Published August 25, 2008
On the cover: illustration KISKA
CONTENTS
BUYER'S GUIDE 2009 VOL. 37 NO. 1
CONTENTS pages image: Colin Puskas at Sunshine Village; Photographed by Dave Mossop
SKI CANADA TEST 2009
PART 1: EXPERT ALL-MOUNTAIN AND ADVENTURE ALL-MOUNTAIN
Big White played host to our team of more than 40 testers
for our 27th annual on-slope ski test.
Written by Steven Threndyle
FEATURE ARTICLES
REGULARS
BUYER’S GUIDE 2009
by Martin Olson, technical editor
SKIS 2009
SKIS FOR THIS SEASON ARE TEMPTING BUYERS WITH THE USUAL ARRAY OF UPGRADES,
new concepts, tweaking and eye candy for many models. Skis are continuing to expand
slightly in the waistline, and big twins are big with consumers. Use this guide and the
Ski Canada Test results to help you fi nd your perfect ride.
You’ll notice something different in our annual review of all things ski. We paused
for a moment and considered the plight of the keen skier for whom this Buyer’s Guide
is prepared. In the age of information, all manufacturers have thorough websites with
details and hype to spare on dozens of skis and boots and many combo possibilities.
We don’t lack information—we’re drowning in it!
So we decided to offer a filter of sorts to help consumers narrow their focus and direct their energy to help find the right gear this winter. Skis are therefore divided into broad categories similar to the Ski Canada Test so that test results can be integrated into the search. The categories are broad enough that there’s often considerable overlap. Product news and highlights are included in each section, along with representative images of skis. We want this Buyer’s Guide
to be informative, educational—and an interesting read. You may notice there are fewer words than in the past but that's intentional. We want to leave you with more time for skiing.
ALPINE SKI BOOTS 2009
It's easy to point to the small industry of after-market bootfitting
equipment, businesses and training courses as evidence of the
shortcomings of modern boot design. But before one is too critical
of the status quo, it’s also worth considering the challenge.
Attaching the soft, mobile human foot to skis in an effective way
is no small task. The wide range in foot shapes and sizes is just the
beginning of the challenge. On top of that, custom injection
moulding is an expensive process and the worldwide market for ski boots is relatively small
(less than five million annually).
So, where are we now?
>> Women-specifi c shells are everywhere. They typically have narrower heels and flared cuffs
to accommodate familiar female feet. As well, they often come with or will accept a heating system.
>> Most boots now feature some sort of heat-mouldable liner that increases the chance of a
snug fit and warmth, too. Part of the secret to warm feet is avoiding pressure points.
>>Most recreational models are easier to doff and don than in the past.
>>The addition of some sort of tread on many models makes walking a little safer and easier.
>>Sport-specific boots such as backcountry and freeride are becoming more common.
>> Ski shop personnel are better trained.
What kind of skier are you?
All-Mountain
A “do-it-all” ski is what most
of us want. This is the perfect
place to look if you ski where
conditions vary considerably.
In this group one fi nds skis
for intermediates but also for
hardcore rippers who enjoy the
off-piste as much as a nice,
firm groomer.
Big-Mountain
Big boards for big snow
and big slopes. These are
special designs that give up
a bit of versatility for supreme
performance in off-piste
conditions. Many of the new
rocker shapes and truly wide
snow-planes are found on these
pages.
Frontside
Dedicated skis for groomed
conditions are available for
everyone from the aspiring
novice to the carve-aholic. If a
lot of your snow is man-made,
you’ll like this category. At the
top end of the family one fi nds
the detuned race skis that also
belong in the high-performance
category.
High-Performance
We mean high performance
on groomed terrain. That’s
because we think the race skis
and uncompromising carvers
are so good they deserve their
own space. At the Snowsports
Industry Association 2006 trade
show in Las Vegas, carving
was declared dead. Look at
any groomed pitch and the
tracks confi rm that rumours
of carving’s death have been
greatly exaggerated. For good
skiers, there is no thrill like
it—and the tools are all here.
Park & Pipe/Twintips
Twintips are more complex than
they appear. Born of the park
where plenty of specialization
still exists, many twintips today
are fun all over the mountain.
WHAT KIND OF SKIER ARE YOU?
Finding the right ski is as simple as
knowing what kind of a skier you are,
where you ski and where you would like
to ski. In other words, where are you
taking your skiing and where is your
skiing taking you?
ASPIRING skiers are those who are at
the beginning of the learning process.
They snowplow often, usually ski quite
slowly, and are still gaining experience
with snow texture and choosing a line
down the slope. Aspiring skiers prefer
green slopes and may do rudimentary
parallel turns in ideal conditions.
INTERMEDIATE skiers are well on
their way to skiing the whole mountain.
They have overcome most fears of speed
and can turn at will on Green and Blue
slopes. Intermediates usually ski parallel
except when their confi dence is shaken.
Intermediates enjoy skis that have good
stability, a big sweet spot and versatility
to allow room to improve. Specialized
skis such as slalom and high-performance
carvers are usually not a good choice.
ADVANCED skiers travel faster and
can carve on groomed conditions. They
have the confi dence to ski almost any
pitch, including off-piste slopes. Their
repertoire of ski experience is well
developed to include all snow and slope
conditions. They can adjust technique to
suit prevailing conditions, although they
don’t always do it with style. Advanced
skiers can enjoy good slalom and carving
skis and have fun off-piste.
EXPERT skiers have well-refined
technical skills such as pressure control,
enabling them to maximize carving
and effi ciency. They perform with ease
in diffi cult conditions. They can sense
differences in ski and snow behaviour
and modify technique on the fly.
BOOTS 2009
The evolutionary path of ski boot design continues to
search for the Holy Grail of comfort and performance
for any foot.
SKI LISTINGS and BOOT LISTINGS
FEATURES
COUNTDOWN TO 2010
Ski Canada's new page on the road to the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver/Whistler BC. This feature will appear in all issues leading to the start of the games in February 2010.
SKI SCHOOL II
In our age of entitlement
and instant gratifi cation,
has teaching a diffi cult sport
become a contradiction in
terms?
By George Koch
TRIAL RUN
Sun Peaks was the ideal
training ground for Ian
Merringer to sample life as a
family man.
TWIST AND SHOUT
Serious knee injuries are
now endemic to our sport,
sidelining anyone from
beginner to World Cup racer.
By Monica Andreeff
REGULARS
FIRST TRACKS
The editor has his run.'Knee Canada'
By Iain MacMillan
YOUR RUN
Opening our mail bag.
SHORT TURNS
*Freestyle*Dash for Cash*Poll results*The Changing Face of Rentals*Banff Centre*Knight Rider Racks*Powder airways*Ski Canada Awards*No Limits-The amazing story of Rhona and Rhoda Wurtele*Canadian Ski Museum inductees*2010 Countdown
SEEN @ WHISTLER
Better Homes & Containers.
By Chris Lennon
CROSSHAIRS
A skiers’ gallery.
RACELINE
Forsyth says farewell.
By James Christie
TECH TALK
Is wood good?
By Martin Olson
CAUGHT & SHOT
By John Evely in Big White. 'The hot tub party was a lost cause .. until Super Peter showed up with the olives.'
Is Wood Good?
Lots of queries from readers about
equipment drift into my office
every year, and sometimes they
require more explanation than space will
allow on our Letters page. One in particular,
from Jeff Mousseau in Ajax, Ontario,
concerned an issue about wood-core skis that
he and his friends disagreed on. Jeff believed
that wood-core skis were outdated
technology and that carbon fibre, titanium
and other compounds add torsional stability
and thus make the best skis. His friends cited
that Benjamin Raich’s father gave Atomic a
tree to make wood-core skis for the Austrian
racer, thus making wood just as good as
elements and compounds in providing flex
memory, reflex and stability. So Jeff asks: Is
this merely a preference or is there any
evidence pointing one way or another?
Interesting question. As far as I can tell,
the short answer is not very conclusive,
with a mixture of the realities of economics
and personal preferences. Wood cores are
still used in many of the best skis, but it’s
possible to produce fantastic skis using
only modern resins and materials such as
superfibres and metals. It seems that the
best of the best use both.
Wood-core skis went out of favour in the
first few years of modern material use when a
number of brands experimented with hollow
skis and emerging materials such as foams
to make the cores. The stresses were carried
by the surrounding structures, and the core
served as a filler that prevented failure by
keeping top and bottom from buckling under
compression. I remember a K2 engineer in
the ’70s stating that the core could be made
of paper as long as it was dense enough to
resist compression. Apparently there’s more
to it than that.
A good core also provides damping for
unwanted vibration, screw retention, and a
combination of spring and torsional stiffness.
It seems that nature’s building material
is very hard to beat in that regard. It’s no
surprise that the original Bell helicopter,
which was in production for decades, had
blades made of wood because wood also has
infinite fatigue life. Modern wood cores are
usually composites themselves, not one piece
of milled wood. By laminating and combining
species, the exceptional qualities of wood
can be exploited and tailored without the
downside of warping and distortion or other
inconsistent properties possible with wood.
So wood is good but a fairly expensive way
to make a core compared to, say, injecting
foam. Curing the wood before it’s used to
make a core is usually a multi-year process.
Interestingly, the ski core seems to influence
the “feel” of a ski, something that’s hard to
define. It also may affect such things as the
sound the ski makes on hard snow, and skiers
develop preferences. Head makes almost all
skis with wood and they are well known as
stable, friendly skis that perform perfectly for
years. Fischer has gone the high-tech route
and developed what is probably the most
extensive line of exotic materials composite
cores in the business. They have a unique
feel, but ski test results confirm that Fischer
cores produce great skis. In other cases
reality defines the materials, so special-use
skis such as park skis that are subject to high
impact are often built around a maple core
for durability. (Maple is the wood found in
bowling alleys, chopping blocks and wooden
mallets.)
It would be hard to find a ski used on
the World Cup circuit that doesn’t have a
wood core. Benjamin Raich supplied wood
from his father’s farm for his skis, but that
was probably a psychological move, not a
preference for wood.
I may have taken the long way around
here to reply “it depends,” but if you have
any concerns about a ski that has a wood
core, worry not. Wood cores now are almost
always synonymous with top quality.
Links to this issue
Previous Issues
Additional content posted soon.
NEW! Subscribers only password protected content with detailed numeric test data. Go to
SUBSCRIBE ON LINE
and click on 'Subscriber only features' in the menu bar to get your username and password.
Then go to the
Gear pages to access the subscriber only content.
Published August 25, 2008
On the cover: illustration KISKA
CONTENTS
BUYER'S GUIDE 2009 VOL. 37 NO. 1
CONTENTS pages image: Colin Puskas at Sunshine Village; Photographed by Dave Mossop
SKI CANADA TEST 2009
PART 1: EXPERT ALL-MOUNTAIN AND ADVENTURE ALL-MOUNTAIN
Big White played host to our team of more than 40 testers
for our 27th annual on-slope ski test.
Written by Steven Threndyle
BUYER’S GUIDE 2009
by Martin Olson, technical editor
SKIS 2009
SKIS FOR THIS SEASON ARE TEMPTING BUYERS WITH THE USUAL ARRAY OF UPGRADES,
new concepts, tweaking and eye candy for many models. Skis are continuing to expand
slightly in the waistline, and big twins are big with consumers. Use this guide and the
Ski Canada Test results to help you fi nd your perfect ride.
You’ll notice something different in our annual review of all things ski. We paused
for a moment and considered the plight of the keen skier for whom this Buyer’s Guide
is prepared. In the age of information, all manufacturers have thorough websites with
details and hype to spare on dozens of skis and boots and many combo possibilities.
We don’t lack information—we’re drowning in it!
So we decided to offer a filter of sorts to help consumers narrow their focus and direct their energy to help find the right gear this winter. Skis are therefore divided into broad categories similar to the Ski Canada Test so that test results can be integrated into the search. The categories are broad enough that there’s often considerable overlap. Product news and highlights are included in each section, along with representative images of skis. We want this Buyer’s Guide
to be informative, educational—and an interesting read. You may notice there are fewer words than in the past but that's intentional. We want to leave you with more time for skiing.
All-Mountain
A “do-it-all” ski is what most
of us want. This is the perfect
place to look if you ski where
conditions vary considerably.
In this group one fi nds skis
for intermediates but also for
hardcore rippers who enjoy the
off-piste as much as a nice,
firm groomer.
Big-Mountain
Big boards for big snow
and big slopes. These are
special designs that give up
a bit of versatility for supreme
performance in off-piste
conditions. Many of the new
rocker shapes and truly wide
snow-planes are found on these
pages.
Frontside
Dedicated skis for groomed
conditions are available for
everyone from the aspiring
novice to the carve-aholic. If a
lot of your snow is man-made,
you’ll like this category. At the
top end of the family one fi nds
the detuned race skis that also
belong in the high-performance
category.
High-Performance
We mean high performance
on groomed terrain. That’s
because we think the race skis
and uncompromising carvers
are so good they deserve their
own space. At the Snowsports
Industry Association 2006 trade
show in Las Vegas, carving
was declared dead. Look at
any groomed pitch and the
tracks confi rm that rumours
of carving’s death have been
greatly exaggerated. For good
skiers, there is no thrill like
it—and the tools are all here.
Park & Pipe/Twintips
Twintips are more complex than
they appear. Born of the park
where plenty of specialization
still exists, many twintips today
are fun all over the mountain.
BOOTS 2009
The evolutionary path of ski boot design continues to
search for the Holy Grail of comfort and performance
for any foot.
SKI LISTINGS and BOOT LISTINGS
FEATURES
SKI SCHOOL II
In our age of entitlement
and instant gratifi cation,
has teaching a diffi cult sport
become a contradiction in
terms?
By George Koch
TRIAL RUN
Sun Peaks was the ideal
training ground for Ian
Merringer to sample life as a
family man.
TWIST AND SHOUT
Serious knee injuries are
now endemic to our sport,
sidelining anyone from
beginner to World Cup racer.
By Monica Andreeff
REGULARS
FIRST TRACKS
The editor has his run.'Knee Canada'
By Iain MacMillan
YOUR RUN
Opening our mail bag.
SHORT TURNS
News, gossip and racy photos.
SEEN @ WHISTLER
Better Homes & Containers.
By Chris Lennon
CROSSHAIRS
A skiers’ gallery.
RACELINE
Forsyth says farewell.
By James Christie
TECH TALK
Is wood good?
By Martin Olson
CAUGHT & SHOT
By John Evely in Big White
Links to this issue
Previous Issues
Additional content posted soon.
NEW! Subscribers only password protected content with detailed numeric test data. Go to
SUBSCRIBE ON LINE
and click on 'Subscriber only features' in the menu bar to get your username and password.
Then go to the
Gear pages to access the subscriber only content.
Published August 25, 2008
On the cover: illustration KISKA
CONTENTS
BUYER'S GUIDE 2009 VOL. 37 NO. 1
CONTENTS pages image: Colin Puskas at Sunshine Village; Photographed by Dave Mossop
SKI CANADA TEST 2009
PART 1: EXPERT ALL-MOUNTAIN AND ADVENTURE ALL-MOUNTAIN
Big White played host to our team of more than 40 testers
for our 27th annual on-slope ski test.
Written by Steven Threndyle
BUYER’S GUIDE 2009
by Martin Olson, technical editor
SKIS 2009
SKIS FOR THIS SEASON ARE TEMPTING BUYERS WITH THE USUAL ARRAY OF UPGRADES,
new concepts, tweaking and eye candy for many models. Skis are continuing to expand
slightly in the waistline, and big twins are big with consumers. Use this guide and the
Ski Canada Test results to help you fi nd your perfect ride.
You’ll notice something different in our annual review of all things ski. We paused
for a moment and considered the plight of the keen skier for whom this Buyer’s Guide
is prepared. In the age of information, all manufacturers have thorough websites with
details and hype to spare on dozens of skis and boots and many combo possibilities.
We don’t lack information—we’re drowning in it!
So we decided to offer a filter of sorts to help consumers narrow their focus and direct their energy to help find the right gear this winter. Skis are therefore divided into broad categories similar to the Ski Canada Test so that test results can be integrated into the search. The categories are broad enough that there’s often considerable overlap. Product news and highlights are included in each section, along with representative images of skis. We want this Buyer’s Guide
to be informative, educational—and an interesting read. You may notice there are fewer words than in the past but that's intentional. We want to leave you with more time for skiing.
All-Mountain
A “do-it-all” ski is what most
of us want. This is the perfect
place to look if you ski where
conditions vary considerably.
In this group one fi nds skis
for intermediates but also for
hardcore rippers who enjoy the
off-piste as much as a nice,
firm groomer.
Big-Mountain
Big boards for big snow
and big slopes. These are
special designs that give up
a bit of versatility for supreme
performance in off-piste
conditions. Many of the new
rocker shapes and truly wide
snow-planes are found on these
pages.
Frontside
Dedicated skis for groomed
conditions are available for
everyone from the aspiring
novice to the carve-aholic. If a
lot of your snow is man-made,
you’ll like this category. At the
top end of the family one fi nds
the detuned race skis that also
belong in the high-performance
category.
High-Performance
We mean high performance
on groomed terrain. That’s
because we think the race skis
and uncompromising carvers
are so good they deserve their
own space. At the Snowsports
Industry Association 2006 trade
show in Las Vegas, carving
was declared dead. Look at
any groomed pitch and the
tracks confi rm that rumours
of carving’s death have been
greatly exaggerated. For good
skiers, there is no thrill like
it—and the tools are all here.
Park & Pipe/Twintips
Twintips are more complex than
they appear. Born of the park
where plenty of specialization
still exists, many twintips today
are fun all over the mountain.
BOOTS 2009
The evolutionary path of ski boot design continues to
search for the Holy Grail of comfort and performance
for any foot.
SKI LISTINGS and BOOT LISTINGS
FEATURES
SKI SCHOOL II
In our age of entitlement
and instant gratifi cation,
has teaching a diffi cult sport
become a contradiction in
terms?
By George Koch
TRIAL RUN
Sun Peaks was the ideal
training ground for Ian
Merringer to sample life as a
family man.
TWIST AND SHOUT
Serious knee injuries are
now endemic to our sport,
sidelining anyone from
beginner to World Cup racer.
By Monica Andreeff
REGULARS
FIRST TRACKS
The editor has his run.'Knee Canada'
By Iain MacMillan
YOUR RUN
Opening our mail bag.
SHORT TURNS
News, gossip and racy photos.
SEEN @ WHISTLER
Better Homes & Containers.
By Chris Lennon
CROSSHAIRS
A skiers’ gallery.
RACELINE
Forsyth says farewell.
By James Christie
TECH TALK
Is wood good?
By Martin Olson
CAUGHT & SHOT
By John Evely in Big White
Links to this issue
Previous Issues
Additional content posted soon.
NEW! Subscribers only password protected content with detailed numeric test data. Go to
SUBSCRIBE ON LINE
and click on 'Subscriber only features' in the menu bar to get your username and password.
Then go to the
Gear pages to access the subscriber only content.
