Saturday, September 29, 2012

2012-13 Ski Boot Preview: Head


2012-13 Ski Boot Preview: Head


M's AdaptEdge 100 Boot, $525 & W's Raptor 110 Mya Boot, $700
M's AdaptEdge 100 Boot, $525 & W's Raptor 110 Mya Boot, $700

www.head.com
 Andrew Couperthwait, Product Manager


Men’s AdaptEdge 100 Boot
Boot flex: 100/90
Target market with the featured boots: Advanced/Highend

Two-sentence description of featured boots:
The AdaptEdge 100 features Adaptive Fit Technology, which allows the user to switch the boot between a 104mm last to 102mm last. This technology not only changes the fit of the boot, but the performance as well.

Women’s Raptor 110 Mya Boot
Boot flex: 110/100
Target market with the featured boots: Expert/Highend


What current trends do you plan on pursuing next year?
We continue to focus on performance and fit. As the most positively reviewed boot brand in the market, providing the consistent fit and performance that we are known for is our highest priority.

What new construction techniques, technologies or materials do you see hitting the market next year?
The advancement of self-adapting technologies will continue to progress in the boot market.

Three buckle or four buckle and why?
We will continue to focus on four buckle boots for the majority of our line. We do use three buckles shells in our Park and Pipe series as well as our comfort series.  However, four buckles still exemplify the highest level of performance and fit in the market. Better performance in three buckle boots is a difficult argument to make when race boots all use a four buckle construction. Simon Dumont, the worlds’ premiere half pipe skier just switched to four buckle boots because they ski better.  Ask the best boot fitters this same question, and they will agree that four buckles are the way to go for top performance.

In terms of what’s selling, where do you see prices trending?
$399 - $499 continues to drive sales.

by Ryan Dionne at Skiing Business

Friday, September 28, 2012

2012-13 Ski Preview: Head


2012-13 Ski Preview: Head

M's Rev 105, $800 & W's Mya No. 8, $625


M's Rev 105, $800 & W's Mya No. 8, $625
www.head.com
 Andrew Couperthwait
, Product Manager

M’s Rev 105
Ski dimensions: 144/105/131, 16m radius @ 181cm
Available length of skis: 171, 181, 191

Target market with the featured skis: Advanced Intermediate to Expert level skiers looking for all-mountain skis. We prefer to call them “Allride” skis.

Two-sentence description of featured skis:
The REV 105 features ERA 3.0, “Rocker Done Right” and delivers versatility not yet seen in a 105mm ski.  The incredible 16m turning radius and oversized sweet spot allow this ski to transition between changing conditions with effortless aplomb.
W’s Mya No. 8 Ski

Ski dimensions: 130/84/112, 13.3m radius @ 163cm

Available length of skis: 171, 181, 191

Target market with the featured skis: Advanced Intermediate to Expert level skiers looking for all-mountain skis. We prefer to call them “Allride” skis.

Two-sentence description of featured skis:
Featuring ERA 3.0, “Rocker Done Right”, the Mya No. 8 instills confidence for women in a wide range of conditions. Effortless steering, instant grip, greater stability and control are just a few of the traits that define the Mya No. 8.

What’s on the horizon for next year’s skis?
Rocker Done Right.

Any completely new models (including pro models)?
Fourteen new models in the adult line this year.

What will be your best selling ski? Why?
Rev and Mya will be our best selling collections. These skis feature our new ERA 3.0 technology and highlight the fun of the sport.

Any new materials or construction technologies?
There are new construction technologies in almost every category of skis we offer.

Andrew Couperthwait
Andrew Couperthwait

How much emphasis are you putting on rocker?
We have a comprehensive approach to Rocker and it is found in various forms in over 90 percent of our line. With all of the positives of rocker, there are negatives that every skier experiences, such as the dreaded “rocker rattle”. Our new ERA 3.0 technology embraces the easy turning, great powder performance of Rocker, but kills rocker rattle. Based on its intended use, each model is given the appropriate amount of rocker. To complete the story, we incorporate our exclusive Progressive Radius and all-new Intellirise to control the rebound and enhance the performance of the ski.

What about sidecountry/backcountry?
Sidecountry, backcountry… we feel our skis transcend the need to tell you where to take your skiing. We prefer the terms “Allride” and “Allcountry” because our gear provides the versatility skiers demand - to go anywhere.

What type of skiing do you see leading sales next year and why? How are you preparing for that?
What type of skiing? FUN SKIING! The more fun people have on our skis the more we will sell. Everything we do is focused on fun. That’s why we participate in this crazy sport, right?

Thanks to Ryan Dionne at Skiing Business

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Anatomy of a Ski


Anatomy of a Ski: Base to Topsheet

Don't know your pre-preg from your torsion box? And what's so great about vertical sidewalls anyway? Skis have fairly simple constructions, but it helps to understand a few terms and concepts.

GLOSSARY
 
› Camber
Convex curvature built into the length of a ski. Distributes the pressure of a skier's weight to the tip and tail, giving the ski more grip on the snow. › Dampening The reduction of the vibrations that occur when a ski is in motion. A damp ski is better able to hold an edge in the snow— but it might lack liveliness.
› Dimensions 
Tip, waist and tail widths: an expression of the shape of a ski.
› Mold 
A metal plank with a ski-shaped cavity milled into it. Typically, ski components (and liberal amounts of epoxy) are placed into the mold, which is then subjected to intense heat and pressure to bond the components and squeeze out excess epoxy.
› Pre-preg 
A type of prefabricated laminate used to reinforce cores. Sheets of fiberglass fabric are impregnated with epoxy, cured and then cut to fit the ski's width and placed in the mold.
› Rocker (reverse camber) 
The opposite of camber: The tip and tail curve up off the snow. Makes skis more buoyant in powder and easier to pivot on hardpack.
  › Sidecut 
The narrowing of a ski at its waist; aids in turning when the ski is tipped on edge and pressured into an arc.
› Sidecut radius 
A measurement, usually expressed in meters, of the depth of a ski's sidecut curvature.
› Taper 
The difference between the tip and tail widths. A ski with a smaller taper generally initiates arcs easily, resulting in a turnier ride, while a ski with a larger taper is less hooky and easier to skid.
› Titanal 
The brand name of the aluminum alloy commonly used in laminates.
› Torsional rigidity 
A ski's ability to resist twisting, often achieved by aligning glass fibers across the core at an angle (see "torsion box"). By increasing torsional rigidity, a manufacturer can make a lighter, metalfree ski that still holds an edge on hardpack.

Friday, September 21, 2012

Skier's Diet


Skier's Diet: Muscle Building Foods

Super foods that will make you super fit this ski season.

As you coax your muscles back into ski shape, fueling them well can add heft to your training. Your instinct is likely to reach for a steak (and rightly so: A 2009 study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that eating four ounces of steak after a workout built muscle 50 percent better than a placebo), but these other strength-building foods may surprise you.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Salomon's 2012/13 Freeski line up. Nice!




2012/13 Salomon Rocker 2 115

The new Salomon Rocker 2 (115mm) is supposed to be a more charger version of the Rocker 2 120 from last year. Stiffer flex, less splay and a longer turning radius. Looks like both a great everyday ski for places like Tahoe and Jackson or a charger for big mountain dudes like Cody Townsend and The Swedes. Dimensions @ 188cm: 139-115-131. 21m radius.

The 115 Rocker 2 hanging out amongst some other good choices on the Salomon ski wall.































2012/13 Salomon Guardian A/T Binding


2012/13 Salomon Rocker 2 | 122 mm.  Dimensions @ 192cm : 144-122-134.  26m radius

2012/13 Salomon Rocker 2 | 108 mm. Super versatile ski- Mike D. even claims it can shred bumps!  Dimensions @ 182cm: 132-108-125.  19.2m radius.

2012/13 Salomon Rocker 2 | 90 mm.  Dimensions @ 185cm: 130-90-118.  19.5m radius.

Salomon Rocker 2 “range” | Mike D. runs you through the full quiver of Rocker 2 skis, from 90 to 122 mm underfoot


Salomon Quest Max 120 Boot | with a “Hike” mode

Salomon Rockette | 115 mm (Lady-shred version of the Rocker 2)

Salomon 2012/13 Shogun | at 100mm underfoot.  Dimensions @ 182cm: 130-101(?)-120.  25.9m radius.


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Thursday, September 13, 2012

Snowboard and Ski X cancelled


Snowboard and Ski X cancelled

Shame really but it was announced today that the 2013 Aspen Winter X Games won’t include Ski X and Snowboarder X.

It will be the first time in the Games’ history that the course will not be included and also rules out Mono Skier Cross for the 2013 games.

Snowboarder X was one of just three events that have run consistently since the start of the games along with Snowboard Superpipe and Slopestyle.

Tim Reed, senior director of content strategy for ESPN X Games, said of the decision, “It just comes down to filling the schedule with how much we believe we need to make the event enjoyable to the fans and deliver on what we need from a product standpoint."

Meanwhile two former disciplines will be reinstated; Snowmobile Snowcross and Speed and Style. Really?

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

How a ski brand went belly up!


How to go Belly Up!

After a short-lived North American life, CoreUpt went into bankruptcy earlier this month. The French ski brand, which started selling direct to consumers in 2009, was distributed in North America since the 2011 season via The Soze Group in Canada.

But with a myriad of problems, CoreUpt reportedly owed its creditors too much money and went belly up before getting products made for the 2012-13 season.

Skiing Business caught up with Jay Taylor, the president of The Soze Group, to find out why a brand that’s gaining momentum was stopped abruptly.

So you guys sent cancellation orders to your retailers?
Yeah. We tried to guarantee our production using our own cash flow, but the guys at CoreUpt wanted a piece of the action in order to manage everything. The factory didn’t agree to the terms we were trying to get, and the deadline for a production run was June 1. It would have ended up costing too much money for the 2012-13 skis to be made.
In the end, we couldn’t get enough other countries on board to keep the brand going for this season.

Jay Taylor, The Soze Group president
Jay Taylor, The Soze Group president

Were you in a position to buy the company to keep it going?
The creditors own the brand name as well as the operational side of the business, but the two are separate entities. We tried to buy just the name, but they didn’t want to sell the two separately.
I think the creditors have about 1.2 million euros (about $1.5 million) invested, and they’re taking offers. It would have made sense to us if we could get it for 10 cents on the dollar, but they wanted 20 cents to 30 cents on the dollar. Beyond the acquisition cost, we would have needed to put another $1.5 million to $2 million back into the company to rejuvenate it.
We talked with the distributors in Sweden and in Norway about pitching in with us to buy it, but we couldn’t work out the details. The longer CoreUpt is in bankruptcy, though, the better our chances of buying it are because I imagine the owners would accept a lower bid. We’ll continue to watch it and wait for the right time-if there is one.

As the North American distributor, how does this impact you financially?
In terms of missed revenue, it’s about a $500,000 hit based on what orders were already placed and what we expected for reorders. Beyond that, we put in about $175,000 for samples, trade show and travel expenses, and other normal business costs.
coreuptskis
Being a distributor, you’re a little removed from the inner workings of the parent company. So from that semi-outsider’s point of view, what do you see as the reason the brand went bankrupt?
I think there were multiple things that led to this. They had a pretty big athlete program to help drive sales, but I think it was too ambitious and cost too much money. They also spent quite a bit of money to increase sales. If done right, you can grow organically about 20 percent every year. But if you want to grow more than that, you need a bridge loan to cover the gap between your profit in one season and what you expect to spend the next. I think that hurt them too much.
Then there was the apparel side of the business. There was a flood in Thailand that wiped out their production, and they expected their direct-to-consumer sales to be bigger than they were. Despite planning to operate on a loss for a few years to develop the brand, they ultimately spent more money than they were collecting.
Did you see this coming?

We had some concerns when they started the apparel program. We were asking questions about how they planned to finance it, and we kept being told to not worry about it. Usually when you’re told to not worry about money, you should start worrying about money.

Guerlain Chicherit, CoreUpt founder
Guerlain Chicherit, CoreUpt founder

How much responsibility do you guys take?
We did everything we needed to do to put product on the wall and take orders. The only thing that we could have maybe done differently was to pay the parent company upfront for the orders we took, but nobody in their right mind would have done that. If we would have done that, and products weren’t delivered, we would have been screwed.

If the price is right and you buy the brand, what makes you think you can do things better?
We know what they did wrong, and I don’t think it will take that long to make CoreUpt profitable again. The brand is strong, the products are good, and we have the distribution channels in place. I don’t think it would cost too much to get the brand back on its feet.

Thanks to  Ryan Dionne

Monday, September 3, 2012

The new Salomon Guardian touring binding


Salomon Freeski: Selkirks Touring

Deep in the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia Chris Rubens, Elyse Saugstad and Kim Havell put the new Salomon Guardian binding to the test.

CLICK TO WATCH VIDEO....

Saturday, September 1, 2012

15 Minutes With... Seth Morrison


15 Minutes With... Seth Morrison

Seth Morrison is a legend. Who loves a huge cliff and a back flip. He’s seen and done it all, and starred in some huge ski movies. He talks to Nicola Iseard about his biggest inspirations, filming in Alaska, and why even he gets the fear off-piste in Chamonix.

FL: You're a ski hero to a lot of people. In fact, you're acknowledged as one of “the most influential skiers of our time.” Did you have a ski hero growing up? Do you still?

SM: Growing up, it was Pirmin Zurbriggen and Ingemar Stenmark. I was really into my racing, and those guys were the big guns back then. It soon switched to Scot Schmidt and Glen Plake. They were doing things we'd never seen before. They were new influences, new and fresh to us as kids.

FL: And today?

SM: This guy Andreas Fransson, he's been doing some crazy stuff lately. He's just had a pretty gnarly trip in Denali, going for one of the first ski descents out there. There's an interesting tale of him spending the night on the mountain, because rocks were falling down on him, so he just sat  behind a rock and waited until it was safe to ski again. He probably skied in the dark.

FL. Yeech. That is gnarly. Talking of Alaska – it's much like a second home to you. What is it about the place, the mountains, that are so special?

SM: The last couple of years we've tried to film in places where people've never really skied before. Alaska makes you feel like you're in the Wild Wild West. There's not many people out there, and less rules than you're typically used to. And that time of the year you're getting into the longer days of the season, so you have a lot more light to work with. The snow's as good as it gets – so you just hope for clear days to get out there and enjoy it.

FL: What do you do to keep yourselves amused? Charades? Greg Stump movies? Alaskan moonshine?

SM: Whatever is possible where we are – sometimes we play poker, frisbee, golf, go on hikes, take glacier boat tours, shoot guns, play video games, cross country ski, rock climb...

FL: Before we move on, favourite Greg Stump film?

SM: Everybody says Blizzard of Aaaahs. I love all the early movies, like Groove Requiem, you get locked into watching them, because of the great story they tell – ski movies don't really tell stories like that anymore. Blizzard of Aaaahs definitely tells the best story – Americans going to Chamonix to get away from rules and regulations, find freedom.

FL: So, is there anywhere you haven't yet skied that you're eager to?

SM: Greenland. We'll see if that ever happens. It costs a lot of money and it's hard to get a group that can afford to do it.

FL: Are there any lines you wouldn't repeat?

SM: Last season, for one of the last runs of the season [filming The Ordinary Skier],we got to ski The Mallory in Chamonix, under the Aiguille du Midi, and they were the most terrible conditions I've ever skied. We were skiing on ice for most of the time, and had to do lots of repels. It was four hours of just being scared.

FL: What about your most-stoke moment?

SM: [pauses] That same moment! I couldn't even see the way down at first – then doing it, well, it was the good, the bad and the ugly all in one.

FL: Do you still ski a bumps/mogul field if you pass one? Do you ever still pass them?

SM: I do. I'd much rather ski a mogul run than the groomers, for that added challenge.

FL: You started skiing aged six, in 1979 – could you ever have imagined skiing changing the way it has? Where do you think it's heading?

SM: Totally. It been amazing to see how it's changed, and to have been a part of making it change. Even when I started being a pro there weren't terrain parks. In some places they had half pipes that were only for snowboarders – you couldn't even go in there with skis. Things just keep getting bigger and better, and ski technology just keeps getter better. It's hard to say where it's going. People's minds are changing all the time, feeding off of what's been done before and putting their spin on it.

FL: Okay – random question alert. We've always wondered, when guy loses a ski half way down a run and tomahawks way past it, how do they get the ski back? Or is Alaska littered with goggles and poles?

SM: [laughs] There are definitely a lot of skis and poles lying around! I've been pretty lucky, with the falls I've had, most of my gear has come off nearby. Other guys haven't been so lucky. If it's retrievable someone will go back up to the top to get it. There was a guy we skied with a few season's ago. There was no way he was gonna hike up to get his ski, it was way too far up, so they got the helicopter close to the slope and the other guy jumped out of the helicopter to get it.

FL: Finally, is there anything you want to say? You know, like how on radio people often 'give a shout out to' people...Or a message maybe?

SM: One life to live, live it up, make the most of it. 

Partying Hard In Morzine and Avoriaz

  Partying Hard In Morzine and Avoriaz ...