InTheSnow’s Ben Clatworthy spent 10 minutes with Matt Petersen, founder of Pre-Fit Delivery – an innovative solution to the laborious process of boot and ski fitting in resort.
- Matt, can you explain the basics of Pre-Fit Delivery?
MP: Essentially we go to the client before they depart for their ski or snowboarding holiday, be that at their place of work, home, university, school or military base. We accurately measure and fit all the equipment they need, boots, skies, poles and clothing (should they require it). On arrival at the resort, all of their kit is ready and waiting for them in the ski hire shop, or at their accommodation. This allows the client to get straight onto the mountain as soon as they arrive, and avoid the hassle of having to trek to the rental shop after a journey from the UK, or on their first morning, ultimately wasting time. If you have your own kit we can arrange equipment carriage for you, from your home to the resort.
- What spurred you on to set up the company?
MP: I’ve been skiing for over 20 years, and have been lucky enough to travel to some amazing locations and resorts. More recently, I have been involved in taking large military groups to the Alps. Time and time again I saw long queues of customers outside rental shops on their first morning in resort waiting to get their equipment, wasting time and losing value from their lift pass. Because of the huge demand, and time pressure on the staff in the shops, the fitting process is pretty basic at best, and often the kit doesn’t fit properly and is poorly adjusted. Even when equipment is booked online in advance, if a large group arrives just before you, you’ve no idea what kit you’ll get as the stock in the shop starts to run out, and boot and shoe sizes vary enormously. I always thought ”there must be a better way”, so I came up with the idea of having kit ”pre-fitted” and delivered to avoid all this hassle.
- How does it work exactly? Do you drive the kit over, or have partners in Europe?
MP: The Pre-Fit team comes to you before you travel, to measure and fit for all your equipment. Your clothing is delivered to you by post about a week before you travel, and your technical kit is ready and waiting for you when you arrive. We can provide HD cameras, off-piste packs, and other ancillaries. We have partners in-resort who each receive the information from us, they prepare the equipment and set it up with the information we provide. If requested, kit is delivered and collected from your accommodation, otherwise it can be dropped off at the ski hire shop. Any clothing requested is sent back to us in a pre-paid bag. We even offer a ”try before you buy” service, so if the customer really likes all the clothing, they can buy it from us at the end.
- Can anyone use your services?
MP: Absolutely. We aim to look after most groups, and have catered for groups as small as five, and as big as over 400. We normally plan on a fitting 2–4 weeks before the client leaves for their trip, in order to provide ample time to book the fitting team. Depending on the advance notice, and the location of the client, we deal with requests on a case-by-case basis, but we’ll try our best to support every trip that we can.
- I understand Pre-Fit is working with Wasteland Ski for university ski trips?
MP: Yes, this is a very exciting time for us. Wasteland Ski approached us in February as they could see the real value that this service would add to their customers. It is the most established university tour operator, and is very focused on delivering the best possible service to their clients. By working with us, time will be saved and a higher level of fitting will be provided, which means that their customers will have a premium service, but within a university trip budget. The travel industry is very competitive; and more tour operators are approaching us to offer this service to their customers in order to make them stand out and add greater value.
- Have you always been in the ski industry?
MP: Only as a punter, working within the industry is all quite new and I’m still getting to know people, so it’s been quite an education! I’ve been skiing for years, but only came up with this concept in 2008. It’s taken a long time to bring the idea to reality and we have a great team working with us. We’re all delighted to see the concept take off as it has, and we’re keen to take the concept into other adventure and sporting pastimes.
