There are about 1,000 different skis out there, from more than 25 manufacturers. They're just waiting to confuse you. You could easily leave a bald spot on your head from all of that scratching.
What skis should I buy? What skis are the best for me? How much will I spend? Demo-ing is your best bet, but you won't necessarily find your dream ski in just a handful of days in which to test a particular product.
OnTheSnow has made your research a whole lot easier with our Ski Reviews Guide. You'll be able to narrow the playing field to find the optimum ski for you by reading our reviews, statistics on the skis, and using our simple-to-use ski selector.
Learn more about our ski testing.
We assembled a crack team of PSIA ski professionals to head to Snowbasin Resort in Utah for the Western Winter Sales Reps Association Dealer Demo. This is where every retailer in the Intermountain West gets a chance to see what's coming on line for the upcoming ski season.
Important: OnTheSnow testing was not paid for by the manufacturers, so there was no commercial bias on the part of our testers. But, we do owe a great big thanks to Snowbasin for hosting us and to Locals Have More Fun for creating our team morale with one-of-a-kind organic, recycled cotton hoodies sporting the OnTheSnow.com logo.
Our team objectively judged high performance skis in four categories Over a three-day period: all-mountain, carving, mid-fats, and women's skis. Our judging was based on a number of factors. You can read our online blogs from each of those testing days to vicariously join us. Just go to Day One, Day Two and Day Three..
Each tester demo-ed up to a dozen high-performance and intermediate skis a day, scoring them on their handling in the conditions for which they were designed. They ranked the various qualities of the skis on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest possible score.
Stability, ease of turning, edge grip, versatility, and looks were all judged. We subsequently divided the skis into the following categories and judged them among their peers as skis are made to address a variety of skier types: Carvers, Women's, All-Mountain and Freeride (with waists above 94mm). We sought to determine who would enjoy what ski. The scores were tallied and averaged after the testing, to reveal our ratings for the alpine skis of 2010.
We know our OnTheSnow Ski Reviews Guide will help you narrow the field and get you started in your search for next season's ultimate ski.
- Jill Adler, Director, 2010 OnTheSnow Ski Testing Program
The 2010 OnTheSnow Ski Testing Program was directed by Jill Adler. She is an associate editor of OnTheSnow.com and a PSIA-certified ski instructor.
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