From the longest lift lines in memory to locked-down resorts to the continued rise in alpine touring, the one thing uniting skiers across the country is our hopeful look to next season. Gear brands are in the same gondola. (Wearing a face covering, of course!) Despite challenges with supply chains, manufacturing and prototype testing, plenty of exciting new technology will launch next fall. Some of it’s even in shops now.
Völkl Rise Beyond
Testing new gear from Völkl’s Rise touring line on Italy’s Monte Altissimo with Lake Garda for a backdrop reminds us lifts aren’t just closed in Ontario. The new Rise Beyond 96 and 96W shaves more than 100g off Völkl’s well-received predecessor, the 98, with a versatile 3D-radius sidecut offering easier ascents and more memorable descents.
Head Kore X
To make its popular and super-light Kore freeride ski even more so, Head upgraded the construction and added a bunch of new lengths and widths as well as a sibling for the all-mountain set, the Kore X.
Elan Ace
Elan realized the on-piste skier’s experience was more jostling in banked corners than bashing gates, so it looked to Ski Cross, rather than the traditional GS course, for the technology to build the Ace, a hardpack ski with edge grip to rip and the agility to turn on a dime.
Atomic Maven and Maverick (available now)
It took this Austrian brand 144 prototypes and feedback from 60 testers to develop the all-mountain unisex Maverick and women’s Maven. Both come with titanium in the core and in a range of widths from 83-100mm.
Rossignol Experience (available now)
Just about everything is different in Rossi’s Experience skis for 2021-22: new core, new topsheet, new rocker profile and new widths. Look for it in thinner waists than in the past and Titanal, basalt and carbon constructions.
Nordica Speedmachine 3
Good things come in threes and in Nordica’s new iteration of the Speedmachine boot, it repeats: three densities of shell for comfort and performance, three ways to customize the fit and feel, and three-dimensional liners.
Tecnica Cochise
The revamp of the tour-capable Cochise retains the focus on the down, with four buckles and the introduction of the women’s 120-flex PRO (possibly the stiffest women’s touring boot), but also drops 10 per cent in weight for easier climbing.
Anon WaveCel (available now)
Anon replaced the usual foam in its Logan and Merak helmets with WaveCel, a structure that flexes to reduce frictional forces, crumples like a car bumper to absorb impact and glides to redirect energy away from the brain.
