this year due to the pandemic.

Those people seem to be flocking to stores like Fresh Air Experience.

"I've already increased all my orders exponentially — quite a bit for cross-country skiing," he said.

"It's going crazy now. I've never had the wall up so early. I've never had so much interest. We've never sold so many packages this early in the season. It's it's pretty incredible."

He said keeping up with demand has been tough, as the pandemic has also factored into getting supplies.

"It's a little bit of a ripple effect. I've already asked to get all my equipment brought in, but there's a little bit of a holdup on the other end."

He said the first shipment of skis and other gear has arrived and he expects more product to be coming into the shop in the next few weeks.