DPS Wailer 99

A key task of an All-Mountain ski is dealing with challenging conditions. By that standard, DPS’s Wailer 99 is a big success, even a class leader. This is the ski you want to be riding on those days when the mountain seems committed to making you look bad. The Wailer is a tough snow specialist, employing experimental, non-traditional geometry (let’s call it “bent French Fry” tip and tail rocker) that makes the ski (more…)

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Dynastar Cham HM 97

Dynastar’s oddly-shaped Cham 97 returns unchanged for the 2013-2014 season, in both standard (metal) and High Mountain (Paulownia) editions. The High Mountain versions of the Cham line were initially sold as touring-oriented skis. However, following their debut season, Dynastar realized skiers were finding the metal-free HM models to be outstanding (more…)

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Kids: Get Help When You Need It

At some point in your quest to turn your kids into skiers, no matter how much you love to do everything yourself, chances are you’ll find yourself stuck or running out of steam or just fantasizing about going off on your own to make some adult-sized turns. In other words, you’ll reach the point, whether you realize it or not, where you need some help (more…)

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K2 Bolt

K2 makes an unexpected but welcome return to the Thrill-Ride category with the Bolt, flagship of their 2013-2014 Precision/Piste ski series. The Bolt is in many ways similar to Nordica’s Fire Arrow EDT: both skis employ design elements stolen directly from their superhuman world cup race stock relatives, blended with cutting-edge technological advances plus of course modern ski geometry—ie, rocker (more…)

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Nordica Fire Arrow EDT

The Fire Arrow tradition continues with Nordica’s flagship Fire Arrow 84 EDT EVO, an absolute screamer of a high-level carving ski. Compared to previous Fire Arrow models, the 2013-2014 EDT reduces sidecut, adds tip and arguably a bite of tail rocker, and delivers a ride that is unquestionably drawn directly from the race room. I think we have to consider the Fire Arrow EDT as basically a new species of ski (more…)

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Dynastar Chrome 78 Pro

Is the era of rockerless skis finally over? Dynastar’s tip-rockered 2013-2014 Chrome 78 Pro replaces one of the very last holdouts, the thrilling Speed Course Ti. Debuting for the 2013-2014 season, the Chrome Pro is part of a new all on-trail ski series designed to offer expert and even elite-level carving performance by updating Dynastar’s race-stock Speed-series skis with modern geometry (more…)

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Slide Peak Sunday

Okay, maybe it’s because I’ve got a season pass, but if you ask me, Snow Valley has by far the best vibe of any of the SoCal mountain resorts. It just feels like skiing here. Yes, the lifts are awful, but the value is great—especially if you bring your family. And on a day like today, with 14-18″ of fresh snow blanketing the hill, the mountain really shines. No shortage of fresh tracks were had on Slide Peak today (more…)

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SIA 2013: The New Skis

As usual it was a fast and furious few days at this year’s SIA Snow Show in Denver. I did manage to get on an exhausting personal-best 19 pairs of skis during the Winter Park on-snow demo—reviews pending. And I also got a sense of where the ski makers are headed for the upcoming 2013-2014 season. But first, the big question: should you buy a new pair of skis? (more…)

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Skiing: The Greatest Sport on Earth

Telluride, Colorado. It wasn’t supposed to snow Wednesday night, but it did—nine inches of perfectly light snow on top of nearly three feet of fresh snow that fell earlier this week. And then, in that incomparably magic way, the clouds parted at nine a.m., just as the lifts opened. Snow crystals sparkled in sunlight, floating lazily in impossibly still air. Mountain tops gleamed in coats of fresh white (more…)

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Lange XT 130

Lange officially enters the Alpine Touring market with the XT 130, a Freeride ski boot offering excellent downhill performance plus a first-ever Lange walk mode. Admittedly the XT 130 lies at the severe edge of the Touring category—it weights over nine pounds per pair, and its walk mode is limited—but there is still quite a thrill to be had putting your foot into an actual Lange ski boot and finding a walk mode switch (more…)

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