Let’s keep it 100: you already know who’s dominating ski news this week. Mikeala “The G.O.A.T.” Shiffrin. While we’re sure you’ve already heard the news, we’ll spend some time paying tribute to Mikaela Shiffrin this week as she’s just solidified herself as the greatest alpine skier of all time by breaking the record for most wins ever. Of course we’ll also share plenty of other FIS alpine ski racing results, as well as the latest news from the Freeride World Tour’s 4th stop of the season. From there, we’ll share a couple of stories we found this week that are simply interesting, covering ski weather and ski history. To find out all you need to know from this week in ski news, simply click through and read this edition of Top Five Fridays!
2024 K2 Mindbender 96C Ski Review
Ah yes, the K2 Mindbender. First introduced in the 2019/2020 season, the K2 Mindbender series has slowly grown in available widths and construction types over the years. That storyline continues for 2024 as K2 has added a highly demanded Mindbender 96C and Mindbender 106C to the men’s lineup. Filling a hole in the lineup, these two skis enable those of you looking to get into a mid-90 to mid-100 Mindbender, without feeling like you need to be charging on a Ti version. This week, we took advantage of some soft snow to put the 2024 Mindbender 96C to the test, and what we found was a delightful ski that we suspect a number of you are going to fall in love with next season. To learn more about this new ski, check out our full review of the 2024 K2 Mindbender 96C. Enjoy!
2024 Flylow Quantum Pro Jacket and Baker Bibs Kit Review
With the winter weather continuing to bless us here in Vermont, as well as in many locations across North America, we figured we’d keep the good times rolling with another winter outerwear review. This week, Jeff takes us through the fit and features of his 2024 Flylow Quantum Pro and Baker Bib kit. Despite being late to join the Flylow party, Jeff’s found himself happily at home in his deep purple / sometimes brown kit, and is super excited to share with you all the details - from taped seams to pit zips. If you’re feeling curious about Flylow’s outerwear, don’t hesitate to click through and read this comprehensive review!
Top Five Fridays: March 10, 2023
This week in ski news is a big one as history was made this morning when Mikaela Shiffrin took home the gold in a giant slalom race in Are, Sweden. Will tell you all about that exciting race as well as the latest news from Ikon and Epic, both of which announced pricing for the 2023/2024 season. Plus, we’ll bring you ups to speed on the latest from Killington where a massive development project is set to move forward, and the Ski Mountaineering World Championships where two young athletes have just put the world on notice. From there, we’ll round things out with a number of excellent edits that demand your attention this week. Find out all you need to know from the world of skiing in this edition of Top Five Fridays!
2023 Mid Winter Bargain Basement: 22 of Our Best Ski Deals
Welp, it’s that time of the season where you might be asking yourself, “now that the new skis are starting to trickle out, are there any good ski deals to be head before the season ends?” The answer to this hypothetical question of course, is yes. Yes there are. In this edition of our unofficial Bargain Basement series, Jeff and Bob take us through 22 of the hottest deals in our inventory, highlighting incredible deals on everything from intermediate all mountain skis, to powder skis, park skis, and everything in between. If you identify as a deal hunter, this one’s for you!
Top Five Fridays: March 3, 2023
This week in ski news, we reduce the volume of competitive coverage in favor of a couple of stories from the world of ski culture. We’ll still start with FIS Alpine coverage, as we always do, while also sharing news of Travis Ganong and Steven Nyman’s retirement from competitive racing. From there we’ll bring you up to speed with the latest snow totals from the epicenter of skiing in 2022-2023, before finally sharing news from Vail who just announced some cool new features for the updated version of their Epic app. Find out all about these highlights and check out the top edits from the week in this edition of Top Five Fridays!
2024 Rossignol Sender Free 110 Ski Review
New from Rossignol for the 2023-2024 season is the Sender Free 110. With a waist width that inserts itself perfectly between the Black Ops 98 and Black Ops 118, and a build more reminiscent of the Sender line, the 2024 Sender Free 110 is an interesting addition to Rossignol’s line as its a perfect hybrid between the playfulness of the Black Ops and the more serious attitude of the Sender series. This week, Bob and Jeff finally had the opportunity to take the 2024 Sender Free 110 out to play in some soft snow. With slightly different ski personalities, the two of them were able to really explore the wide range of applications for this ski, tapping into everything from it’s energetic playfulness, to its ability to take on big airs and drops. To find out all the details lurking beneath the surface of this exciting new ski, check out this full review of the 2024 Rossignol Sender Free 110!
2024 Salomon Stance 96 Ski Review
First released in 2021, the Salmon Stance series has offered strong, versatile performance for the past three years now. With an understated graphic and modest marketing effort though, the ski’s been largely outshined by its mid-90mm competitors. It’s too bad, as the Stance has always been an excellent ski, despite being somewhat overlooked. That said, we suspect that’s all about to change. With a revamped construction and sharp new graphics, the 2024 Salomon Stance series has become both lighter and more energetic, a combination we suspect will boost it into the upper echelon of its category. This week, Bob’s bringing us his full review of the 2024 Salomon Stance 96, the model that we think is likely to surprise and impress a wide number of skiers. To find out why, simply click through and learn the details behind this exciting new ski!
Top Five Fridays: February 24, 2023
Another week in the bag, another round of ski news to be had! This time around, we’re kicking things off with a double header of competitive news as we wrap up our coverage of the 2023 FIS World Championships for ski racing before shifting our focus to last week’s Freeride World Tour event. Then, we’ll bring you the story of Ava Keenan, a 12 year old whose dream to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals probably isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds. From there we’ll share a story about why snow reports often seem to get it wrong, before finally sharing our favorite edits from the week. Enjoy!
Black Crows Freebird Xpore Jacket & Ora Body Map Pants - Women's Kit Review
Continuing our trend of kit reviews this week, is our first women’s kit review of the season. This year, Emily took the bold step of joining the mono-color ski suit squad, opting for an eye popping light blue kit from Black Crows. Unlike Bob, who paired his Freebird Xpore Jacket with Freeboard Pore Pants, Emily chose the Freebird Xpore Jacket from Black Crow’s touring line, and went with a warmer option for her lower half, choosing the Ora Body Map pants from their big mountain line. Between the two, Emily’s found herself in blue kit bliss this season, and she’s ready to tell you all about it in her review of the Black Crows Freebird Xpore Jacket and Ora Body Map pants. Take it away, Emily!
2024 Black Crows Atris Ski Review
Last season, the Black Crow Atris got a bit of an upgrade as subtle changes to its shape and construction resulted in a noticeably more well rounded skis. With so much gear to review and so little time, this ski regrettably slipped through the cracks last year and we never got around to giving it the full review treatment that it deserves. Now that we know it’s back for the 2024 season unchanged besides a strong graphical upgrade, we figured it’d be the perfect time to dive into this ski and share the updates that make it one of our favorite mid 100mm s free ride skis available. Find out all you need to know about the 2024 Black Crows Atris in this comprehensive ski review, brought to you by Bob!
Talking 2024 Volkl Skis & Technology with Andi Mann
Bonus post alert! For the past couple of month’s Jeff and Volk’s Andy Mann had been trying to align schedules to setup an interview to discuss all of the exciting updates coming to Volk’s 2024 line. Eventually realizing that an in-person meetup simply wasn’t going to happen, they decided to hold the discussion via video chat. While Andi was driving. At night. Long story short here, while the interview itself didn’t go according to plan, we feel compelled to share it anyways as we’re quite grateful for the efforts of one man and one Mann. Anyways. There’s some good stuff in here, so if you’re looking to get the jump on the latest 2024 ski preview from Volkl, click in and give this interview a watch/listen!
Top Five Fridays: February 17, 2023
If you read last week’s Top Five Friday, you probably have a good idea of what’s in store for you this week as we previewed a couple of really exciting contests that were underway at the time of publishing. This week, we’ll circle back and tell you all about the results from the 2023 Red Bull Playstreets and 2023 Kings and Queens of Corbet’s- both of which surpassed our expectations. Of course we’ll also bring you up to speed on the latest from Mikeala Shiffrin who, after yet another amazing week, broke yet another record. Finally, for those who could care less about competition, we’ve got an article regarding a multimillion dollar class action lawsuit facing Alterra, as well as a number of excellent edits. Find out all you need to know from this week in ski news in this edition of Top Five Fridays!
2024 Nordica Steadfast 85 DC Ski Review
Last year, Nordica snuck an intriguing new technology into the Wild Belle 84- its double core technology. After successfully trialing the unique construction concept in this ski last year, Nordica decided to roll it out in a big way for 2024, bringing into a number of their frontside skis, ranging in skill level from intermediate to ultra expert. Amongst this roll out is a brand new ski: the 2024 Nordica Steadfast 85 DC. We recently had the opportunity to hop on this ski alongside our regional Nordica reps, where we all put this thing through the paces here at Stowe. The short story is, this ski rips, and we think a lot of our customers are going to love it. The long story, of course, can be found in this full review of the 2024 Nordica Steadfast 85 DC. Click through and enjoy!
Top Five Fridays: February 10, 2023
This week in ski news, we have a noticeable shift in coverage as compared to recent weeks which have been chock full of competitive coverage. Don’t get us wrong, we’ll still recap the latest results from the FIS World Championships and preview a couple of freeskiing events that are currently underway and which we’ll recap in full next week. The difference though, is that our focus this week is on a trio of lifestyle stories, including excellent participation in an uphill clinic put on by the National Brotherhood of Skiers this week, Eldora Mountain’s weekly coworking sessions, and news of a second lift coming to Silverton. Find out all about the latest round of ski news, and check out our favorite edits of the week, in this edition of Top Five Fridays!