For the past couple days, I've had the tremendous pleasure of attending the ski industry on-snow demo days at Pico, here in Vermont. It's a fantastic time -- ski companies set up tents, and you get to go from one to the other to try out next year's equipment. Most of the people who attend work in ski shops, so they can determine what inventory to order for next year and get a feel for what's in the pipeline. The whole thing is like a party. There's a festive, street fair quality to it, and it's a lot of fun. I felt like a kid in a candy store.
Here's just some of the tents. I took this photo looking right, but there are easily as many tents, to my left.
As you can imagine, I skied a heck of a lot of skis.
Let me be upfront, though: I'm an awful ski reviewer. When I ski something, I know whether or not I liked it, and that's pretty much it. I don't analyze any of the usual stuff: torsion, tip, tail release, nothing. It's just thumbs up or thumbs down.Plus an event like this is, to put it mildly, simply overwhelming. There are SO MANY SKIS and so little time. If you want to try a lot, you don't get to spend a significant amount of time with anything. And that can make it very difficult to form a valid opinion. (It's sort of like speed dating with skis). To further complicate matters, I don't bother taking notes. It's just a pain in the neck that I don't want to deal with. SOOOO -- as best as I can, let me try to reconstruct some of the things I learned, and give you some (very) brief opinions of the skis I tried.
Oh, one more thing, before I continue: I'm an advanced skier, 5'1" and 112 lbs, who typically skis in New England conditions -- which means a lot of hard pack and ice. On Day 1, we had hard pack and ice. On Day 2, we had 4 inches of snow; it was exquisite.
Okay, on to the skis.....
Blizzard
I have -- and LOVE -- the Blizzard Sheeva 9. This is not being changed for next year. The Black Pearls, however, are getting some tweaks to make them fit in with the company's new Anomaly line. In the past, I really haven't been a BP fan, but I have to say, I ended up really liking next year's model. So perhaps it's a change for the better.
Volkl
No change for the Volkl Blaze for next year, with the exception of the 94 width. They're making it a bit burlier, but I really can't remember all the details the rep told me. He also said that the Yumi and Kenja are being subsumed into the Secret line. I skied the Secret and thought it was a lot of fun.
Nordica
Some of you may have heard that the Santa Ana line is being redesigned for next year. There are a number of construction changes "under the hood," so to speak, and they're giving them some tail rocker. This confuses me, because I had the 2018 Santa Ana 93 and thought it had plenty of tail rocker. Did they take it away in subsequent years? I don't know. In any event, next year's SA's will have tail rocker; they claim the ski will have a more "playful" feel. I'm a big Santa Ana fan, so I skied next year's SA 93. Yes, a great ski, but to be honest, I didn't find it any different than I did in the past -- which really isn't a bad thing. Could be the driver, instead of the equipment.
Stockli
I'd been dying to try to try the Nela 88 and yes, it did not disappoint. It's a wonderful ski. They've changed the graphics for next year, and really, it's a big improvement. I also got on the AW 80, which was a real hoot. Truly, I loved both of these skis, and if someone ever feels like giving me a pot full of money, I'll run out and buy myself a pair. In the meantime, though, Stockli is a bit out of my price range.
Here are other skis I tried and enjoyed:
Line Pandora
Head Total Joy
Fischer Ranger 90 W
Atomic Maven
Rossignol Experience
K2 Mindbender
Dynastar E-Cross
And here are a few I didn't care for:
Black Crow Camox Birdie
Salomon Stance
Kastle Obsidian
I'm sure you'll note that many, if not all, of these names look familiar. It seems to me that ski companies are more inclined to tweak the skis they already have, rather than adding new models. Oh, they may add additional widths and/or change the top sheet. And yes, there are some redesigns (more metal, less metal, and so on), but that's about it.
So there you go. My taste might not necessarily be the same as yours, and as they say, "your mileage may vary." Still, it's fun to get out there and find new skis to lust after.
Go forth and do likewise.
Here's just some of the tents. I took this photo looking right, but there are easily as many tents, to my left.
As you can imagine, I skied a heck of a lot of skis.
Let me be upfront, though: I'm an awful ski reviewer. When I ski something, I know whether or not I liked it, and that's pretty much it. I don't analyze any of the usual stuff: torsion, tip, tail release, nothing. It's just thumbs up or thumbs down.Plus an event like this is, to put it mildly, simply overwhelming. There are SO MANY SKIS and so little time. If you want to try a lot, you don't get to spend a significant amount of time with anything. And that can make it very difficult to form a valid opinion. (It's sort of like speed dating with skis). To further complicate matters, I don't bother taking notes. It's just a pain in the neck that I don't want to deal with. SOOOO -- as best as I can, let me try to reconstruct some of the things I learned, and give you some (very) brief opinions of the skis I tried.
Oh, one more thing, before I continue: I'm an advanced skier, 5'1" and 112 lbs, who typically skis in New England conditions -- which means a lot of hard pack and ice. On Day 1, we had hard pack and ice. On Day 2, we had 4 inches of snow; it was exquisite.
Okay, on to the skis.....
Blizzard
I have -- and LOVE -- the Blizzard Sheeva 9. This is not being changed for next year. The Black Pearls, however, are getting some tweaks to make them fit in with the company's new Anomaly line. In the past, I really haven't been a BP fan, but I have to say, I ended up really liking next year's model. So perhaps it's a change for the better.
Volkl
No change for the Volkl Blaze for next year, with the exception of the 94 width. They're making it a bit burlier, but I really can't remember all the details the rep told me. He also said that the Yumi and Kenja are being subsumed into the Secret line. I skied the Secret and thought it was a lot of fun.
Nordica
Some of you may have heard that the Santa Ana line is being redesigned for next year. There are a number of construction changes "under the hood," so to speak, and they're giving them some tail rocker. This confuses me, because I had the 2018 Santa Ana 93 and thought it had plenty of tail rocker. Did they take it away in subsequent years? I don't know. In any event, next year's SA's will have tail rocker; they claim the ski will have a more "playful" feel. I'm a big Santa Ana fan, so I skied next year's SA 93. Yes, a great ski, but to be honest, I didn't find it any different than I did in the past -- which really isn't a bad thing. Could be the driver, instead of the equipment.
Stockli
I'd been dying to try to try the Nela 88 and yes, it did not disappoint. It's a wonderful ski. They've changed the graphics for next year, and really, it's a big improvement. I also got on the AW 80, which was a real hoot. Truly, I loved both of these skis, and if someone ever feels like giving me a pot full of money, I'll run out and buy myself a pair. In the meantime, though, Stockli is a bit out of my price range.
Here are other skis I tried and enjoyed:
Line Pandora
Head Total Joy
Fischer Ranger 90 W
Atomic Maven
Rossignol Experience
K2 Mindbender
Dynastar E-Cross
And here are a few I didn't care for:
Black Crow Camox Birdie
Salomon Stance
Kastle Obsidian
I'm sure you'll note that many, if not all, of these names look familiar. It seems to me that ski companies are more inclined to tweak the skis they already have, rather than adding new models. Oh, they may add additional widths and/or change the top sheet. And yes, there are some redesigns (more metal, less metal, and so on), but that's about it.
So there you go. My taste might not necessarily be the same as yours, and as they say, "your mileage may vary." Still, it's fun to get out there and find new skis to lust after.
Go forth and do likewise.
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