Skiers of a certain age have played the classic Windows computer game ‘Ski Free’.
Moving your mouse side to side and clicking every once in a while to jump over obstacles, the goal is simple—ski as long as you can without crashing, and for god’s sake, don’t let the Yeti catch you from behind.
Skiing video games have evolved dramatically since the 90s, but George Michealson, a skier turned park rat who hails from Minnesota, used the game as inspiration when he opened his shop, The Ski Monster, in Boston in 2014.
The Ski Monster has a large online presence, including a digital store, original media content, podcasts, and explainer videos. Michaelson reaches hundreds of thousands of skiers nationwide on apps like TikTok and Instagram, and that has converted to both online and offline sales; the latter is worth highlighting…