2020 Dynastar Season

While almost all of Dynastar’s collection returned intact, the one notable exception is right on top of a current trend. It’s the Speed Zone 4X4 82 Pro, part of an expanding number of 82mm-waisted models that aren’t your typical Frontside skis with an obsession for...

Elan Brand Profile

Overview No other brand in our sport owes as much to the records and legacy of a single athlete as Elan. The athlete, of course, is the incomparable Ingemar Stenmark, winner of 86 World Cup races, all on Elan. There would be no second act on the World Cup for Elan...

Fischer Brand Profile

Overview If one were to distill Fischer to its essence, the resulting elixir would be made of equal parts precision and speed.   Rigorous quality control has been the defining feature of its corporate culture going back to the days of Vacuum Technic that ensured even...

2020 Fischer Season

There’s every indication that Fischer’s fortunes in the American Alpine ski market are ascending. Given my professional preoccupations, I naturally look at a brand through the prism of its products, like a fortuneteller inspecting tea leaves. I like what I read in...

Head Brand Profile

Overview Every brand, large and small, foreign or domestic, has to make a choice about how they want to build a ski. Once they settle on a construction and the equipment to execute it is on premises, they tend to stay with it for the long haul. Head’s wheelhouse...

2020 Head Season

Head has been on an R&D tear since it first industrialized the use of Graphene some seven years ago. Graphene is the lightest, strongest material known to mankind, but a matrix one-atom thick isn’t easy to manipulate, which is why after its initial discovery...