New Moon Ski & Bike Shop: New owners continue a tradition of expert service & quality, cutting-edge products

Article featured in the 4 Season's Shopper, 2005

New Moon may have new owners, but the level of experience, expertise and enthusiasm this premier ski and bike shop's customers have come to expect haven't changed. And neither, actually, have many of the faces. Steve and Melisa Morales, who began their ski business over 30 years ago, have handed the reins to New Moon employees Joel Harrison and Chris Young. New Moon Ski & Bike Shop was started in 1976 when the Moraleses decided to make more than just a hobby of cross country skiing. In the early years New Moon was a winter-only venture; Steve also built cabinetry and Melisa was a stained glass artist. New Moon grew along with the American Birkebeiner, which was only three years old when the ski shop opened. In the early '80s the Moraleses added a mail order component and by 1989 business had grown to the point that they decided to turn it into a year-round venture, building their landmark log building on Highway 63 just north of the intersection of Highways 27/77. When the Moraleses recently decided that it was time to begin stepping away from the business they'd nurtured for nearly 30 years, they turned to two of their trusted employees with the desire to see the spirit of their business -- not only a Hayward institution but internationally known within the Nordic ski community – live on. Two couples – Joel and his wife Kristy, and Chris and his wife Judy – have formed a partnership to carry on the tradition begun by the Moraleses. Joel and Chris will continue working as they have for years, and Kristy and Judy have now joined them in the day-to-day operation of the business. "People can still expect same level of excellent service and selection that they've come to know from New Moon," Joel said. "We intend to continue that tradition and to have just as much fun doing it as we always have." Active and well established members of the area's quiet sports communities, both the Harrisons and Youngs are well suited for ownership of a ski and bike shop. Kristy, a Hayward native and graduate of Hayward High School, has known Steve Morales since he was her high school ski coach. She comes from a family of skiers; her father, Bill Lontz, is a Birch Legger and has recently filled his Worldloppet passport. Kristy met Joel, an Idaho native, while they were both members of the College of Idaho ski team, skiing in many regional and national events. "Cross country racing was a real meal ticket to travel," Joel said. "We raced all over the country, plus Finland and Austria. It's good work if you can get it." Joel said he first heard about New Moon when he was skiing in college in the 1980s. "For me the place has always been a landmark of cross country skiing," he said. "The shop has a warm fuzzy feeling for me." Homesick for Hayward, the couple moved here and Joel has been a New Moon employee since 2000. Chris and Judy Young also met in college. Chris, a native of the Chicago suburbs, grew up in a family of Alpine (downhill) skiers. ("The dark side," Judy joked.) He and his sisters competed in many downhill competitions. Then, while attending Northland College in Ashland, Chris became interested in quiet sports, namely cross country skiing and biking. While at Northland, he was a ski captain and coach, and developed an almost obsessive love for road biking. "He puts between five and 10,000 miles a year on his bike," Judy said. Judy, a native of Hagerstown, Md., was an English major at Northland when the two met. While dating they spent a lot of time in the outdoors together, camping, hiking and skiing, and were married after graduating. The couple began working in Hayward in 1996, when Chris started at New Moon and Judy started working at the Sawyer County Record as a graphics designer, moving up to the position of Special Sections Coordinator. Both have written for the paper, including an award-winning outdoors column, and Judy is also co-editor of Trailblazer Magazine.

Quiet sports mecca One of the best things about working at New Moon, Chris and Joel agreed, is that the shop is an integral part of the Hayward and Cable area's very unique and passionate silent sports community. The area, a real mecca for skiers and bikers both nationally and internationally, contains what Joel described as a "very supportive community of people" who are passionate about exercising and playing in the outdoors. "And this job gives us a great excuse to play," Joel added. "There is a very subtle but powerful influence on you when you're outside and in the woods," he said. "When you're hiking or skiing or biking or canoeing," Chris added, "you get out there and think, 'Why don't I do this more often?'" People living in the Hayward and Cable areas have incredible advantages over folks in other areas, Joel said, because of an extensive network of trails for use in both winter and summer -- most notably the Birkie Trail, but also hundreds of kilometers of ski and bike trails, including the well-known CAMBA biking trail system. "With the Birkie trail," Joel said, "we've got one of the most incredible trails in the country. It goes for 45Ks, and it's hikeable, skiable or bikeable all year long. In larger metro communities people have to go so far to find a good trail, but we've got one here in our own backyard. Not to mention all of the other trails around here." And, Chris added, the trails are almost exclusively on public lands. A love for the outdoors and quiet sports is "like a bug," Joel said. "And once you're bitten it has a pull on you. Every time I ski a race, I have to pinch myself… I'm so glad that I have the health and good fortune to be able to do this again and again." "There aren't many activities that are as exhilarating as silent sports," Chris said. "You go through this incredible ordeal, can be physically wasted, and still smile like an idiot when it's over, all cheery and full of endorphins!" "And it doesn't matter if you're in wave one or wave ten," Joel said. "We're all in the same club. It's a kinship." As a business, New Moon Ski & Bike has developed and grown over the years as an integral component of this kinship formed among silent sports enthusiasts. "The outdoors is an essential facet of all of our lives here at New Moon," Chris said, referring not only to the ownership but to all members of the shop's knowledgeable and dedicated staff. "Our goal is to have as much expertise available that we possibly can for any level of skier or biker or outdoor enthusiast that comes to New Moon," Chris said. "We want everyone who walks in the door to have a better experience outdoors because of us. When someone comes back and says their new bike really worked for them, or they had the best ski they've ever had in their life, that's a great feeling." Joel agreed, saying that the best part about being a member of the New Moon family is "when people come back from an experience, just high from being out there, when we know the products we steered them to really made a difference. We like to think of New Moon more as a learning center than as a retail store."

Big shop, small town New Moon is a small-town shop with an international reputation. "The shop is best known as a premier Nordic ski shop," Chris explained. Thanks to the Birkie and a thriving, well-established mail-order catalog business, New Moon is known both nationally and internationally, "especially in countries not serviced by the big European Nordic shops," such as Australia. New Moon's annual catalog has a comprehensive selection of Nordic ski goods. "The shop has skis, accessories, clothing, specialty goods – almost every ski item imaginable is carried in our store," Chris said. " We have great variety of brands to choose from and a very large in-stock selection. Because our business is so large, we have more products and services than the average shop can offer." "We're the biggest shop in a small town in America," Joel added. "Because of the Birkie and our catalog, we have more to offer than shops in towns the size of Hayward normally do." New Moon actually has two distinct business seasons – the ski season and the bike season. During the ski season – winter – the shop is best known for its complete and extensive line of ski equipment, carrying "all things Nordic," Chris said. In addition, New Moon also has a full line of winter wear and equipment needed to enjoy the outdoors in winter. As far as the clothing line goes, "Most of what we carry is geared towards active sports and skiing," Chris said. "We don't have much real heavyweight clothing, but more athletic wear. Anyone who is active in the outdoors can benefit from our clothing lines." In addition to clothing, the shop has items like snowshoes and ice walkers to enhance the enjoyment of the outdoors. The shop also offers ski and snowshoe rental, and private ski instruction with Steve Morales is available on a prearranged basis. In the snowless months, the focus of the business is on cycling and enjoyment of the outdoors in warmer weather. New Moon carries a full line of both road and mountain bikes, in addition to a full line of warmer-weather casual and athletic clothing and bike rentals. Although the focus on the sales floor changes with the seasons, in-stock selection of both biking and ski equipment is available year round. So if you're looking for a bike or cycling equipment for the cyclist on your Christmas list, New Moon still has a great selection. As a premier ski and bike shop, there is more to New Moon's business than sales. The shop has built its reputation on also offering a high level of service to its customers. During the winter season, the staff at New Moon offers skiers waxing expertise and advice, as well as experienced equipment repair. "We have people bring stuff in at Birkie that they've been trying to have fixed all season," Chris said. "They've been to two or three 'big box' stores in the cities and couldn't get the parts or the service they needed, but they come here and we find the parts they need and fix their equipment for them. It happens every year. We have a wide range of obscure but very important stuff that other places won't have." In the warmer months, the service department at New Moon, which has been led by Chris Young, concentrates on full service bike repair, "from 40-year-old Schwinns to the newest full carbon or titanium road bikes," Chris said. "And you don't have to buy it here to have it fixed here." Chris has even repaired the occasional wheelchair. As a "destination" shop, as Chris and Joel call it, the staff at New Moon is also happy to offer advice to visitors regarding trail and route selection for any outdoor adventure. The shop supports virtually all quiet sports events in the area as well as local quiet sports advocacy groups.

New Moon Ski & Bike Shop is located at 15569 Highway 63 N, Hayward Wisconsin. The shop can be reached at (715) 634-8685 or (800) 754-8685. The shop's hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday — Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays.