On the things you can get from your local bike store

 I am on a two week vacation from work. One of my objectives was to get new skis, bindings and ski boots. My current set of these are very dated. The youngest of these, my skis, probably date to the late 1980s. The three pin bindings were re-used from an earlier pair of skis. The boots were inherited from my Grandpa. I suspect they may be older than I am.

Unfortunately, the first two stores I visited only had either fish scale waxless skis or integral skins waxless skis, technology that I am very leery of. These were my best two options on hand. I had been pondering putting new bindings on my old skis and buying suitable boots.

However, bike related fate intervened. I had failed to bring Justin Thyme in to be tuned up at the end of the biking season. Consequently, I brought him up to Martin Swiss for a yearly tune up well before the spring rush. After I explained what I wanted to Steve the manager, he asked in a friendly manner, "So apart from the bike, what else is up?" I casually mentioned my frustration at not being able to find new conventional skis. He mentioned a couple of places then said he'd text a buddy of his for a lead. I thanked him, then left to go home. I had only gone a couple of blocks before Steve phoned me with a few more leads.

One of them was for Poubelle du Ski (sic).  Despite the name, a second rate website and not being able to actually call them, it seemed the most promising of the leads. It was near the Jarry Metro station on Saint-Lawrence Boulevard. It was housed in a building built for another purpose and looked unprepossessing. However, it had racks and racks of skis, boots, waxes, etc. and if the racks often homemade or repurposed, the guy I dealt with seemed to know what's what and soon fitted me out with skis and boots.