The global supply of skis and ski equipment — but particularly cross-country skis — have been largely disrupted by the Russian-Ukraine war.

About half of the skis sold across the world each year are manufactured in Ukraine and other parts of eastern Europe, according to market statistics from the European Union.

After the Russian invasion in February, production stalled at larger factories in the Ukraine and across Europe.

That included Fischer, an Austrian manufacturer, which makes skis for several large companies like Rossignol and Hagan and reportedly produces around 60% of its skis in the Ukraine, according to ski publication PlanetSKI.

With disruptions related to the war, as well as continuing supply chain issues, consumers won’t have quite as many retails options as in years past.

In Bozeman, that means ski shops don’t have as much gear in stock as usual, might not carry a particular brand, and are scaling back rentals.

At Bangtail, getting supplies for cross-country skis has been challenging and erratic, Funderburk said.

Funderburk was able to get enough skis for the fleet of rentals, but their order of nearly 80 Rossignol boots was canceled.

“We got the skis, but we had no boots to put with them,” Funderburk said. “The factory they were produced in was in Eastern Ukraine. That was our new rental fleet, so we don’t have rentals this year. We couldn’t find a source to replace them.”

Bangtail won’t be renting out cross-country skis as usual, but Funderburk said they were lucky to get as much retail stock as they have.

He said customers might just have to be patient and flexible while shopping.

A particular brand or piece of equipment might not be available, but alternatives might be.

Ryan Czech, manager at Chalet Sports, also said getting skis was difficult this year. He credited that some to supply chain issues, disruptions from the war but also a boom in Nordic skiing’s popularity during the pandemic.

“There were high demands for places around the country that normally wouldn’t be ordering, and now ordered two or three times more,” Czech said.

A general uptick in people cross-country skiing coincided with good snow early in the season here in Montana.

Speaking Wednesday, Czech said the small outdoor gear store was able to get a little less than half of the equipment he’d ordered on the retail side and none of the gear he’d ordered for rentals.

“I just found out an hour ago that I won’t have 35 skis out of 66 skis until the end of January,” Czech said, of his rental order.

He said the store has already sold out of some skis and boots and said the supply between brands, or specific gear, varies.

Ski poles, for example, which are typically made out of aluminum, have been hard to source, Czech said.

“Some of those raw materials are being used for the war effort in Ukraine,” he said.

Czech said he’s understanding of the disruptions, and said other gear, clothing and supplies have been hard to source this year.

At RoundHouse Ski and Sports Center, manager Ryan Merkel said disruptions in the supply chain have become common since the COVID-19 pandemic and said customers are largely understanding.

“The age of ordering something and getting it four days later,” Merkel said. “Those days are over.”

Merkel said they’ve also run into some trouble sourcing both cross-country and alpine skis — but has strong ties with suppliers and have largely fared well.

RoundHouse also ran into some luck: An order placed two years ago for rental skis just showed up.

“Just in time,” Merkel said. He later added: “Pray for snow.”