In the interests of full disclosure, the purveyors of realskiers once served in product management roles at Salomon, although our tenure was so long ago that the company we toiled for bears little relation to the Salomon organization of today. All that remains on our...
What do you do for an encore after elevating a tiny, exotic brand like touring ski maker Scotty Bob to cult status in the most niche-like niche in skiing? If you’re Dave Mazzerella, you cash out, pack up the Breckenridge kit and move lock-stock-and-barrel-stave...
Völkl didn’t actually invent the notion of quality control, but denizens of our little corner of the universe can be forgiven for thinking so. They have set the standard for base finish for so long, if someone gave a trophy for the best QC they’d have to name it the...
Blizzard’s fortunes began to turn around several years ago when the Tecnica Group acquired the brand and factory in Mittersill, Austria, and pumped a few million euros into an overhaul. It’s often the case in the world of industry that he who builds the last factory...
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...
