New ski rental delivery business aims for high-level service at affordable price

The owners of a new ski rental business in Whitefish met on the mountain over 10 years ago when they were both new to the area, and their passion for winter sports quickly forged a friendship between them.

Both Jonathan Kiraly and Zack Churchill were teaching skiing and snowboarding at Whitefish Mountain Resort when they met and have either taught lessons or coached the freestyle team every year since. A couple years ago they started a summer irrigation business together and discovered they enjoyed working for themselves.

Both were ready for a career change for the winter months as well but wanted to stay connected in the winter sports industry and the town of Whitefish; starting a ski rental delivery business is what they settled on to do just that. They recently launched Black Tie Ski Rentals downtown.

“It was like well what can we do in the winter and still work for ourselves and provide something for the town,” Kiraly recalled. “This was perfect in my mind because we moved out here for the mountain. I moved out here for the winter... we’re both skiers and snowboarders by heart and working all winter we’ll still be connected to the ski hill.”

After instructing on the slopes for so long, they were already accustomed to helping people new to snow sports. With the ski rental business, they would now be assisting clients in a different way by ensuring they had the right gear and a streamlined rental process.

“We’re both passionate about winter sports, and being able to operate a business that’s helping people enjoy winter sports as well on their vacations is amazing,” Churchill added.

In addition to having a desire to operate their own ski industry related business, Kiraly and Churchill saw a need for more available rentals in the community as the growth of population as well as tourism has increased over the last couple of years. And they wanted to provide a true high-quality service on top of that.

“It really made sense right from the get-go that this was a service that the town was lacking, but could certainly support,” Churchill said. “We’re continually growing, the resort’s getting recognized for its high-level quality… but yet we don’t have that high-level concierge service on a large scale.”

“It made sense to really be on the forefront of that,” he added.

They discovered the company Black Tie Ski Rentals through friends that had used the service in a different location and found using a parent licensing company was a good way to get started. Kiraly and Churchill stress that their new ski shop in Whitefish is not a franchise and they own and operate the shop independently under the Black Tie brand. This provides branding and technology support that they would have had to pay thousands of dollars to create on their own had they not used the parent company.

Although they are under the Black Tie Ski brand, Kiraly and Churchill select their own gear that is catered to skiing on Big Mountain and are able to offer whatever services they want – like slopeside switch outs where they will deliver different equipment to customers on the mountain mid-day if requested.

The Whitefish business is set to deliver rental equipment at no additional cost as well as pick them up at the end of the day or week. They have in-room fittings and slopeside service. Everything is ordered and returned through an easy to use app that stores the customers sizes and information for the next time they use a Black Tie Ski location.

Essentially it is an individually catered concierge service for ski and snowboard equipment, and everything is included for $64 per day for the premium package.

“It’s what we pride ourselves on here at Black Tie – no matter who you are, you get that top level service but at an affordable, quality price point,” Churchill said.

Kiraly and Churchill say that they are stocking their shop with quality gear too, as through teaching on the mountain they have seen countless people out on gear that is not working for them.

“We don’t want to be putting people out on rental gear and they feel like they’re in rental gear,” Kiraly said. “It’s that premium gear that we’re trying to provide.”

Churchill, originally from New Hampshire, and Kiraly, from New York, have worked odds and ends jobs since moving 11 years ago and now are glad to be further putting down roots by owning another business in the community.

The new business owners want to keep their shop centered around Whitefish’s ski town charm and the reason they fell in love with the area. They hope to work with and support other local businesses through the contacts they make with their customers.

“In the winter after a big pow day you go downtown and at the bars everybody is talking about their day on the mountain and is just happy and in a good mood,” Kiraly expressed. “I like the connection between downtown and the mountain, and the whole community.”

Black Tie Ski Rentals in Whitefish is opening this winter coinciding with Whitefish Mountain Resort’s opening day. For more information visit whitefish.blacktieskis.com