Your Gear is Here
by RYAN STUART, tech editor, in Buyer’s Guide 2018 issue
My best run last season came in mid-April. Right after my worst run. On a pair of skis that I’d never been on before. But as soon as I clicked into them, they felt a part of me, like they knew what I wanted them to do before I did. As I charged onto the cat track at the bottom feeling like a superstar, I was reminded of just how much the right gear influences the experience. Sure, we can ski on pretty much anything, but finding the right stuff will make skiing infinitely more fun.
The purpose of this Buyer’s Guide is to give you the same feeling—to help set you up with your new love by tipping you off to the latest and greatest new gear for this season. Among the dozens of products on the following pages are boots that magically combine two densities of plastic, skis with the latest carbon-fibre composites, a secret dampening agent that might get you arrested, and a helmet made from corn.
We’ve broken the products up into categories that speak to two diverging trends in skiing. One is the quest for the quiver of one. This is the focus of the All-Mountain category, a major effort in R&D and innovation. The other trend is about making the best product for singular and different tasks, like a ski made for charging huge Alaskan faces, laying trenches in blue ice or stomping a rail in the park.
So whether you’re a generalist or specialist, whether you know exactly what you need or inspiration is about to pounce, it’s all here. In the end, Ski Canada’s hope is that this guide will steer you beyond the run of the year to the season of a lifetime.
