Back when shaped skis were emerging as a powerful, but not yet all-conquering force in ski design, I was invited by Fischer to visit their factory and essay some new skis on the Sölden glacier. My residual impressions of that trip have faded over the intervening...
Maybe it’s because the Tahoe resorts were recently so choked with snow it was a battle royal just to open a single lift, but my thoughts have been preoccupied with Powder skis, those monsters of the deep that measure more than 113mm underfoot. Once skis get this wide,...
Everybody loves to demo new skis. When most skiers try out a new model, they just go skiing and see if they like it. They may lack the vocabulary to describe precisely what they prefer and what they loathe, but they can easily distinguish between being happy and being...
When I was cutting my teeth in the ski trade in the late ‘70’s, the market was built like a classic pyramid: the broad base was composed of a large population of entry-level skis, sold mostly in packages; the next level of intermediate/advanced products didn’t add up...
The ski trade is on such a wacky sell-in cycle that our regional ski rep association wrapped up their first trade show of 2017 yesterday, displaying 2017/18 product just as the current year has crested the holiday season and settled into the heart of winter. The...
