Let’s get to know each other first.
Whether you’ve been a loyal Powder7 shopper over the years (thank you!) or you just met us, we bet there are some things you don’t know. From our origin story to our weird affinity with spice challenges, here’s a roundup of some fun facts. Why 14? Well, 7 times 2 is 14, and 14 is a fun number.
What does the “7” in Powder7 stand for?
There are many rumors as to what the mythical seven in Powder7 stands for. I had always thought it referred to “powder 24/7.” A dream world we would all love to live in, and you can shop from us 24/7. In fact, the truth is a bit more utilitarian. It’s a nod to the year of our founding: 2007.
Powder7’s website was built from the ground up.
Starting out on eBay back in 2007 (remember eBay?), owners Jordan and Amy sold one pair of used skis, then two, and so on. Eventually they decided to move toward their own website. Jordan taught himself how to code (with a “PHP for Dummies” book), and Amy used her skills to work on the front-end of the website. The learning continues to this day.
We have our own beer.
Behold, Over Yonder’s Tree Skier Pale Ale. Over Yonder is a favorite local Golden brewery among staff here. This year is our third year brewing this year, and staff all agree this evolution is the best yet. Pro tip: The beer is available on draft or in cans at Over Yonder (while supplies last), and if you ask nicely, we’ll give you a four-pack with your in-store order.
Additional fun fact. Tree Skier is our second custom beer. Another local go-to, Cannonball Creek Brewing Company, brewed us our OG ski beer five years ago: Powder7 Pale Ale.
Staff regularly celebrates Wired Wednesdays for hump day.
A weekly informal celebration of getting a little too caffeinated, Wired Wednesdays are a highlight of my week. Every week, someone heads out around lunch and picks up a bunch of different energy drinks, iced coffees, and Yerba Mates. Some folks even participate in a little taste test, where we jot down some tasting notes between various flavors.Our marketing guy enjoys finding out how jittery he can make himself feel.
The Pow7 Team takes an annual trip to Wolf Creek every year.
Although we skipped it last year for pandemic reasons, the Wolf Creek trip is a highlight of the season for many Pow7 staffers. Wolf Creek is one of the snowiest places in Colorado, and we’ve taken a front row seat to some epic powder days over the years. The tradition started back in 2015 when a crew from the shop went down for a few days and skied some of the best snow of their lives. Small mountain vibes and an awesome variety of terrain gives the whole team something to enjoy.
Our first shop space opened in 2015.
After sticking to e-commerce for a few years, eventually we dived into opening up a physical storefront. You could always pick up gear locally (in the early days you would swing by Jordan and Amy’s apartment to do so). Now, folks can come in for full custom boot fits, play around with skis in the shop, and check out all the fun ski gear in person.
We have multiple professional (non-ski) athletes on staff.
As much as we’d like to, you can’t always ski year round. That leaves us needing to pursue other fun activities throughout the year. Turns out, some of us are actually pretty good. Chase made it all the way to the Olympic trials for track. While he calls himself “washed up,” there’s no doubt he can run circles around all of us in the shop. Jonathan is an ultimate frisbee star, travelling around the country for competitions and tournaments. Warehouse Manager Terol competes in all sorts of bike events (and bikes to work loads in the summertime, which is a feat of its own). Not to mention, our owner Jordan once beat Lance Armstrong in a triathlon event. Check out this epic video of their photo finish.
In the summertime, the Pow7 Team takes on recreational softball as the Powder7 Ski Sox.
We love a good team bonding exercise, and nothing brings people together like a rec softball league. This year we had a great performance, right up until the first round of playoffs. Even though we didn’t go all the way, we learned first-hand the best team is the one having the most fun.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CSZaprLr5nq/
We have more folks on staff from the East than from the West.
Colorado is notorious for being invaded by Californians and other West Coast states (including yours truly). But here at Powder7, we are a bit of an outlier. If you listen closely while folks are on the phone, you’ll hear a surprising amount of East Coast accents. According to my very scientific polling, a whopping 55% of Powder7 employees are from the East, vs. 18% from the west. The remainder seem to be Colorado locals (or at least that’s what they say).
We tune roughly 1,000 skis for customers a year.
Some folks are surprised to hear we don’t just sell the gear, but we can get it all spruced up for your day on the mountain too. Services include mounting, tunes, DPS Phantom treatment, repair, epoxy, and so on. Hint: Our techs like six packs as much as anyone else in the ski industry…
We sponsor two full-time pro skiers.
The two “captains” of our Powder7 skier team are Owen Leeper (famous on Instagram as @o_leeps) and Veronica Paulsen (the 2020 Queen of Corbets). Badass skiers and excellent people, these two embody our brand and inspire our staffers and customers alike.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CT2ivKDlMCI/
We have our own cornhole boards.
On occassion, you can see the Powder7 staff after hours breaking out the cornhole boards for some staff bonding. Unfortunately, they’re all sold out these days, but you can check out what they look like here. I think they are extra slick, but maybe that’s just my bad cornhole technique. They make for a great addition to any parking lot apres party.
We have a strange obsession with spice-induced pain.
Every so often, some masoch*stic staffer (namely Justin and Terol) will order up something spicy online and rally a crew of staffers to eat it. First it was the lineup of hot sauces from Hot Ones. But the roughest challenge to date was the latest: the One Chip Challenge. The singular chip comes in ominous packaging and features the so-called world’s hottest pepper: the Carolina Reaper. Before you try it yourself, just know that in hindsight we absolutely do not recommend it.
We’re the only outdoor industry retailer to be ranked as one of Outside’s “Best Places to Work” the last four years in a row.
Despite our rapid growth, Amy and Jordan continue to prioritize staff at a high level. Powder7 is a great place to work, and it’s only getting better. Check out job opportunities here.
Explore our ski inventory here
