Introduction Ski Test 2010 by skipresse

SKIPRESS SKI TEST 2011

Photo: Benjamin Gagnon

MATCHMAKING Looking for the perfect partner? Let the SkiPress Ski Test take your love affair with the sport to a whole new level.

In the cyberworld we now live in, lonely hearts spend hours at online dating services searching for their perfect mates. They create personal profiles, the computer calculates the variables, and — voila! — partners come forward and dreamy matches are made. The annual SkiPress Ski Test aims to do something similar: help you find the perfect match from among the season’s dreamiest skis. A ski that performs well, looks good and suits your personal style. A ski that can become your on-snow partner. And the task today is more challenging than ever.

WRITTEN BY PETER OLIVER PRODUCED BY MAËVA GRAFIK

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SKIPRESS 1 1 0 2 T S E T I K S

As always, this year’s SkiPress Ski Test is the most comprehensive in the business. Here is the story by the numbers: a team of 70 testers spent three days at Mont-Sainte-Anne conducting a total of 1,299 evaluations of 154 ski models from 12 manufacturers. Mont-Sainte-Anne and the weather gave testers the opportunity to put every ski through a gruelling gauntlet of testing parameters. Great terrain variety within a relatively compact trail network, supported by a high-speed lift that allowed testers to remain on the move, provided an ideal test zone. Couple that with below-average temperatures for late March, keeping the snow fresh, and a snowstorm that rolled in off the St. Lawrence River during the test. The result? Testers had every snow surface imaginable to work with, from hardpack to immaculately groomed corduroy to face-shot powder. After three days of testing, what the team discovered was that the latest skis — even within the same category — are more different from one another than skis have ever been. Think of the multiple design elements now in play: length, width, sidecut, flex, camber, reverse camber (a.k.a. rocker), etc. What’s more, each of those elements has its own set of subtleties and permutations. That is why the SkiPress Ski Test can play such a critical role in selecting a ski. The purpose of the test is to provide you with the kind of on-snow data that can’t be found elsewhere and to help you find the ski that best matches who you are and where and how you ski. Don’t let peer pressure or even the rankings of the skis in the test misguide you. With all the different skis out there now, the ski that your best skiing buddy loves — or a ski that the majority of testers loved — might not be ideal for you. And when buying skis these days, it is more important than ever that you, the skier, make an honest and accurate assessment of yourself and your skiing. We’ve given you a boost by identifying a half-dozen skier types. But even within those categories, there can be many variations. Are you a big person or a little guy? Do you like to charge down the hill or do you prefer more light-footed finesse? Do you spend more time on hard snow or soft snow? What’s your preferred turn shape? These are among many important questions to ask yourself. Then, by reading the ski write-ups and checking the icons, you can narrow down the possibilities. Photos: Benjamin Gagnon

One generalization can be made: the overall quality of skis today is incredibly high. We can almost guarantee you that whatever ski you end up with, even if it isn’t the ideal choice for you, will produce a high level of performance. But we don’t want you to simply find a ski that is good; given the current quality of skis, that’s easy. As matchmakers, we want to you to find a ski you can love. And in doing so, give you a new stimulus — a new mate — to help take your love affair with the sport to exciting new heights.

Get ready to meet your match!

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WHAT TYPE OF SKIER ARE YOU? As we have already said, to pick the right ski for you, it is essential to determine what kind of skier you are and what kind of skiing you do. We’ve identified six skier types below, and we’ve colour-coded each ski to match its suitability for skier types. Don’t feel limited — if you feel that your skiing falls into more than one skier type, be sure to check out skis in more than one category.

Expert Skiers

Intermediate/Advanced Skiers

Race Carver

Mountain Technician

All-Mountain Freeskier

Weekend Warrior

Pleasure Pursuer

All-Mountain Explorer

Speed is in your blood. You’re usually first among your friends to get to the bottom of the mountain. You spend most of your time carving fast turns on groomed and hard snow. Feeling an edge slicing through clean, precise turns is what makes your day.

You like to ski with elegance and precision. Most of your time is spent on groomed, steep terrain, but not all — you like a ski with the soul of a carver that can still handle a variety of terrain, turn shapes and snow conditions. If you aren’t an instructor already, you ski like one.

You look at the mountain and think anything is possible. You might spend time on in-bounds trails, but what you really want is a ski that will also shine when you take it off-piste or when it’s a powder day.

You’re the athletic type who likes skiing hard and fast. You eat up groomed, blue terrain like bread and butter, although your technique on steeper terrain still needs work. You want a ski that will carve up the mountain, but not one so power-packed that it will carve you up with it.

For you, skiing is about cruising, not attacking the mountain. You’re laid-back in your skiing personality and style, swishing mostly down groomed runs at moderate speeds. You might occasionally venture into moguls or onto ungroomed terrain, but mostly you want a ski that will give you a luxurious ride on groomed trails.

Your skill set continues to grow, and with it your skiing ambitions grow as well. You want to go everywhere your skill level allows — groomed runs, moguls, trees, maybe even off-trail. You need a ski that can do a little bit of everything, not a specialist.

HOW TO READ THE WRITE-UPS Each write-up represents a summary of both the tester scores and their comments. The icons highlight the characteristics of each ski that are particularly noteworthy. Using the write-ups should be a two-part process: use the skier-type colour to narrow your selection to the skis best suited to you, then finetune the process by using the write-up and the icons. We’ve also dished out awards to deserving skis — Editor’s Choice awards to the standout ski for each company and Testers’ Choice awards to those that got raves from a high percentage of testers. But just because a ski earned an award doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best ski for you. Like the skier types and icons, use the awards as a guideline, not a decision-maker.

AWARDS ICONS › MODEL SKI NAME 125-78-110@177 cm | R 15.7 | $949 w/b

ICONS EXPLAINED

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STRONG AGGRESSIVE: Best for skiers who use muscle power to get the most out of every turn.

CROSSOVER: Like a wild card fits well in almost any poker hand, crossover skis have the versatility to fit a variety of skier types.

BEST FOR LIGHTER SKIER: Best for men under about 160 pounds or women under about 130 pounds.

GREAT TECHNOLOGICAL FEATURE: An outstanding and unique design component that pushes the ski-innovation envelope.

BEST FOR HEAVIER SKIER: Best for men over about 180 pounds or women over about 150 pounds.

GREAT BARGAIN: Not necessarily cheap, but a ski that offers great value for the money spent.

EASY TO TURN: Effortless and predictable when entering and exiting a turn.

LOOKS COOL: Testers were really wowed by the graphics.

PARK/PIPE: Not necessarily a park-and-pipe specialist, but a ski that can execute terrainpark tricks when called upon to do so.

WOMEN-SPECIFIC

125-78-110 › DIMENSIONS: The numbers show the width at the tip, the waist, and the tail. These numbers show the sidecut of the ski, usually more pronounced on carving skis and straighter on wider skis. @177 cm › TESTED LENGTH: The length of the ski we tested. R 15.7 › RADIUS (in metres): The arc or size of a turn. Long-radius turns are wide and deep, while short-radius turns are quick and shallow. $949 › PRICE: The suggested retail price of the ski. The price you will usually pay in stores is normally lower. w/b › Includes the binding when it’s part of the package. › SKIER TYPE: Indicates the skier type, or types, for which a ski makes the best match. › Tested by men or women. › THE WRITE-UP: A summary of the shared assessment of our team of testers in rating each ski for a variety of criteria.

THE SUMMARY CRITERIA If you need more detailed info to fine-tune your selection, go to the criteria page at the end of the test. You will find the scores for each tested ski in the individual criteria that can be critical in honing in on your choice of skis. A ski’s scores within certain criteria might be more important to you than its overall score. If, for example, you really want a ski that handles big turns at high speed, stability and long-turn performance are the criteria to prioritize. On the other hand, if you’re looking for an easy-going ski, forgiveness will be more important than highspeed stability.

STABILITY: A ski scores highly when it is consistently stable in all snow conditions, especially at higher speeds and longer turns. EASE OF INITIATION: A ski scores highly when it enters into a turn with effortless fluidity. EDGE GRIP: A ski scores highly when it grips well on firm snow or ice and grips consistently from tip to tail. FORGIVENESS: A forgiving ski has a big “sweet spot” to allow for a wide margin of error and demands little precision to react well. ENERGY: An energetic ski is lively and transfers abundant energy from the end of a turn to the beginning of the next. SHORT-RADIUS PERFORMANCE: Is the ski sluggish or snappy in the transition from one tight turn to the next? LONG-RADIUS PERFORMANCE: A ski that performs well at long-radius turns remains quiet, stable, comfortable and predictable through the full arc of each turn, especially at higher speeds. VERSATILITY: A versatile ski might perform better in some conditions than others, but it is at least competent in dealing with a broad range of challenges.

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