Kastle 2016

Today’s Kästle has adopted one of skiing’s venerable names, but behaviorally the skis they are crafting in the present share zero DNA with the skis the brand made in the past.  We know whereof we speak because we skied the Austrian Kästles of thirty years ago and they...

K2 2016

K2 has reigned over the US market for so long its leadership has practically become a cliché. The keys to their sustained success are manifold, but from a product standpoint it’s not hard to summarize: K2’s are easy to ski. Regardless of your skill level, your terrain...

Head 2016

Management at every brand, large and small, foreign or domestic, has to make choices about how they want to build a ski. Once they settle on a construction and the equipment devised to execute it is installed on the premises, they tend to stay with it for the long...

Fischer 2016

Were one to distill Fischer’s essence, the resulting elixir would be made of equal parts precision and speed. Rigorous quality control is the driving force in the corporate culture, a comforting thought for a brand that also makes components for aircraft. The...

Elan 2016

Regular visitors to realskiers are most likely aware that we haven’t covered Elan for a few seasons. It hasn’t been for lack of interest on the part of our membership, several of whom have voiced intense displeasure at our elision of Elan. The brand has been selling...