SnoNews

OK, 2011/12 hasn’t been the greatest season on record—some say the worst. Nevertheless, there has been some reasonable skiing, even in the climate-challenged Northeast. Equipment sales, however, have been down.

My last column, Boots 101, surveys boot fitting, including defining characteristics of an effective boot fit process to help identify true boot pros, but space did not allow discussion of one of the most important and least considered performance requirements.

Skis are hands down the topic of greatest interest at realskiers.com. Most of our subscribers come to us with some variation of, "What skis do you recommend?" Our all-but-automatic response is, "Tell us about your boots."

Last time we surveyed headlines from the top seven market leading ski brands; here is our initial take on the remaining six of the "Big Bakers Dozen." Click here for Part One.

K2 proclaimed 2011 the "Year of the Rocker." It turns out they were two years early. 2013 ski collections consist primarily of rockers and early rise skis. 

In the space of a week during the 1997-98 holiday period, Sonny Bono and Michael Kennedy both died of massive brain trauma sustained in collisions while skiing. Neither was wearing a helmet.

The Silver Lining of this so far disappointing snow year is that we expect extraordinarily attractive post-president’s weekend sales - at least that's what our Crystal Ball is telling us! 

Most of the ski industry is using the term "rocker" to describe anything that deviates from traditional camber. A myriad of proprietary labels are out there to confuse you.

If for some reason there's a skier on your list whom you just don't like, by all means surprise him or her with a new pair of skis, boots, or bindings. You'll almost surely elicit the intended negative reaction.