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The last lap

Hassle Free closes doors after 4 decades of supplying Durango with outdoor toys

by Missy Votel

As hard as it is to imagine Durango without mountain bikes, it might be even harder to imagine it without Hassle Free Sports.

The North Main mainstay, which opened pre-mountain bikes and where many a Durangoan bought their first mountain bike back in the day, will be closing its doors April 3 after a 39-year run. (Attention bargain shoppers: there will be a clearance sale April 8-10. Early birds get the worm.)

“It’s been a good haul,” owner Tommie Peterson said in the shop Monday. “There’s been a lot of blood, sweat and tears over the years … but all good things come to an end. I hope people come in and wipe me out and I can go down the highway, and it’ll be a wonderful memory.”

Purgatory is planning to buy the two-story building – which Peterson bought from former owner George Malarsie in 1977 – for use as corporate offices and possibly ski rentals. The Boarding Haus next door, which just renewed its three-year lease, will remain open.

For Peterson, 69, it’s the latest – and possibly last – chapter in a long history with the local resort, where he first began working, in food concessions, in 1966.

Peterson’s story is not unlike many other “accidental” discoveries of Durango. The Denver native, who grew up in Colorado Springs, came here on a circuitous route toward higher education. “I went to CSU for a year. I had fun, but didn’t make good grades,” he recalled.

From there, he attended a community college in Rangely to get the grades back up, and followed a roommate to Fort Lewis College. “He got a scholarship and I said, ‘I’ll just go with you.’”

Peterson stands next to the 235cm speed skis worn by FLC ski racing alum Peter Perry. Perry was killed while wearing the skis and they were forever hung on the wall in memoriam./ Photo by Jennaye Derge

The story is textbook Durango, except for one thing. “I arrived with all my worldly possessions in a ’57 Chevy,” he said. And while he had the requisite skis, there was no bike strapped to the roof, as mountain biking had yet to be invented – at least in any formal, recognizable form.

“I just wanted to ski, and I didn’t have any money,” he recalled.

Thus, the aforementioned job at Purg, which segued into various odd jobs around the resort, from cat driving to bartender to ski rentals. “I basically went to the University of Purgatory, as they call it,” he said. “I made the best friends of my life up there.”

However, as often happens, real life soon came knocking. After a winter working construction outside, he took a job with Malarsie, who then owned Timberline Sporting Goods in the former, and much smaller, incarnation of the space. “George wanted someone to come in and help him,” said Peterson. “Ski rentals, that’s all I did.”

Eventually, Peterson saw a need for other ski goods, like hats, lip balm and mittens. At the same time, Malarsie wanted out, so Peterson – with the help of longtime friend Bob Ariano – bought the building and the business, and changed the name to Hassle Free. It was the stuff of ski bum legend.

“I didn’t have any money and they let me buy it for zero down,” Peterson recalled.

From there, Peterson – who owned the business with former partner Chuck Taylor until buying him out in 1992 – added a second story as well as the back overhang area, and the ski biz was good. In fact, mountain bikes weren’t added until the mid-’80s – almost as an afterthought.

“I wasn’t a biker when I got into the bike biz,” he said. “I did it to get from ski season to ski season. I never dreamt the bike business would be better than the ski business, but it is.”

In fact, when Peterson started dealing bikes, there were only three manufacturers. “It was more of a novelty,” he said.

Of course, we all know about a little event called the 1990 Worlds, and what happened to the sport from there. But in case you need a refresher, the upper hallway of Hassle Free is a veritable hall of fame (and shame, depending on the level of dayglo and hair gel), featuring some of the sport’s first stars. An original banner from the 1990 Worlds – a legitimate Durango collector’s item – as well as a banner from the 2001 MTB World Cup hang from the ceiling.

In the ski realm, there are assorted wooden and downhill relics as well. Of particular sentimentality is a pair of 235cm Atomic speed skis worn by former FLC racer (yes, the Fort had a NCAA ski team at one time) Peter Perry. An aspiring speed skier, Perry died in the early ’80s after a crash on the skis – which Hassle Free gave to him – on Purg’s notorious Gelande.

“That was a tough year,” Peterson recalled. “After that, I said ‘nobody’s ever going to ski on these again,’ and I mounted them to the wall.”

But the good times far outweighed the bad, Peterson said. In addition to sponsoring various mountain bike teams, Hassle Free also hosted the finish line at the Iron Horse in Silverton for 20 years. (To this day, Peterson remains good friends with Ed Zink, whom he went to FLC with and calls “Eddie” – which we don’t recommend.) Peterson also was active in the Special Olympics, setting up athletes with skis and gear. “They’d win and come in to show us their medals. It was pretty cool,” he said.

And while the history runs deep between those walls, there’s no doubt times are changing. Not only do today’s bikes more closely resemble spaceships than their cantilever-braked, bar-ended, rigid forebearers, there is increased competition, locally and cyber-ly.

“The retail business is not the same as when I started out,” Peterson said. “The internet has made a difference. People come in, touch and feel stuff, try it on. But already, they’re looking to see where they can get it online.”

For brick-and-mortar mom and pops (Peterson ran the store with the indispensable help of his wife, Colleen) it’s hard to compete with things like free shipping, no tax and bulk buying. “I can’t compete with that. I’ve got to pay property taxes, sales tax and pay for my help,” he said.

Speaking of whom, Peterson harbors a generous amount of gratitude to his workers over the years.

“I couldn’t have done it without my management and employees,” he said. “If I won the lottery, I would buy them all plane tickets to come for a reunion. If I say free T-shirt and free beer, they’d probably come.”

And while he may not have won the lottery, some – including Peterson himself – would argue a nearly 40-year run in a business you love is akin to winning the Durango lottery.

“I’ve cycled everywhere. I’ve skied my whole life. I’ve gotten to ski in Canada and all over the Western United States,” he said. “I’ve skied more than 100 people combined. It was fun.”

He uses past tense, because a truck accident a few years back in which he broke his heels, effectively ended his ski career. Fortunately, he has four sons, seven grandchildren, a dumptruck hauling business and his love of restoring classic cars to keep him busy. And then there’s the house on the Yucatan, where he and Colleen like to spend their winters. “It’s not that I don’t love winter, I just can’t enjoy it like I used to.”

As for regrets – there are none.

“If I could make it to 200 years, I might consider another run. I said ‘might.’”