Category Archives: Ira D. Riklis

Ira Riklis on his first trip to Vail: We were on our way back to Philadelphia having traveled south along the California coast, then east to Las Vegas, and northeast to Aspen. We spent a few days in Aspen enjoying … Continue reading →

How did I come to Vail? In the Summer of 1975, Diana and I decided to do a road trip around the United States. While Diana had traveled extensively in Europe with her parents, she had never seen much of … Continue reading →

He continues: Our operating problem is that we lose money during the summer season. Obviously, in a resort known for the skiing, BIBs are more precious in the summer and we have less to sell them. This is really a … Continue reading →

Ira Riklis continues: Our operating problem is that we lose money during the summer season. Obviously, in a resort known for the skiing, BIBs are more precious in the summer and we have less to sell them. This is really a … Continue reading →

Ira Riklis continues: You may wonder how comping the customer pays off for us and contributes to our unbroken string of annual earnings. It actually is a rather straight forward calculation. Of our 11 stores, two of the properties are … Continue reading →

An interesting customer-relations point, from our friend Ira Riklis: Another part of our “secret sauce” if you will is that we don’t view the skier as our true customer. I’m not suggesting that we aren’t renting skis to skiers somehow, … Continue reading →

Continued from Ira Riklis‘ interview on Vail and the skiing life: “We are different from the usual ski shop in that we are focused on providing ski rentals. All sales of merchandise are incidental to the rental equipment and we … Continue reading →

Ira Riklis continues his interview about skiing and starting a ski-equipment rental business in Colorado: It was a good partnership, but that partner couldn’t really support Mike’s ambitions for growth. So when the time came that Mike had another opportunity … Continue reading →

Mike eventually left working for the Vail/Lionshead ski school.  It was inevitable.  Unless you want to move into management, the pay scales really only work for young enthusiasts who are enjoying a few carefree years before they start their adult … Continue reading →

Ira Riklis sent along a photo of the skis he purchased after several other brands and models. The new skis would prove unfortunate, as discussed in an earlier post, for Ira and his leg.