Featured Article
There are a lot of ski shops out there.
For the past eight years, since I moved to Park City in 2018, I’ve trusted Jans with just about everything that touches my feet or clicks into my bindings. Boots, liners, mounts, tunes… all of it.
And when you ski as much as I do (sometimes in critical spots), that trust isn’t casual.
It’s earned.
The Mount That Matters
A good mount is everything.
You don’t notice it when it’s right, but you definitely notice it when it’s wrong.
When I got my Meier skis, the Leeper, I had no idea where to mount them. They’re a pretty center-mounted ski, way different than all of the more traditional setups I’ve been on in my career, and I didn’t want to mess it up, have to remount them or worse, toss them and have to order a new pair.
So I brought them to Jared at Jans.
Jared grabbed a tape measure and we went deep. We looked at my old skis, compared mount points, talked through how I like to ski, how the Leeper is designed, what would feel natural versus what might feel off. We went back and forth over the distance from center versus the distance from the tail and more.
We landed on -2cm from the recommended boot centerline.
It was thoughtful. It was deliberate. No guesswork. Full confidence.
And it worked.
The skis felt right immediately and that was a tough sweet spot to hit.
Then this year, I brought in another pair and realized… I had no idea where we mounted them the year before.
Jared didn’t guess.
He went back through old invoices and receipts, found the exact mount point from the previous year, and matched it perfectly.
That’s next-level service.
That’s not just doing the job. That’s investing in the outcome.
Boot Fitting Under Pressure
If mounts are important, boots are everything. Boots are the #1 most important piece of ski gear hands down — and for me, boot work usually comes with a deadline.
“Hey, I’m leaving for Alaska tomorrow. I know it’s a Saturday… Can you help me right now?” Not ideal timing, but somehow Bridger, and Travis have bailed me out more than once: new boots, new liners, tight timelines — real consequences if things aren’t right.
They’ve cooked liners, custom molded them, blown out shells, and made everything work… fast. And not just “good enough” — right. That’s the difference.
Because if your boots aren’t right in Alaska, or anywhere you’re skiing hard, it’s not just uncomfortable. It changes how you ski. It can ruin a trip.
They’ve saved me from that more than once.
- All these skis and boots were mounted, tuned, and custom molded at Jans. | Photo: SnowBrains
Skiers Working on Ski Gear
Bridger and Travis aren’t just bootfitters. They’re legit skiers, who grew up in Park City. They understand what performance feels like.
Bridger’s still playing rugby at a high level, which tells you a lot about his mindset. Tough, dialed, detail-oriented, fearless.
And that shows up in the work.
They’re not just trying to make your boots feel better in the shop.
They’re thinking about how they’ll feel at speed, in variable snow, on long days, when it actually matters.
That perspective is everything.
- Boot punch by the masters. | Photo: SnowBrains
The Tune You Can Feel
Then there’s the tuning.
Jared lays down a base grind that just feels fast.
You click in, take a few turns, and you can tell immediately. Smooth, predictable, confident. No weird grab, no hesitation.
Just glide.
It’s subtle, but when you ski a lot, you notice those things.
And once you feel it, you don’t really want to go anywhere else.
- Miles and his new Jans mounts. Boot punch by the masters. Image: SnowBrains
Eight Years of Trust
I’ve been going to Jans for eight years now. At this point, it’s not just convenience, iit’s not just location — it’s trust.
I trust Jared to mount my skis exactly how I want them, even if I don’t remember the details myself.
I trust Bridger and Travis to get my boots right, even when I show up last-minute with a tight timeline.
And I trust all of them because they’ve proven, over and over again, that they know what they’re doing.
More Than a Shop
But honestly, it’s more than that. It’s friendship.
I like going in there. I like catching up, talking skiing, hanging out for a bit. It doesn’t feel transactional.
When I’m waiting for my liners to mold or boots to punch out, I love hearing what the shop crew has been up to, where the best skiing had been, and where they’re going for their next trip.
Final Word
If you ski a few days a year, maybe it doesn’t matter as much where you go.
But if you ski a lot, if your gear actually matters to you, if performance matters…
You need people you trust.
For me, that’s Jans.
And at this point, I really don’t trust many other folks with my gear.
