Jan Peterson’s father founded Pete’s, the first ski shop in Utah, and Jan learned the business growing up. After years of ski racing and coaching, Jan decided to try his hand at his other avocation -- writing -- and became an advertising copywriter. While he was successful at it, Jan found he preferred casting a fly and talking about the latest ski equipment with customers to worrying about ad deadlines, so he returned to the outdoor industry.

In 1980, the same year that Deer Valley® opened, Jan started his own namesake shop not far from the location of the current Jans flagship store. Fortune smiled on the fledgling operation, and he soon opened more store locations.

Over the years, Jans has expanded from just a ski shop to also include mountain biking, road biking, fly fishing, and snowshoeing. Additionally, through an affiliation with White Pine Touring, Jans and jans.com are able to provide clients with Nordic skiing and alpine rock climbing.

One of the defining differences between Jans and other outdoor specialty stores in a resort town is that, while we have our share of youth and enthusiasm, the Jans staff includes many longtime industry Experts. When you’re looking for expertise that transcends what’s written in a manufacturers’ catalog, visit the Experts at Jans, or consult jans.com. You’ll often find many products featured in these catalogs were developed with the help of Jans Experts too!

Jans gives back to this community that we call home because we love these mountains, and we want to protect them for future generations; and because we love outdoor recreation, and we want to make it accessible for everyone to enjoy. Learn more about Jans community outreach.