Shoppers To Line Up Overnight in Alabama for This Wild One-Day Ski Sale
You might be surprised to learn that Alabama does have a ski area called Cloudmont that, with its humble slopes, defies the state’s muggy reputation, at least somewhat.
However, Cloudmont isn’t the only seemingly contradictory ski connection found in Alabama: one of the nation’s most legendary ski gear sales also takes place there each year.
Held at Unclaimed Baggage—a retailer that, as its name suggests, sells luggage left behind by travellers—the annual ski sale draws a huge crowd to the small city of Scottsboro, Alabama.
The one-day event includes hot deals on tens of thousands of ski items, some as steep as 80% off the retail price. Included are recognizable brands like Patagonia, Arc’teryx, Canada Goose, Moncler, and The North Face.
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To prepare for the ski sale, Unclaimed Baggage saves up all of its winter sports equipment for the year, releasing it all at once. Unsurprisingly, bargain hunters take the event, scheduled for Saturday, November 1, seriously—many camp out overnight to secure their spot in line the following morning.
That camping tradition has existed for over a decade. This year, though, Unclaimed Baggage is making the overnight gathering more official with the inaugural Ski Sale Fest.
Nashville, Tennessee, singer-songwriter Morgan Alexander is set to perform. Food trucks will serve campers, who can also catch an outdoor movie or two. Snow machines, fittingly, will create flurries in the cool autumn air. The first 50 guests in line earn a 30-minute head start.
Unclaimed Baggage’s Story
Now, you might be asking yourself, how does all this work? Where is all this baggage coming from?
Here’s the lowdown: the luggage Unclaimed Baggage sells is sourced through purchasing agreements with domestic airlines and other travel and transportation companies. To qualify for these transactions, the luggage must remain unclaimed after a three-month search. According to Unclaimed Baggage, less than 0.03% of the bags left behind fall into this category.
Then, Unclaimed Baggage opens and sifts through the contents of the luggage, deciding what should be sold, recycled, or donated.
Unsurprisingly, the outfit has turned up some bizarre finds, including a modified Nikon F camera used by NASA, an Egyptian burial mask, and a live rattlesnake.
The snake, for the record, wasn’t sent out onto the sales floor, and Unclaimed Baggage returned the camera to NASA. The burial mask ended up at Christie’s Auctions & Private Sales in New York City.
To learn more about the ski sale, click here.
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