TOPICS & TIMES:
- Ski Quivers (3:35)
- One Boot Quiver? (22:25)
Last week on GEAR:30, Sam Shaheen, Luke Koppa, and I addressed some of the questions you have been asking us about ski quivers, and we also discussed the topic of the one-boot quiver.
And now, as promised, we are running part 2 of this conversation, this time, with our reviewers Kristin Sinnott, Sascha Anastas, and Kara Williard.
First, it’s not about having reviewers at all locations. It’s simply not feasible. However, when a reviewer says something like “I never ski out east”, I think, why not? For most skiers, it’s not a consideration. Give someone a ticket to Telluride or Killington, take Telluride trip. But it feels like Blister gives more time to Alaska than Vermont, New York or New England. You are reviewers and the East is a major ski market even if not the best skiing. Lip service would be nice. Send an intern. Phone it in. Have someone take one for the team. At Mad River or Ice Face. But it feels we’re treated like “that other place that people happen to ski.” And there’s a weird beauty in some of the crap places to ski (not just the east). At 50, I started hitting the park, because with vert I have, I couldn’t go faster. Double blacks are often skinny, icy ruts. It’s like skiing a greased sliding board. Totally scary. Do those on a 186cm, 108 wide ski.
We just want a smidge of representation. That’s all. Not a dedicated reviewer.
I don’t know if possible, but speaking of boots, any strategies for young teenagers? Is it possible to get boot liners and remold for a few years to changing feet? When are people buying good equipment for their kids? I’m not worried about skis so much. But boots are an issue. I’ve told my kids that they get crappy equipment while they’re still young, but with a teenager, I would like to get her good stuff at some point. Ski swaps help, but it’s luck and time.
Coming from the east myself and now primarily skiing in the west I’ve experienced your point of view. I am similar age also. In the east I primarily skied park skis. I figured they were great everywhere, and the best all mountain ski. Moguls, park, trees, groomers! park skis could do it all. I also thought park boots ruled, and there is no reason for any other option.
These beliefs changed when I skied steeps in aspen. Since aspen I’ve skied multitude of places in the west, including Alta, and Big Sky. What I found is this. My park skis and park boots were great everywhere in the east, including every double black diamond I could find (exception is Lake Placid). But when I went out west, I folded my ski boot in half!! My foot was literally almost completely out of my boot as it bellowed out and made an extremely uncomfortable feel!!
Once I started skiing the west I needed a much stiffer boot, a ski that I couldn’t fold the shovel and that was much more versatile!!
This is just my opinion, but if you want adrenaline rush in the east, head to the park. And park skis are great options for everything I found in the east. Stowe, J peak, Stratton, Killington, Lake Placid etc. Going west where you have powder, cliffs, and no fall zones then things change.
The ski reviews blister provides covers the east even though it’s not specified!
Ice coast skier here, where my resort quiver is 74, 85, and 108 underfoot. In regards to you guys not reviewing as many front side dedicated skis, in way I just don’t see the need for it. This is just my opinion, but there just isn’t a much variety to front side skis. The width underfoot is a no brainer, rocker just doesn’t exist, so the only big variables you’re left with is weight and stiffness.
One question on what you do review though. Why do you choose skis that are so long? In that video of the PB&J with Luke, the skis are WAY over his head, and I know Sam isn’t that big of a guy either. Definitely doesn’t go with the “match your height” rule of thumb.
Amen on zipfit liners. I’m never skiing anything else.
East coaster now living out west…I think in this case Kristin is right – the east coast does have conditions that are different than what you will ever see out west. At 10,000 feet it doesn’t pour buckets of rain at 50 degrees for an entire day in mid February and then immediately drop to -10 over night with maddening regularity. Sure, it may happen once, but the consistency of the rain + deep freeze cycle found in the east leads to truly heinous conditions. The dreaded “loose frozen granular” where you stick your pole in the ground and it immediately falls over because you are standing on ice a groomer has chopped up and mashed back down.
While this matters for personal ski selection, to Jonathan’s point, it is not clear this actually matters much for ski reviews. I find blister reviews as helpful out west as I did back east. The mantra m5 in a 177 is still dialed and still works great in both places. An every day ski you enjoy in CO (for me that is the J skis metal) works great as a pow ski in the east. I mean its not like J is making a bunch of dedicated carvers and look where he has set up shop…Really the main difference is instead of getting the west coast pow ski you need the east coast ice ski and hey look, that is covered here as well!
https://blisterreview.com/featured/1819-all-mountain-frontside-skis-ep-15
Also, while many eastern resorts have plenty of vertical (e.g. Stowe), the trails tend to lack the width of most trails in CO. Particularly on the groomers, this matters for ski length as in the east it is much harder to find the space to make huge sweeping turns and instead the often more fun option is to crank tight radius turns on the side. Perhaps reviews could touch on this length topic a bit more, e.g. on the site I often see “If I lived in Alaska I would choose length x and but for a place with tight techy terrain like CB / Taos I would choose length y.” When possible, it may be nice to see if an east coast length would be different. I suspect it is likely the tight techy terrain situation is actually quite similar to the east coast situation.
So here for an episode focused on the women, and so here for a conversation on tiny boots! In terms of small boots – 14% of women need a 21.5 or smaller for a performance fit boot. Transitioning to a race boot for inbounds is one thing, but you’re completely hosed for touring options.
Also – someone tell Sascha about the Mach 1 Pro LV from Tecnica. I skied it last year in the 115 flex but got a replacement after a punch-gone-wrong. The new redesign with the taller cuff, sturdy liner, and power strap are great. (To the point I couldn’t flex it at all and had to drop down to the 105).
Jonathan,
On the subject of Eastern conditions and skis (again). Agree with your statements on length of ski for East versus West and that there can be ice out west. I think Blister reviews more skis in the 95-120 width range versus 65-90 range because those skis fit where you ski the most. An Eastern quiver would be 4 skis in the 65-90 range and two in the 95-120 range (my quiver for instance) and a Western skier would flip the numbers. Blister does an outstanding job of reviewing the 95-120 range and all the permutations of skis. In the narrower range, the coverage is not as extensive. It is what it is, and maybe there should be a East Coast spin off of Blister. What should we call it?? How about bulla.
Cannon Mountain is the best! Long time passholder here. I was driving to the mountains with my kids playing the podcast and J said something like “you keep talking about the best mountain” and it was Cannon and we all cheered! My kids are all in the ski program, oldest now an instructor. Best people. Kids who grow up skiing at Cannon really learn to ski difficult terrain in very cold and icy conditions.
I had to roll my eyes at the comment saying shorter skis for smaller vert mountain and the female reviewer from Cannon (sorry forgot her name) sort of dodged it. It makes no sense. So if you are lapping a shorter lift you want shorter skis? Cannon has about 2180′ of vert, CB has 2775′. Tree skiing is generally much tighter in the East (especially at Cannon) so I do go shorter, but for that reason.
As another comment mentioned, it’s the freeze thaw cycles that make New England brutal.
I am a big believer in wind front undies. I volunteer to do a full review of a few different ones for skiing and running. Just let me put a pickle in there for the photos.