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For any question or inquiry, please contact our General
Manager at JF@Gords.com |
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Gord's Ski & Bike
2 Locations to serve you better!
[L1]
2 Donald St
Winnipeg, Manitoba
CANADA | 204.284.2952
[L2]
1765 Kenaston Blvd
Winnipeg, Manitoba
CANADA | 204.269.2952
info@Gords.com
1.877.GORDS.61 |
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| ROWAN |
| Photography by David Lewis |
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Rowan Dahl
Assistant Manager, Kenaston store, Salesperson and Snowboard Product Manager.
At Gord’s since April 2007
Rowan has been with us for a few seasons now... He usualy goes away in the summer to work at the lake and returns every winter. Our number one salesperson, Rowan has an infectious love for the job and tremendous passion for snowboarding. A great ski/board trip buddy, no matter how hard we try, it's very difficult to hate a guy that looks so contsantly happy. We're all very fond of our favorite "dude".
Here are Rowan's interview answers:
Favorite 3 tunes to ski/board/bike/workout to: I don't have a favorite I just let the I-pod do its thing.
When I grow up I want to do all the sports I love doing and be successful in my line of work.
How would I rate myself, skill wise, on a scale of 1 to 10 as a skier/snowboarder? I would say I am a solid 8. I'm not throwing myself of any 100 foot cliffs.
How would I rate myself, skill wise, on a scale of 1 to 10 as a bike rider? I would rate myself around a 6.
The best skiers I've ever ripped it up with would include JF, Jerry Todd, my Dad and this guy named Robin from Silverstar.
Best snowboarder you ever ripped it up with would be my brother. We have been riding together for 10 years now.
My favorite movie: Out Cold = BEST MOVIE EVER
Favorite beverage: ummmmm.... root beer?
Lunch at the resort cafeteria is always a must. Always
I would consider myself first and foremost a Snowboarder
The other sports I am passionate about includes Wakeboarding, Snowmobiling and hockey.
My greatest sporting achievement: Every time I learn something new it is an achievement.
My favorite season is winter
What I like best about working at Gord’s ... I love my job
Most knowledgeable co-worker in ski land: Kevin
Most Knowledgeable co-worker in bike world: Jared or Coppens
Most Knowledgeable co-worker in snowboards: Marc
What would you call your “home” ski hill? Spring Hill or Holiday Mountain or Frost Fire. Can I have three homes?
My 2 favorite places to ride (summer): Falcon lake, Downtown Winnipeg
My 5 favorite places to rip (winter): Revelstoke, Sunshine Village, Lake Louise, The Forks, Falcon Ridge
In the winter I rip on a Burton Custom
What I do outside of skiing/snowboarding/biking? Hockey and Wakeboarding
My favorite 3 winter products here at Gord’s are Nirto Snowboards, Thirty Two Clothing, Anon Goggles and Burton I gotta have 4
My favorite 3 summer products are Rocky Mountain Bikes, Dakine Jerseys, Fox Helmets
My 6 day dream trip: Oh man, I would go snowboarding in Chili for 2 days then I would fly to Japan and ride there for 2 days. I would finish up this killer trip with two days in the Swiss alps. Now of course this would be six days of riding not including travel time and not any specific resorts. At one point in my life I will have ridden in all of these places.
I dream of one day owning my own Business or a winning Lottery Ticket
Favorite binding: That's a tough one, I have Burton Idiom bindings and I think they are pretty sweet.
My next jacket will be a Loud color I'll let you know when I get it
Favorite month for a ski/snowboard trip is the end of February beginning of March
Not that we have any favorites but…
Sram or Shimano components > Shimano
Burton or Nitro snowboards > Burton
The North Face or Mountain Hardwear outerwear > Mountain Hardwear
Smith or Giro helmets > Giro
Scott or Nordica skis > Scott
Dakine or Camelback hydration packs > Dakine
Vitamin Water or RedBull > RedBull. I HAVE WINGS NOW
Peak Performance or Karbon wintersport jackets > Peak Performance
Fischer or Alpina XC gear > Aplina XC
Patagonia or Icebreaker underwear > Icebreaker
Swany or Dakine gloves > Dakine
Smith or Oakley goggles > Oakley
Lange or Nordica ski boots > Nordica
Thin or thick ski/board socks > Thick oooooooooo soft socks
Scott or Rocky Mountain bikes > Rocky Mountain GO CANADA
Ski or Snowboard > Snowboard defiantly
Interbike or Ski/Snowboard Show > I have never been to either but hope to go to the Ski/Snowboard Show one day.
Road or Mountain > Mountain
Full suspension or hardtail mountain bikes > You didn't include DJ's
Hot yoga or hot tub > I am a hot tub kind of guy
Helmet or toque > Toque
Carbon or alu poles > Carbon is amazing
Rocker or non rocker > Non rocker
Down or Primaloft > Depends on what you are using it for
Mitts or Gloves > Mitts
Wax or Zardoz > wax
Shell + Redpoint or insulated jacket > Shell and Redpoint layering is key
Lifter or flat > ?
Muffins or donuts > mmmmmmmm donuts
Beach or Mountain > that is a tricky one
Thanks Rowan! |
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The lovely Nicholas Hoban, Ex Staff-member
Big Sky Montana 2004 | Photo: JF Ravenelle |
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WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO
LAND A JOB AT GORD'S?
The list of luminaries who make up Gord's Alumni is a long one, but that's mostly due to the fact that we've been around since 1961. We do have a tendency to keep our staff for a longer than your average shop and we're very proud of that fact. We like to think that it comes down to hiring the right people, providing them with an enjoyable work environment and a very large hot tub on the roof (we wish).
 When we hire staff there are a few strict guidelines that we follow... Little things like ethics, respect and walking the walk. We only hire folks who share our passion for the sports and activities we represent ... While we don't insist that our staff be experts skiers, snow boarders or bikers, we do insist that they posses a passion for those sports, that they get out and play and that they pursue a working
knowledge of the gear and clothing we offer ... and last but not least every Gord's employee must posses a desire to share their passion with our customers.
It comes down to CARING and we care. Sometimes too much perhaps but one can never go wrong with hiring dudes and dudettes who care.
Our belief is that if our staff cares, they will do what it takes to ensure your experience is a good one.
 The product knowledge part of the equation is something we take very seriously at Gord's and we spend LOTS of time money training our staff. From taking key employees to ski and snowboard tests to taking our staff to trade shows and paying for hundreds of hours of product knowledge meetings and seminars, we seriously believe in the old adage that states that knowledge is power... And we do everything
to make sure there is SOMEONE in the building that has an answer to your question, a solution to your problem or a suggestion for your next adventure.
 The last part of the puzzle is that we all genuinely care for each other and treat each other as if we were family (complete with sibling rivalry). Working at Gord's entails buying into our core values, values that come straight from Gord Reid himself: Do it right, don't sell crap, listen to the customer and get out there and do it so you can relate and educate.
The quality of the people who work for us is our greatest combined asset. Without them we'd be just another shop selling stuff but with them we're so much more than a retailer, we're Gord's Ski and Bike.
GOT SKI EXPERIENCE?
 Are you looking to buy your ski gear from someone who knows what their talking about? Looking to get some ski advice from someone who has, at the very least, skied before? How does 6 alpine ski coaches, 2 freestyle coaches, 3 ski instructors, 6 ex-racers and a combined ski experience of well over 120 years sound? Fact is that no retailer in central Canada has more ski-knowledgeable staff
than your friendly neighborhood Gord's Ski and Bike. Just take JF for example (pictured here skiing at Alyeska in Alaska), not many people anywhere have more ski experience than our President. No kidding, the guy has pretty much done it all including ski testing, racing, coaching, ski patrolling, ski repping and over 20 years as a full-time ski instructor in Quebec and Vermont. You want ski experience? Drop by our Donald store and let's talk white stuff.
RIDE MUCH?
 As matter of fact we do! Did you know that absolutely every staff member at Gord's Ski and Bike belongs to Gord's Bike Club? It's mandatory to ride! If you're an employee you ride. It's as simple as that. The sum collection of staff bikes is mind boggling. Believe it or not, we're not kidding when we say that collectively the staff own well over $90,000 worth of bikes (we don't ride crap).
From JF's Commençal Supreme Mini DH and Darci's Rocky Mountain Slayer SXC to Coppens' and RT's unicycles and DH bikes, we have our priorities straight: RRSP's are for other people.
WALK IT LIKE YOU TALK IT
I remember when I was a 12 year-old kid in Montreal, Driving up to our chalet in the Laurentians every weekend, driving past GM's St-Therese assembly plant and seeing hundreds and hundreds of Hondas, Toyotas and Fords in the staff parking lot, thinking how wrong that was. Why would you not drive a chevy if you were building Camaros?
 It's a matter of pride to us (and a pet peeve of mine) that we all ride and ski on stuff we sell. It's now an indelible part of Gord's culture. Except for the newbies who are given a year to flip their existing gear, we strongly recommend (and in some cases subsidize)
that our staff ride the brands and products that we sell.
It's simple: How else can we honestly tell you how a Scott Genius rides unless we've ridden one ourselves? Of course we do the ski and bike and snowboard tests. Yes, we borrow each-other's rides regularly... but nothing beats real-world ownership experience in order to relate to you what living with this product is going to be like... And that's why we insist that staff trash their Elans and hop on a pair of Dynastar's, It's called walking it like you're talking it. It's called integrity.
It's the way Gord would have it.
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