Many outdoor sports enthusiasts in Michigan, especially mid and southeast, are familiar withSummit Sports stores. With locations in East Lansing, Brighton and Keego Harbor, Summit stocks everything for camping and kayaking to skiing and snowboarding.

Let’s back up 16 years to 1997. Nine Inch Nails and Smashing Pumpkins were on while you played Nintendo 64 and couldn’t wait to see how Titanic ended.

But what do you do when you have been selling ski and snowboard gear since 1990 and someone taps you on your shoulder and encourages you to sell on “The Internet?” If you’re Steve Kopitz, founder of Summit Sports, you jump in head first and never look back.

Hold Up – 1997 called and wants you to sell online…

Remember, at this point Amazon.com had only been online for about 2-years, making Summit an early adopter to selling online and allowing them to create two powerhouse sites,Skis.com and Snowboards.com dubbed The Ultimate Online Ski & Snowboard Shop.

Recently we had the opportunity to hang out with the unique Michigan-based online retailer. Steve welcomed us in to hang with the skis.com and snowboards.com teams – check out their digs, learn about their history and what sets them apart from other online retailers. Plus, we got an inside look at their huge warehouse. Video and pictures don’t do it justice so you’ll have to trust us – this place is HUGE. Odds are, if you want it, they have it, and can get it to your door.

Behind The Scenes at Skis.com & Snowboards.com from MiSkiReport on Vimeo.

Written by: J. Dodge