Not Your Average Buyer's Guide

Skis are "cool" — but boots rule

Boots are so much the most important element of equipment that all other components—including skis—are almost accessories by comparison. Assuming less than unlimited funds, we recommend an equipment budget with 50% of the total given to boots, fitting and alignment.

If the boot is right, a reasonably skilled skier can manage on almost any ski; if the boot is not, no ski made can make up the difference. The N^o 1 technical barrier to expert skiing is the wedge, and ill-designed, poorly-fit or non-aligned boots all but guarantee wedge turn entry, no matter how many hours of lessons and practice. Good boot choice, fit and alignment will produce better results faster than any amount of private coaching.

The trouble with socks

A really good way to guarantee bad boot fit (and cold feet) is to wear thick socks, or, even worse, several pair. Thick socks allow the foot to move around in the shell, severely compromising precise control. Thick socks also reduce snow-to-foot-feedback and—this may be surprising to some—they "fill in" veins on the top and sides of foot and ankle, inhibiting circulation and creating cold feet.

We recommend very thin wool or blended socks, like the Eurosock Euro Ski Elite. Yes, they are relatively expensive, but cost less than any lift ticket in North America and can prevent wasting lift money on a never ending string of cold feet and "bad boot" days!

Footbeds, not "foot-bonds"

Poorly designed or badly made footbeds ("orthotics") degrade comfort, balance and performance more than many skiers realize. Chief culprits, we believe, are rigid footbeds, like the Superfeet Kork^® or Surefoot custom orthotics. These kinds of footbeds lock the foot in a high-arch position, preventing the foot and ankle from making subtle muscle and ligament adjustments the human body has evolved over millennia to maintain upright balance. Few would argue that skiing is not a balance-intensive sport. It makes little sense to compromise basic balance capabilities of the feet.

Ironically, custom made footbeds typically cost more than $100 and, in our experience, often provide less benefit than $30 off-the-shelf, self-molding products like Downunders^® and Superfeet's Trim to Fit^® models.

Shape is more important than brand

We have noted a disturbing trend that seems to be accelerating. For whatever reasons, the ski industry seems bent on selling ever-wider skis to ever more skiers, no matter the brand. Worse, shop employees and ski instructors seem to promote favorite brands more than do they attempt to discover an individual's skiing style and goals in order to suggest the right shape.

Volkl Sumo

There is nothing inherently wrong with ultra-wide skis (by which we mean anything with a waist wider than 77mm). Wide rides are unequaled in deep snow, obviously, and many of them have side cuts and the "beef" to perform well on hard snow, or in chop and crud, or even, in a few cases, in bumps.

But, and this is the key point, wide skis are first and foremost for deep snow. Anyone who skis more than half the time on the groomed, or, even more pointedly, is working on developing technical skills, should not use these skis as a primary tool. By comparison to narrow skis, and again with some exceptions, wide skis are heavy, slow to come up on edge, far less nimble in the fall line and require a degree of precision usually found among level 9/10 skill sets.

Dynastar Contact 11

We are not "down" on fat skis, but do caution anyone who pursues technical skiing as a primary interest to consider something with a bit less girth. The truth is that a 70mm ski can handle virtually any off-piste condition, up to and including bottomless powder. Narrow skis are simply the best tools available for anyone interested in becoming a better skier. And, we can flatly state that level 6, 7 or 8 skiers trying to develop modern carving skills will be frustrated on any wide, twin-tip model.

Length is as important as shape

Two lengths of the same model from the same brand will ski more differently that the same length of similar models from different brands, even if one is a foam core and the other wood. Period. End of story.

Of 4 basic shapes, two make sense for most skiers

The following groups are constructed around primary use. Most modern skis handle everything better than old-style specialized skis handled specific conditions—and there are a number of legitimate "1-ski-quiver" tools —but for our review structure this year we arrange skis according to optimum match between ski and principal use.

Technical Skis - for skiers who engage primarily in technical carving on hard or groomed snow and for skiers who are developing or honing basic technical skills. Includes all racing and race carving skis, cross skis and recreational carvers. Typical waist measurement is 70mm ±. Turn radii are typically less than 16m.

Example: Head Supershape

Example: Völkl Tigershark 10 Foot Power Switch

Tactical Skis - for skiers for whom the relationship of the ski to the snow is of paramount importance. These skiers roam the entire mountain, or, at the other end of the spectrum, simply cruise around the groomed on flat edges. Some of the labels we've used in the past for this genre are "mid-fat," "all mountain" and "cruisers." Waists are in the 70 to 78mm range, turn radii vary in the mid to high teens.

Example: Nordica Olympia Drive

Example: Dynastar Legend 4800

Freeride Skis - this is the one current label that seems to work for everyone, although we do not include park and pipe skis in this group per se; they are in the specialty group. Many have twin tips and many can do double duty as deep snow-park/pipe skis. 

Example: Stöckli Deep Powder Pro

Example: K2 Phat Luv

Freestyle Skis - everything else, especially skis that fare best in park and pipe conditions and mogul skis.

Example: K2 Miss Demeanor

Example: Rossignol Scratch Sprayer FS

 

Binding placement is critical

Notice the difference in fore/aft placement on two same-length skis, right. Read the article here.

 

Poles affect stance, balance, timing and technical competence

Leki Venom

Good poles of the correct length will not necessarily improve technique (one still must learn to use them), but bad poles, or poles that are either too short or two long will degrade technique in subtle ways.

Weight should be as light as possible. If the pole is too heavy, it makes accurate timing difficult and tires the skier. We recommend poles from Goode and Leki. Both sell models that are extremely light, fairly rigid with modest flexibility and that feature well-designed pistol grips, rather than dangerous platform grips, which can cause sprained thumbs. In the realm of ski poles, the honored adage that you get what you pay for is probably more true than any other item of gear, except goggles.

Length is likewise crucial. Too long and the skier will either sit back perpetually or, maybe even worse, reach too far down the hill on steeps and in bumps. Either effect is disastrous for balance. Moreover, a pole that is too long will make an efficient arm-swing and pole-touch impossible to achieve.

Vision is the most important human sense

Like binding placement, the value of vision to enhance performance is, alas, not widely understood. Human brains devote the greatest percentage of their bulk to managing vision and to using sight to control balance and movement. Anyone accustomed to skiing in sunglasses that allow the eyes to water or in goggles with cheap, distorted, color-changing lenses will experience an immediate performance improvement by donning good goggles or windproof sunglasses with distortion-free lenses. We use Briko goggles in heavy weather and prefer the superb Panoptx sun goggle under all but the most severe conditions.