In a bland warehouse just northeast of Denver, Colorado, a treasure trove of ancient sports artifacts lies waiting to be plundered. The warehouse belongs to Vintage Winter, arguably the internet’s foremost purveyor of vintage winter sports gear. The collection of purchasable museum pieces includes 220-year-old wooden skis, Native American snowshoes, original “Snurfer” snowboards, mountaineering equipment, poster prints and more winter-centric relics, as well as a handful of summer-centric items, like repurposed canoe paddles and fishing nets. Many of the items have been repurposed into functional decor items: coat racks made of old skis, shelves made of wooden toboggans, and so on. The items’ intended use, and allure, is undeniable: they are to be displayed proudly, on walls and shelves, in lake houses and ski chalets and ordinary homes.
