Tucked away on the edge of the South Downs, The Skiers Lounge has grown from a garden shed side-hustle into a destination store known for its specialist boot fitting, expert servicing, and a hands-on commitment to testing every product they sell.
Founded over 20 years ago by owner (and self-confessed Senior Tea Drinker) Scott, the store has built a reputation for combining deep technical knowledge with a relaxed, appointment-only environment that puts the customer experience first. With a strong team of fitters, technicians, and support staff, The Skiers Lounge is constantly evolving, whether that’s introducing new technology like 3D foot scanning, investing in sustainable workshop solutions, or bringing in exciting new brands.
We caught up with Scott to hear more about the store’s journey, the philosophy behind their approach, and what’s in store for the season ahead.
Can you tell us a bit about your store and how it all started?
My original roots were some 20 years ago, when as a former off-road bicycle racer and designer I took up skiing and didn’t have the best start setup wise, and wanted to know how things worked so set up my own side-hustle business in a garden shed. My knowledge and business grew from there.
Where are you based and what’s good about this location?
We are right on the A24 on the edge of the South Downs and on the Knepp Estate, the largest re-wilding estate in Europe.
We're a little off the beaten track, but this is 100% intentional as we work by appointment and do not wish to be on a busy high street location. It allows us to fully focus on our customers throughout their appointment.
Can you introduce the team for this season?
I am lucky that we have retained most of our team from last season, so we have the same boot fitting team of Dudley, Dan, Paul and Will with a lot of combined experience and training between them. Then we have Clare in customer service, Dave our workshop manager and Haydn our warehouse manager. For this season, we have just finished recruiting extra staff to help with our busy season which has grown year by year.
What’s your store’s approach to helping customers find what they need?
We test everything that we sell, from the wax to the latest gadgets, through to the boots and skis. We attend ski tests, make visits to manufacturers and factories, and do a LOT of training. Although a few of us have given up counting our birthdays we are still attending training seminars and events such as MasterFit as you can’t know everything, and things continuously evolve.
What advice would you give to somebody looking to buy their first ski or snowboard setup?
Have an open mind. Try to ignore the chatter and waffle online and go visit a shop – ours or someone similar – who has tested the product with different skiers, has put items through their paces whether on the slope or in the workshop, and can therefore share real world experiences to help match up with your needs.
Do you specialise in any particular products or services?
Our boot fitting is a main area of our business and has a growing reputation thanks to my awesome team of fitters. Our workshop is also very busy as we tend to take on the jobs others don’t and invest every year in new tools and technology to help us offer the best servicing away from the mountains. And we are the largest specialist Hestra ski glove retailer in the UK and have a very nice custom built Hestra wall to show off all the options!
What’s a typical day like at your store during the winter season?
Non-stop! We are lucky to be pretty much fully booked most of the season all days, so it is a constantly buzzing environment and very rewarding. We will as a team manage up to 15 boot fits per day, whilst the workshop will be busy mounting and testing ski bindings and servicing skis and boards. We pretty much never leave when we are “closed” as we work until each fit or service is completed and 100%
How do you or your team choose the products that you stock?
We visit various ski tests and shows including Slide-On-Snow and conduct our own end of season ski testing which is a great chance for the team to celebrate the end of the season too. We also listen to what our customers ask for.
What new gear are you most excited about this winter?
It’s more the equipment to help us sell new gear this season. We have a new 3D foot scanning system which is integrated with our boot fitting services, and that is also allowing us to offer DaleBoot custom ski boots for the 1st time.
Our ski binding test machine is a great addition to the workshop, and we successfully won a local green initiative grant paying for an infra-red waxing system normally used on race skis as we found it reduced waste, energy use and Co2 by over 80% whilst improving our servicing standards even further.
And that’s before we even look at all the new product coming in from our brands!
Do you have a personal favourite that you’ll be testing out?
I am really looking forward to testing out a pair of custom made DaleBoots, and I am a huge fan of Extrem skis, a smaller brand from Sweden which we all love here, and there are some exciting new skis in development I was lucky enough to ski at their factory last season and cant wait to see them come out.
Are you running any events this season?
We have the Warren Smith seminar stopping by with us this season for the first time. We also undertake technician training here when it isn’t peak season so customers can learn to service their own skis and snowboards or work towards getting a role in the winter sports industry.
What’s next for your store?
We have a lot of new equipment this season to help make customers trips here as rewarding as possible, and every year we are always evolving whether its our boot fitting processes, new workshop equipment or using web technology to help support our business and give customers the best possible time on the slopes.
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