A FAMILY RUN SPECIALIST SKI SHOP IN A COUNTRY WITH NO MOUNTAINS!

Founded in 1965, Ski Bartlett is one of the largest independently run specialist ski shops in the UK. Ski Bartlett originated as ‘J & B Bartlett and Sons’, a specialist outdoor, camping, caravanning and sports equipment retailer. Originally set up by Joyce and Bernard Bartlett and their sons Terry and Derek. Now almost 60 years on and Terry is still a firm feature, along with wife Dianne and their daughters Anna and Sally, bringing it into the third generation of the Bartlett family. A friendly family-owned business, now firmly established with a niche for specialist areas of the ski industry, including racing, freestyle, freeride, touring and telemark skiing.

The original shop had interesting origins as it was started due to its entrepreneurial owners need for a showroom sales space for the manufacturing and show rooming of their trailer tents, the first inventions of their kind! These were made from scratch with the grandparents welding the chassis and sewing the tent and assembling them all together at home in their front room! The snag was every time they needed to get one out of the house, they had to remove the front window and lift it out, obviously not an ideal scenario and somewhat difficult - hence the original shop location was born… (and don’t forget their interesting ‘Teepee tea cosy/hats’)!

Their ski equipment sales and addiction to the sport started in earnest when the family went on their first ski holiday and were told that the children had picked it up so well, they should join a ski race club back home. Luckily at the time Hillingdon and Hemel Hempstead dry ski slopes were nearby and almost instantly they were rapidly hooked into the amazing world of ski racing.

At the time it was very hard to buy ski race and servicing equipment in the UK and there was a definite need due to the ever-growing ski race circuit all around the country. With this demand they started directly importing products from Europe and taking a ski boot box full of goodies to sell at the races. Year on year the more the Bartlett family got into ski racing the more equipment they realised they and others needed and the more equipment they imported to sell - soon after the ‘Tardis on Tour’ was born, a mobile pop-up shop with everything you can possibly imagine for ski racing that tours around the country to race events and club training sessions. This worked brilliantly alongside the main Hillingdon shop to bring their expertise to the racers when they needed equipment and has often been referred to as the ‘5th emergency service’!

After many years of ski racing and seasons in Europe and the U.S.A. the daughters took various directions, Sally set up another ski shop at Wycombe Summit Ski Centre and used her race experience to also pass on her knowledge as a ski race coach. Anna became

an extremely skilled snowboarder and with her vast knowledge and experience set up a specialist snowboard offshoot of Ski Bartlett - ‘Sputnik Snowboard Shop’.

Sputnik was born at the dizzy heights of Wycombe Summit Dry Ski Slope as Anna saw the need for a snowboard specialist retailer that appealed to the needs of snowboarders. Here Sputnik quickly became involved with the UK dry slope scene, gaining a great reputation for a friendly shop vibe, amazing products and the best honest advice around. They are one of the few rider run and rider owned shops continuing to bring snowboarders the freshest in snowboard technology and those hard-to-find items, all with a big smile and at great prices.

To successfully run a ski shop on the outskirts of London, in a country with no mountains, their heart and soul must be in love with the mountains and the sports they take part in, from their passion for skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking, climbing, water sports, and just being in the outdoors. Through their many years in the industry they’ve gained in depth knowledge and valuable first-hand experiences from using the equipment in the wild - it is this that allows them to express to you how something truly performs and educate you in what is right for you.

The shops have grown from strength to strength with a renowned reputation for specialist knowledge, expertise and helpful advice. Both Ski Bartlett and Sputnik still stands by and takes pride in this great reputation.

Now particularly known for their technical specialist knowledge in ski racing, their custom ski boot fitting expertise, extensive year-round servicing workshop and their knowledge of ski touring, telemark and freeride skiing equipment. With such a diverse customer base but many years of expertise to go with it they can cater for every level of skier from beginner to National Team level competitors.

Renowned for their great reputation for their technical custom boot fitting service. All their ski boots are fitted by trained and experienced ski boot fitters, who will advise you on what is right for you. Stocking one of the largest ranges of ski boots available in the UK and catering for EVERY, sex, level, age and skiing style. Stocking an extensive range of ski boots from manufacturers such as Atomic, Rossignol, Fischer, Head, Lange, Tecnica, K2, Salomon, Scott, Dynafit, Scarpa, Dalbello and Nordica means that they can always find a boot to suit your foot shape.

They custom heat mould their boots and offer a custom heat moulded footbed service, to help get you an even more comfortable customised fit and better ski performance. If you’ve got a wide foot, a narrow foot, a high or low instep, bumps and bunions, pressure points, large or skinny calves, and anything else that’s caused you problems in the past, they’ll be able to help you and they've not been defeated yet! No matter what foot shape you have they can find a boot to fit, make any necessary adjustments and have you skiing with a smile on your face!

There is a motto in the shop 'Our customers are for life not just for the ski season!’ and that rings true as once customers go to the shop, they return time and time again and say they’ll never go anywhere else! Described by others as a friendly, fun, family run ski shop, focused around delivering excellent service, value and expert advice to their customers. They are quirky and unique in their owners, staff, vast product range, knowledge and service. Keep an eye out for Terry and Sally Bartlett touring around the country to race events and club training sessions - make sure you go and say hi and you’ll undoubtedly be greeted back with a warm welcome and some expert advice on any question you have.

“We love the amazing feeling of freedom we get from skiing and being in the mountains and that's why we're so passionate about helping our customers enjoy their time skiing!” - Sally Bartlett