Winter Sports

» SkiBumming - Too true

I think the plight of ski equipment reviews has become a little more irrelevant nowadays due to the fact that manufacturers rarely make a bad ski. It is a competitive market now, with lots of small start ups all trying to sell skis along with the more traditional brands so products have to be "good". That is a smaller problem compared to the fact that generally good skis are still badly sold in terms of general ski characteristics .

Marketing is selling more skis than can be said of the merits of the skis. Ski test methodology is usually generalised from the big magazines and the correlation between advertisers and good or favourable reviews can be seen all too often.

It is not only ski reviews which I myself look upon with scepticism. A browse through the glossy brochure of Snow and Rock in the UK is enough to harness the idea that somehow, money maybe talking. The big 4 are ever present, with a guest spot of a more obscure brand popping up in each category of ski enough to show that it is for commercial gain, not the placing of punters on the best skis, which is of paramount.

Trying the skis out, which is something that all shops should allow you to do if purchasing in resort (which I believe is all ways the best method) has to be the first and foremost prerequisite for purchasing skis. That said, an informed choice of what skis to demo helps, and it is always best to steer away from the glossy magazines or brochures. You can get it for free from the below sites, or subscribe to a service which offers the same thing perhaps devoid of ads.

Free:
http://www.epicski.com (forum style discussion)
http://www.ski-review.com (catalogue with user submitted reviews)

Paid:
http://www.techsupportforskiers.com (ad free but adds $20 per year to your ski price)

-- posted by SkiBumming

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» mitchkaplan1 - Too true

In response to Too true posted by SkiBumming:

absolutely no argument here. thanks.

-- posted by mitchkaplan1

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