Far West Skier's Guide 2011-2012 - (Page 37)

Randy Lew presents a Snowports Builder Award to Norbert Olberz. His son, Eric Olberz and Craig Levra from Sports Chalet accept. photos by David Cooper/Bad Boy’z Photography Sports Chalet has over 55 stores in four states and is still growing! Currently, a typical Sport Chalet boasts 45,000 square feet of premium sporting goods equipment, apparel, and footwear. Each of the stores features a collection of specialty shops offering brand name apparel and equipment for beginners to experts. These shops include traditional sporting goods like golf, tennis, biking, fitness, in-line skates, baseball, and athletic footwear along with specialty sporting goods merchandise such as mountaineering, SCUBA, skiing, snowboarding, wakeboarding, and ocean kayaking. Norbert started many businesses: ■ Opening a hotel at Mammoth Mountain named Sport Chalet ■ Starting a travel agency – Sportours, with Martha Perez as a principal employee ■ Starting a manufacturing company making outdoor gear - Camp 7 ■ Opening a wholesale import boot company - Lowa ■ Creating a mountaineering and sport fashion mail order catalogue ■ Product design and inventor, giving his advice freely to manufacturers to improve their products NORBERT OLBERZ Founder, Sports Chalet Four days after the Snowsports Builders Award was tendered at the FWSA Convention, Norbert passed away at age 86 on June15, 2011. In 1959, a 30-something German immigrant named Norbert Olberz heard about a little ski shop for sale, located in a town called La Cañada, just north of Los Angeles, California. Norbert and his new wife, Irene, plunked down all of their savings and set up shop. During the first year, Norbert and Irene slept in the back of the ski shop, taking showers at night with a garden hose through a screen door. Its name: Sport Chalet. From the beginning, Norbert was a pioneer. Norbert knew that customers had a lot of questions they needed answered. He knew that customers wanted top quality equipment to enhance their sport. He knew that they required a friendly place to bring their equipment to be sized and repaired, and that they wanted experts to help them. One day, a customer ventured into his store and told him of the opportunities in SCUBA. Sport Chalet became one of the first sporting goods stores to sell SCUBA equipment. This was a big leap of faith, given that his store was at the bottom of the mountains and two hours from the Pacific Ocean. He then made the decision to be one of the first sporting goods retailers to offer a wide array of equipment for the then-obscure sports of rock climbing and backpacking - at the time only available in catalogues. In 1974, Norbert opened a 30,000 square foot store across the street from the original location, where he built a mountain inside that included a ski ramp so skiers could hone their skills. In 1981, Norbert doubled the size of Sport Chalet by opening a store in Huntington Beach, California, and began to build a loyal following of beach customers. In 2001, Sport Chalet expanded beyond California for the first time, entering Nevada. In 2005, he opened three stores on one day in Arizona. In 2007, Sport Chalet expanded once more by opening their first store in Utah. Today Far West Skier’s Guide 2O11 - 2O12 37 ▼▼▼▼▼

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Far West Skier's Guide 2011-2012

Far West Skier's Guide 2011-2012
Contents
The Premiere Digital Edition of the Far West Skier’s Guide Well Received
Board of Directors, Trustees
President’s Message: FWSA Offers Many Benefits, Trips & Activities
FWSA Committee Chairmen and Other Representatives
National Ski Council Federation Serves Councils & Clubs Nationwide
Far West Members Prepare for Winter, 2012
Council Information
Communications: The Key to Success!
Building Your Snowsports Program
FWSA Individual Membership Form
Order Form / Far West Skier’s Guide
FWSA Travel Program
FWRA Board of Directors
FWRA Program
FWRA Silent Auction Donors
FWRA League Race Chairs
FWRA Race Schedule
Race Trophies
FWSA Athletic Scholarship Program
Far West Ski Foundation Objectives
FWSA 2011 Convention
FWSA 2011 Convention Sponsors
Silent Auction & Travel Expo Participants - 2011
Travel Expo/Silent Auction Milestones
Convention Door Prize Donors
2011 Councils’ Man & Woman of the Year
FWSA Service Award Winners
FWSA Safety Person of the Year
FWSA Western Ski Heritage Award
FWSA Club and Council History Recognition
FWSA Snowsports Builder Awards
Charities & Our Communities
2012 FWSA Convention - Ogden, Utah
FWSA Plans Future Conventions
Public Affairs - 2011 Update
Bernd Ritschel & The Bavarian Alps
Lodging Guide
FWSA Council & Club Information
Clubs, Councils & Families Come Together
Regional Ski Shows

Far West Skier's Guide 2011-2012

https://www.nxtbookmedia.com