Inside Edge Ski and Bike

Did you know that Inside Edge Ski & Bike was the fountainhead for our internationally known company Reliable Racing Supply, and that Inside Edge actually started as a rental concession at our local ski area, West Mt.? Read on!

When former Olympian Tom Jacobs and his wife Marilyn moved themselves and their three kids (Jeff, Diana and John) to Glens Falls from Steamboat Springs, Colorado in 1958, it was so that Tom could take a "career" job at the local paper mill Finch, Pruyn & Co. While at Finch, Tom became the Ski School Director at nearby Hickory Hill until 1963 when the Brandt brothers opened their first rope tow at West Mountain, only 5 miles from the center of Glens Falls.

The Brandts offered the Ski School directorship to Tom, and the opportunity to own the rental shop. Tom and Marilyn ran the shop until 1967 as a seasonal "moonlighting" effort. All this was going on even while his "day job" took him to New York City three days a week, every week. One day, he was supposed to board an airplane from Laguardia to Warren County Airport. For some reason, he missed the flight. That airplane crashed into Pilot Knob Mountain on Lake George during its approach to the airport during a thunderstorm. Everyone on the flight perished. Needless to say, it was a defining moment for Tom Jacobs.

The next day, Tom made a decision to quit selling paper and dedicate all his efforts and resources to selling ski equipment in New York and to his ski shop: the Inside Edge. The rest, as they say, is history. In classic entrepreneurial style, the Inside Edge flourished into Reliable Racing Supply, Inc., an internationally known and respected company that has made a lasting imprint on the wintersports industry.