You can’t go home again.
The past is another country.
Nothing lasts forever.
There must be 1,000 such homilies that share the same, sorrowful observation. No matter what we cherish about the past, it ain’t coming back.
I’ve spent decades refining the peculiar craft of capturing a ski’s on-snow personality, only to see the entire enterprise evaporate in a cloud of indifference. The apogee of these endeavors lasted for only five years, during which time, with the blessing and budgets of the New York Times Magazine Group, I assembled the largest cast of world-class talents ever convened for such a purpose, and put them to work for three solid weeks. Whatever remains of on-snow testing today runs for 2-to-5 days, tops.
Before I start swinging this verbal wrecking ball in ever wider arcs, permit me to better define the boundaries of my umbrage. No contingent of recreational skiers is better served than those who travel uphill under their own power. If you hike to ski, you not only have more equipment choices than seem sensible, but you have passionate and well-informed editors who enlist the aid of an armada of in-it-for-life testers who talk eye-to-eye with their readers. Thanks to the efforts of Freeskier, the Pipe-and-Park contingent also have a toes-in-the-snow publication that caters to the unique requirements of those who take to the air upside-down and backwards.
But for the downhill-facing, lift-assisted skier, the number of trustworthy sources is perilously close to zero. I gather through the grapevine that Outside aims to improve its ski review content, but this is the same outfit that fired Mike Rogan in the not-so-distant past, an act of such rank stupidity it will take years of diligent reporting to live it down. That Rogan is back testing for Outside is more testament to his exceptional talent and well-mannered temperament than it is a validation of the new regime’s reportorial talents.
If you want to read how we at Realskiers.com went about the business of categorizing and rating every important Alpine ski model for sale in North America, I’ve retained a detailed description of our methodology in the Gear Guide housed on the home page. Ski reviews dating back to 2016 are still ensconced in our Archives for the edification of our paid subscribers (still only $24.95 for new members and a mere $19.95 to renew).
I’ve augmented the text of the revised Gear Guide with a few bits that weren’t part of Realskiers’ original copy, most notably a current test card. The latest test card differs from the original incarnation in a couple of important ways: I’ve fiddled with the test criteria in an effort to be clearer about just what behavior the tester is rating, and the “card” isn’t recorded on paper, but logged into a Google app. The biggest difference between the era of the paper card and the current cyber card isn’t in the contents, but the number of submissions each season. (Read A Dearth of Data here.) We used to get thousands of cards; now we hardly get any unless I instigate the testing. But being prepared to test and actual testing are two different beasts; to achieve the ultimate goal of ranking skis according to merit requires not just skis; it also requires skiers, and that’s where the current market conditions torpedo the entire enterprise.
So why am I retaining a detailed explanation of a system that no longer works? Because I’ve learned from my thousands of Dear Readers that they regularly visit our Archives, where we’ve stored every ski review I’ve penned since 2016. (The Archives used to reach back into the aughties, but the older reviews proved to be a playground for cyber creeps looking for vulnerabilities they could exploit, so they had to be euthanized.) There are also some bits in the introductory text that are still relevant, such as How to Demo and how to interpret the icons that are scattered throughout the archived reviews.
But model-by-model, long-form ski reviews are as dead as disco. What remains in their stead are detailed Brand Profiles that put the current model families in context, helping skiers winnow through a ski market that is over-stuffed with options. The final hurdle in the model selection process is determining which ski has the optimum amalgam of traits that fits with where and how you ski. I can help you, Dear Reader, find the ski of your dreams, or at the very least concoct a hit list of skis to demo. Member Consultation privileges are unquestionably the most unique and valuable service provided by Realskiers.com. I look forward to hearing from you.
As you ponder what pithy problems you would like to plumb, take a moment to contemplate the many splendors Realskiers.com provides:
- Ski Brand Profiles, including coverage of the current market
- Boot Brand Profiles (2026 content to post in September)
- Best Boots from the Masterfit Boot Test (links to Masterfit current analysis)
- Revelation Archives (over 300 entries on the members’ site, categorized by subject matter)
- Jackson’s List of the most worthy specialty ski shops in America
- The Returning Skier’s Handbook, a primer for the lapsed skier
- The Library of Podcasts from Realskiers with Jackson Hogen
Realskiers.com is essentially a Master Class in the recent evolution of the U.S. ski market. The insights that are routine in Realskiers’ content can’t be found anywhere else in the current crop of ski media. If you like what you see here, please consider becoming a Realskiers’ subscriber, still only $24.95 for new enlistees, and $19.95 for returning veterans.
If you’re thinking of buying new gear this year, a Realskiers subscription isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity. One receives the best advice from those most qualified to provide it, and no one else in ski journalism can match my credentials and track record. I hope you’ll become a Realskiers subscriber and subsequently benefit from my counsel. It’s what I’m here for.
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In Memorium, Carl Ettlinger
Carl was a giant of a man whose outsized voice roiled every conversation like a burst dam and whose expansive vision reached across the mixed milieus of research, journalism, risk management and education. I knew him when he was at the peak of his powers, as he explained to me when I interviewed him for a “where are they now?” profile in Skiing History. He was able to conduct long-term research on injury patterns as well as analyze the particulars of the current binding market, turn around and package this knowledge into articles for Skiing and Skiing Trade News, followed up by a workshop tour that would bring enlightenment to the grassroots level. No one but Carl could have pulled this off, and Lord knows no one has had the requisite talent, energy and will power since.
But time and tide wait for no man, and Carl’s finely spun web of influence was eventually plucked apart. The loss of his pivotal positions in the press allowed him to slip from public view before we, the skiers of the world, realized we hadn’t taken the time to thank him.
We have the time to thank him now.
So thanks, Carl, for being first and foremost a teacher, for teaching is at the heart of the evangel’s mission.
Thanks for being so damn stubborn. Your insistence on improving skier safety wore through a wall of resistance as tough as Vermont marble.
Thanks for having a heart as big as that melon-sized head of yours. The fuel to your tireless mind was a caring heart that tried to embrace the world.
Thanks for all the stories once the Mount Gay flowed. Who knew we would have won the Vietnam War if only his superiors had listened? I can’t remember exactly how – he wasn’t the only one drinking Mount Gay – but I recall the light in his eyes as he relayed his twisted tales, taking us down successive rabbit-holes of digression that I lost track of at the seventh level.
That’s what I remember most vividly about my many interactions with Carl: his brain so teemed with thoughts he rushed to get them out in a verbal jailbreak that would travel around the cosmos until returning, many lost minutes later, to the subject that had inspired them. That was Carl: too many words for one sentence, too many tasks to tend to and all of it, every erg of his endless energy, devoted to a cause he never ceased to serve.
Fare thee well, Carl Ettlinger. The world misses you already for it will never see another quite like you, whose every moment seemed larger than life itself.
I raise my glass to you, old friend. Mount Gay, of course.
Jackson Hogen
June 23, 2020
Why This Buyer’s Guide?
Don’t read the 2021 Masterfit Buyer’s Guide in Partnership with Realskiers.com for its 62 ski reviews. I should know. I wrote or edited all of them.
Not that the ski reviews aren’t worth the read. But ski reviews on the web are as common as rice, while the Buyer’s Guide contains something no other publication, whether in digital, print or video format, can claim: the most respected, thorough and dependable boot reviews in the world.
This isn’t mere puffery. The Masterfit Boot Test is so well regarded by the supplier community that nearly every brand not only sends its following year’s line-up in four men’s sizes plus three for women, it also dispatches its top designers and/or product managers to a distant North American site for most of the test’s five-day duration.
The Ripple Effect
As I’ve observed in this space before, product managers spend most of their time in the future; the present for them is two years away for the rest of us. So when the coronavirus shut down the 19/20 ski season, it triggered an automatic response in the R&D lobes lodged deep in my noggin: what impact will this have two years down the road?
If I knew the answer to this question with any certainty, I should be running a hedge fund, not scribbling about skiing. But after checking with several of the bellwether players in U.S. market, I have some idea of what’s in store.
