Now is the time. Not to go skiing, but to prepare for frolics to come. Most skiers wait until the last possible moment to rediscover that the boots that caused so much distress last season are still lurking in the back of the hall closet. No time like the present to pull them out, slap them on and wonder, “Is this the best I can do?”
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People are weird. Everyone thinks that he or she is superb at something, even if that something should happen to be monumentally trivial.
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The defining trait of an “all-mountain” ski is versatility, a talent for adapting to any condition from brittle hardpack to tracked-up trees to fluffy freshies. The ideal all-terrain ski is ready for whatever is on the mountain’s menu that morning.
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There’s a folk tale about a native Vermonter that begins with a lost tourist asking for directions and ends with the native's curt advice: You cain’t git they-ah from he-ah. Lessons like this one can only be found at RealSkiers.com.
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Among the many ways to define the boundary between good skiers and true masters is that the former tend to be obsessed with technique (the better to breach said boundary), while the latter rarely, if ever, think about it. We think about it often here at RealSkiers.com.
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No question about it, alpine skis are pricey. Middle-of-the-line models run for over $500, top-shelf all-mountain skis routinely check out for around $700 or more, unmounted, and some exotics seem to reach second mortgage territory. One has every right to wonder, what am I paying for?
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The first week of spring seems a propitious moment to look back on the lessons we learned from our stewardship of realskiers.com over the past season. 2014 was a watershed year for realskiers, as the editor’s pen was passed from founder Peter Keelty to me.
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Recent commentaries I’ve posted in the Member Section of realskiers or in comments here at SnoCountry.com have looked beyond the near horizon at next year’s collection of new skis.
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In today’s market, we define the skis we use by the terrain for which they’re best suited. For example, narrower, Frontside models are adapted for hard snow at high speed. Wider All-Mountain skis are presumed equally adept at groomed and off-piste conditions; it’s their terrain versatility that makes them the current market darlings.
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The process of evaluating next season’s crop of new models begins in earnest this month, inspiring this rumination.
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Like many in our small but loveable trade, I’ve just returned from three cathartic days of demo-ing a passel of next year’s skis, in my case at Mammoth Mountain. Despite a thus far dreadful winter, the hill could not have been in better shape for our purposes. Spirits were high and the vibe was joyous.
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Eventually, all skiers learn the importance of getting their boots properly fit. It may take more than a season in rental boots, hand-me-downs or Craig’s List re-treads, but in time, even the most plodding intermediates figure out that maybe it’s their boots that are holding back development and impinging on their enjoyment of the sport.
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There’s never been a better time to own a race slalom ski. Seriously.
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In 1985, there were 727 lift-served ski areas in the U.S. Today that number is 427, a decrease of 40 percent.
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If you’re in the market for new skis, you’ll discover a wild diversity in prices. Skis that sell with bindings for $399 are arrayed alongside models with sticker prices well above $1,000, bindings not included. What does the $1,000 ski have that the $399 model doesn’t, other than the hope of fishing a minimum of 600 more dollars out of your income stream?
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America has fallen in love with the idea of backcountry skiing. Along with this activity comes an ethos, a strict, codified behavior guide with a global aim of bringing all participants back alive.
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Skiing is expensive. Just affording the requisite underwear requires a second mortgage, never mind all the other clothing layers, equipment, travel, lodging and such niceties as food. Every expense seems to beget another: boots need custom insoles, skis need bindings, goggles go with helmets and you need bags of every description just to haul it all around.
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At realskiers.com, we emphasize the connection between technique and equipment, as the two elements are inextricably intertwined. Skiers who learn to tip and pressure a ski can apply this skill set to all sorts of terrain, opening up their gear selection options.
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The ski junkies who frequent realskiers.com devote a good deal of time and effort to finding just the right model for how they like to ski. They approach the decision with the utmost gravity, as if choosing a mate for life.
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I recently attended two days of seminars on advanced boot fitting techniques under the aegis of Masterfit University. The folks who run this worldwide roadshow also orchestrate the annual ski boot test whose results appear on the pages of realskiers.com.
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