On the cover: Phil Meier at Verbier, Switzerland. Photo: DAMIAN CROMWELL

BUYER'S GUIDE 2010 VOL. 38 NO. 1

CONTENTS

page image: Photo: GRANT GUNDERSON

BUYER'S GUIDE 2010 by Marty McLennan, technical editor

There was once a time when going to the mountains meant simply
that, going to the mountains. Today, the experience has been reinvented.
And human fingerprints are everywhere. Heading to the hills connotes everything from
corduroy grooming to electronically gated off-piste to all-day tunage from the terrainpark
sound system. A skier’s lexicon now includes terms like rails, features, sidecountry,
jibs, pow and big mountain (even in the smaller ones!), but it will always include ice,
ruts, gates and hot chocolate. Skiing’s always expanding dictionary suggests just about
anything you want it to be. You can make up actions and inevitably somebody will say
they’ve done that, too. Skiing in short, whatever you make it.

Empowered to ski beyond the boundaries of what was once thought possible, today’s
skiers are backed by a nearly limitless quiver of technologies. These same technologies
have been behind some of modernity’s most important achievements, like finding the
human genome, building a space station, and creating a delicious and nutritious gel that can
replace the four food groups three times a day seven days a week.

Technology plus personality mean choice and this year’s options are limitless. Consequently,
your gear-buying decision becomes more of an existential matter. When faced with this season’s
choices, today’s consumers need to turn inside to make their decisions. So the question isn’t:
What should I buy? Rather it’s: Who am I on the slopes? Or who do I want to be? The answers are
there, blazed in colourful signature designs— and sandwiched onto laminate cores. You just
have to ask yourself the right questions.

THE BREAKDOWN

◊ Nobody likes to be pigeonholed, shrinkwrapped and sorted on the rack. But as
with the constantly evolving language of the ski industry, some categorization is necessary to
help you find your way. Below we map out the personalities, and on the following pages we
examine each of these in detail and their products. We suggest a five-part selfexamination
that goes something like this:

1. Look at yourself in the mirror.
2. Take a deep breath and close your eyes.
3. Visualize yourself on the mountain of your dreams.
4. Read the categories below and find where you best fit in.
5. Then turn the pages to find out which gear is right for you.

SKIIS 2010

Technology plus personality mean choice and this year’s options are limitless..

* All-Mountain You fall somewhere between specialist and straitjacket.
On a perfect weekend, you breakfast on a little powder
Saturday morning, eat chopped crud in the afternoon
and rip groomers all day Sunday. You want stability and
grip on-piste, yet softer flex for flotation and absorption.
You regularly ski and indeed like crud, bumps, fluff and
ice—you’ll even take your knocks at the park. You could
as easily order a diet-octogenarian-organic-tofu-wasabishake-
hold-the-ice as a juicy T-bone. You want it all. You
want it now. And hell or high water, you’ll get it.

* Women and Skis

* Big-Mountain You sleep with the weather station on, dreaming of big,
BIG snows. You eat acorns, shave every fortnight and hug
trees—not necessarily on purpose—from time to time.
If there was a human Abominable Snowman, it might be
you. You think big, but you really want bigger and biggest.
And that goes with wide, too. You love Janis, but don’t
believe freedom means nothing left to lose. It’s everything
to gain. It’s big air, big pow, big, fast turns, rocker, kicker
and jibs out of the park. It’s beautiful. And it’s you.

* Frontside You gape at skiers ducking the off-piste ropes and
ask: Why go elsewhere when you’ve got it all here?
The frontside, with all its lifts, groomed trails and
conveniences, is your domain. You’re motivated by
words like carve, slalom, even moguls. Soft and fresh
is the ultimate, as long as it’s not too much or heavy.
You know your fetish for corduroy clothing is a Freudian
sublimation—and you don’t care. It’s sublime. You get
goose bumps just thinking of corduroy underwear.

* High-Performance Instead of buying a set of 20 Ginsu knives for 20 bucks,
you bought a single Henckels at six times the price.
And with it, you can carve an apple from its core in one
slice. You sharpen it daily. On slope, you live for the
groomers, the hardpack, the perfect turn. So much so,
you once considered putting Crazy Glue on your boards
for improved contact with the snow. You’re always on
edge (of the skis, that is). Good vibrations to you mean
no vibrations. You want smooth. You want precision. You
want control. These give you confi dence and the ability to
turn on a dime. Love it or leave it, you’re a speed freak.
And let’s face it, you look damn good skiing below the
chairlift and you love every minute of it.

* Park, Pipe & Beyond You defy description, but you love those three “S” words:
symmetry, switch and stick. Bad means good. Sick means
fi ne. Your brain operates just as well upside down. You’ll
take the punishment of landing with a steel bar between
your legs—just because. Skiing forwards is like skiing
backwards, only you’d rather be in the air. The more gnarly
the terrain, the more risky the trick, the more you step up
to the plate. When you fall, you get back up, shake off the
snow, admire your skis (a few samples below), adjust your
armour, shrug off the pain and rise to the challenge.

BOOTS & BINDINGS 2010

Take a look at the best of what’s new in skier footwear to
make this your most satisfying season on the slopes.

SKI LISTINGS

Complete specifications and suggested retail pricing for every model skis and boots sold in Canada. Online posting soon.

Tech Talk

Ski Cores: the heart of the matter. by Ian March

SKI CANADA TEST 2010

PART 1: ON-PISTE CRUISERS AND EASY CRUISING

Big White played host again to North America’s
longest-running ski test. written by Keith Harradence.

FEATURES

FOR THE LOVE OF LOUISE

Charlie Locke’s return to the grande dame of Alberta ski areas was both unexpected
and predestined.
By George Koch

DEATH BECOMES THEM

Why are freeski stars like Shane McConkey so willing to show us how to live—and risk
paying the ultimate price?
By Steven Threndyle

HOW TO BE A BETTER SKIER

…without taking lessons. By Leslie Woit

REGULARS

The editor has his run. By Iain MacMillan

YOUR RUN

Opening our mail bag. This issue: Reader Catches Shoulder in Chipper, Ms Powder, Missed Powder (Castle Mt.), and more.

SHORT TURNS

'Soup's on' Rent Chalets at Big White; ski tuning on YouTube; Record Drop 78m; Tour de France in Verbier; backcountry for beginners at Panorama

2010 COUNTDOWN

By Kim Thompson

CROSSHAIRS The best of ski photography

A skiers’ gallery.

LETTER FROM THE ALPS

Living the guide life. by Doug Sagar

RACELINE

Hoping for the big backyard win. By James Christie

TECH TALK

Ski cores: heart of the matter. By Ian March

GEAR & GADGETS

A little something to add to your collection. By Ray O’Reilly

CAUGHT & SHOT

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