Post by superbman on Aug 28, 2014 9:05:31 GMT -7
I mean, if there is a polar opposite set of reviews from the realskiers.com reviews, it's this years slate of exotic sticks that grace the pages of Powder magazine.
I look at the pain-staking efforts Jackson Hogen and Peter Keelty take to really break down a ski, look at it's versatility vs. intended audience, highlight it's meaningful strengths and weaknesses, and as always to push people towards 'narrower than they think' skis. The largest group of skis reviewed were collective 'technical' and 'carving' skis (men and women, even). And they hardly reviewed any fat skis at all (and no indie brands).
Powder mag, as the name implies: Celebrates a slew of fat rides (and when reviewing skis with 100mm waists talks about how these are good choices on groomer/ hard snow days but will get over powered on deep days). 4 days at Jackson Hole under the feet of some high flying skiers and editors comprises the whole of the test. Every ski is celebrated as 'really versatile' and 'a great one ski choice'. In fact, I couldn't find a less than glowing word about a single ski in the magazine. They're peddling a market-under written, highly polished dreamscape, not comprehensive tool evaluation.
And yet, I love Powder's Buyers guide. Skiing and gear lust (which we all have) is about more than practicality, it's about sometimes indulging what we wish were true, or might one day be true instead of taking our medicine and doing the sensible thing. I admit, I love reading about those big sticks, about which ones 'slay' deep days at Jackson Hole…yeah, that ain't the everyday experience, but hey, it can happen. It fires me up to think about ways to make it happen, or generate some reasonable facsimile thereof.
If I have one complaint about realskier reviews, it's that their matter o' fact practical, curmudgeonly advice might be honest, but it can be a bit of a buzzkill. Like all things skiing, I like to balance the prosaic with the sublime. Powder reviews the skis (and skiing) I want, and realskiers the one's I need. But somewhere between want and need is the place I really seek to ski. Got reviews for that?
I look at the pain-staking efforts Jackson Hogen and Peter Keelty take to really break down a ski, look at it's versatility vs. intended audience, highlight it's meaningful strengths and weaknesses, and as always to push people towards 'narrower than they think' skis. The largest group of skis reviewed were collective 'technical' and 'carving' skis (men and women, even). And they hardly reviewed any fat skis at all (and no indie brands).
Powder mag, as the name implies: Celebrates a slew of fat rides (and when reviewing skis with 100mm waists talks about how these are good choices on groomer/ hard snow days but will get over powered on deep days). 4 days at Jackson Hole under the feet of some high flying skiers and editors comprises the whole of the test. Every ski is celebrated as 'really versatile' and 'a great one ski choice'. In fact, I couldn't find a less than glowing word about a single ski in the magazine. They're peddling a market-under written, highly polished dreamscape, not comprehensive tool evaluation.
And yet, I love Powder's Buyers guide. Skiing and gear lust (which we all have) is about more than practicality, it's about sometimes indulging what we wish were true, or might one day be true instead of taking our medicine and doing the sensible thing. I admit, I love reading about those big sticks, about which ones 'slay' deep days at Jackson Hole…yeah, that ain't the everyday experience, but hey, it can happen. It fires me up to think about ways to make it happen, or generate some reasonable facsimile thereof.
If I have one complaint about realskier reviews, it's that their matter o' fact practical, curmudgeonly advice might be honest, but it can be a bit of a buzzkill. Like all things skiing, I like to balance the prosaic with the sublime. Powder reviews the skis (and skiing) I want, and realskiers the one's I need. But somewhere between want and need is the place I really seek to ski. Got reviews for that?