He is in Key West

This is the answer to what is surely to be one of next week's most commonly asked questions.

Next week the SIA show takes place in Las Vegas and ISPO invades Munich and visitors to the KJUS booth at each show are likely to ask- Is Lasse here? What is he up to these days?

This week Lasse is in Key West, FL, competing in the Acura Race Week. This is not a new King of the Mountain event made for TV in the warmer climate, it is one of the worlds largest sailing regattas. When Lasse doesn't have a ski pole in his hand he is likely to have a tiller in it. Lasse has long been keen on sailing and since retiring has been racing his Melges 24 NOR 724. In 2006 he and Aamodt both purchased Melges 24s, so the friendly rivalry now continues on the water.

In Key West, Lasse is currently 31st in his one-design class. Weather has been pretty iffy through out the week, and on Monday he had a pretty tough go of it in a practice session with one of his crew members taking a swim.

Today in Gary Jobson's day four video report he interviews Lasse about how ski racing and sailing are not too different from each other. Gary is an exceptional announcer, so we'll let his pronunciation of Kjus slide this time.

Best in the World...

Bode finished last season with a globe for his performance in Super G. He started out this season with a top five at Soelden. After a mediocre first run he charged from 17th place to finish fifth. As one ski writer put it, most exciting of all: he finished both runs. It looks like he's well on his way to prove that he is best in the world.

Which brings us to the point of the post- being best in the world. The US Ski Team used it as their motto a few year back and it's what athletes and businesses both strive for. But you don't just get to being the best in the world, there are bench marks and key learnings that need to be reached before achieving such a goal.

Businesses and athletes often look at best practices by competitors and others for inspiration to reach their goals. SIA has some great insight in its Model for Success on best practices from retailers in other markets. Although, the report is over two years old, if you haven't read it take 10 minutes to do so and you'll likely glean at least 2 take aways for your shop and website that will help you be best in town, best in your state, best in the country, or best in world- whatever your goal may be.

Being Different and Uncompromising

KJUS is uncompromising, which sets us apart from our competitors. What sets you apart from yours. On resent travels in New England I visited a number of our dealers and some of their competitors. One of the major points at the SIA workshop I attended the other week, they showed a number of examples of shops and asked was if you brought someone blindfolded into your shop could they tell where they were or see something different and memorable?

One of the more memorable shop presentations on my trip was not in the shop, but outside- a huge pile of old ski boots. At The Startingate in Bondville, VT just outside of Stratton, they pride themselves on their boot fitting and they don't make compromises with this service. If a customer comes in with a boot they want fitted and that won't provide the best performance for that customer, out the second story window it goes into the boot pile. As a result they have developed a reputation for exceptional boot fitting service... and being a little crazy and different.

What do you do that is different?