After 40 years in a Waitsfield garage, Rick McAllister and Ski Sharp have moved south -- south to Irasville Common that is. Ski Sharp had been in a garage on a parcel owned first by the late Stanley Orr and then by the late Reggie Orr. There he founded Ski Sharp and had a motorcycle shop.
The iconic Ski Sharp offers hand-tuned ski sharpening (including offering the racer’s edge sharpening) and only Stockli and Marker and a small number of other brands. McAllister said the Orr property was sold, which precipitated his move to the newer, smaller space that is connected to his daughter Hillary Downing’s hair salon, High Country.
WARM AND COZY
“I’m kind of liking it, it’s very small, warm and cozy, not at all like a garage. It’s much more comfortable. It’s working out really well,” McAllister said, noting that he got out of the motorcycle business around 2000.
As many readers know, The Valley Reporter moved offices last fall after sharing a building with Brother’s Building for 39 years so VR staff could relate to McAllister’s comments on moving.
“It was so hard to move. When you’re in a place for 40 years, you collect a lot of stuff. I ended up throwing away a lot of stuff,” he said.
COVID-19
Beyond that, his move last spring was punctuated by the state being shut down at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and he also got COVID-19.
He is finding this new location ideally suited for skiers picking up and dropping off as well as shopping. “This is a better location because I’m between the ski areas and the liquor store. This space has easier access and people have to go by it on the way to either grocery store,” he added.
NOT MOVING AGAIN
And he doesn’t plan to move again anytime soon.
“Right now, I’m at 5197 Main Street and I told my daughter that the next place I move will be 5195 Main Street,” he said referring the Irasville Cemetery which is adjacent to the Irasville Common Complex.
