U.S. skier Fisher launches online business

The U.S. Ski Team’s Erik Fisher is dipping his toes into the business world. The Middleton, Idaho native, along with some family friends, has launched an online outdoor gear classifieds site called Skodeo.com. He let his Facebook friends know about his new project yesterday with an online announcement.

Fisher hatched the original idea, invested money and helping create the design and flow of the site. After undergoing a period of testing the site is now ready to let ski, bike, kayak, surf and climbing junkies trade away.

“I’ve always wanted to do something that allows me to get my mind away from skiing,” Fisher said. “I think you can get too caught up in one thing, whether it be school, a job or ski racing for me. It can become too much and you can lose focus at the high level where you need to be.”
The U.S. Ski Team’s Erik Fisher is dipping his toes into the business world. The Middleton, Idaho native, along with some family friends, has launched an online outdoor gear classifieds site called Skodeo.com. He let his Facebook friends know about his new project yesterday with an online announcement.

Fisher hatched the original idea, invested money and helping create the design and flow of the site. After undergoing a period of testing the site is now ready to let ski, bike, kayak, surf and climbing junkies trade away.

“I’ve always wanted to do something that allows me to get my mind away from skiing,” Fisher said. “I think you can get too caught up in one thing, whether it be school, a job or ski racing for me. It can become too much and you can lose focus at the high level where you need to be.”

The 24-year old racer follows fellow U.S. racer and Olympic gold medalist Ted Ligety into the busy world of juggling a successful ski racing career while running a business. Ligety stared his own eyewear brand, Shred, following his Olympic success in Torino, Italy. “As skiers we definitely have an opportunity that we should take advantage of, I thought I’d give it a try,” said Fisher.

Fisher is capitalizing on Ligety’s experience, learning all he can from his teammate’s entrepreneurial ventures. “I’ve talked to Ted quite a bit about it. He’s been throwing questions at me, making sure I was ready for what I was getting into,” said Fisher.  “I’m sure he’s in deeper than what he thought he was going to be, and spending a lot more time than he was planning on.”

Fisher began advertising Skodeo with a sticker on his helmet at the FIS World Championships in Val d’Isere, France in February and wore it for the rest of the season.

The idea for Skodeo sprung from Fisher’s frustration with services like eBay that many times don’t allow buyers to get their hands on items before they are purchased. “If I buy a pair of skis of eBay I have no idea what they’re going to be like until they’re at my front door and I’ve already paid for them,” he said. “And with Craigslist you can only search one small area at a time.” By solving these problems, as well as making his site more user-friendly and fun to operate, Fisher believes he has created a product outdoors enthusiasts across the country can get into. “I like to call it a highbred between Craigslist and eBay – the best of both worlds,” said Fisher.

On the new site, businesses will have the opportunity to partner with Skodeo, adding their logos, a link to their own sites and online listings. “The way we’re going to try and make a profit is to make it free to the public, then businesses can come on and list an item and pay a fee to display their logo next to it. People can click on the logo to get a list of all of their items as well as their website and a map to the store,” said Fisher.

One of Fisher’s goals with the site is to encourage buyers and sellers to meet face-to-face to ensure the quality of the products being sold. Users will also be able to search for gear by geographic area. “It will be cool because if you look for skis for sale in Park City, you’ll be able to see how much a brand new pair is running for versus somebody who has used them.”

The education Fisher has gained throughout the process has been an added bonus. “I’ve learned a lot, it’s cool to get into the process of building a business, how much really goes into it,” Fisher said. “My passion is really all of outdoor sports, I do all of them, and to own my own business in the industry is pretty cool, and a lot of fun.”

Fisher topped the Nor-Am downhill points list this season with two victories, he also grabbed a silver medal in the downhill at the National Championships in Alyeska, Alaska and notched his career-best World Cup finish with an impressive seventh-place finish in a downhill at Val Gardena, Italy. He was recently nominated to the U.S. A-Team, awarding his performance in 2009.   

Click here to check out Skodeo.com.