Christy Sports has long been known for its ski and snowboard rentals, but this summer, the shop is expanding its rental offerings to hiking and biking gear.

Customers will be able to reserve backpacks, poles, head lamps and other hiking gear for the first time in addition to enhanced options for renting bikes.

Matt Gold, CEO for Christy Sports, said the company was investing in summer outdoor activities with this program, as its focus is typically on winter rentals.

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“We’ve done hiking and bike rental on a small scale in the past and are really strengthening that in breadth and depth,” Gold said.

Residents and visitors of Steamboat can now check out these rentals at the Christy Sports location on Central Park Drive. Manager Tim Zumalt said the summer rental program has had a solid start.

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“It’s honestly been doing better than we expected,” Zumalt said. “Our first week, we were bringing in more rentals than anticipated both here in Steamboat and around the company.”

Zumalt added that he was looking forward to the continued growth of the program. He said the store is currently offering packages for families that include backpacks for children and adults, head lamps, a first aid kit and more.

“(It’s) for those people who just want to start their hiking adventure and don’t want to dive deep into the expense of buying their own gear,” he said. “We definitely have a focus to make it very easy for tourists, and then for locals who just want more of the individual pieces or parts.”

Folks can “pick up that extra part without dropping the cash to buy the whole set” with this rental service, he added.

While the Central Park Christy Sports location launches these summer rentals, the Steamboat Square location is closed for the summer for renovations, according to Gold. Construction is set to begin in July and will wrap up by Thanksgiving for the ski season.

“We are undertaking a full renovation,” Gold said. “We’re actually taking this store all the way down to the studs.”

“This will probably be the largest store renovation and elevation project that we have ever done,” he added.

The construction at the base of the Steamboat Resort is an additional consideration for the Christy Sports renovation.

The base will be a construction zone for summer, with several new features in the works. Upcoming renovations for the resort include a food hall, ice rink and a new stage for concerts and other events.

With all this work happening at the base already, Gold explained that coordination with the resort was necessary.

“We were also kind of waiting for the base of the resort redevelopment to synchronize for our projects,” he said. “Now that it’s all happening, the store will be night and day in terms of the architecture, the facade (and) what we’re doing to the exterior of the building.”

Gold explained that the interior of the store will also see a total revamp.

We are “also completely renovating the interior to really bring to life the latest and greatest Christy retail format,” Gold said.

He explained that with this construction, he hopes the new interior will improve the customer experience in the store for this season and beyond. 

“That’s a big deal too — for us, for Steamboat and for all of our really loyal and passionate customers,” Gold said.

The summer rentals are now available online and in store. Reservations can be made at ChristySports.com or by walking into the Central Park Drive location.

To reach Katy Pickens, call 970-871-4208 or email her at kpickens@SteamboatPilot.com