The oldest cliche in the skiing industry is “You should have been here yesterday!” Well, it can seem like your timing isn’t always perfect, but more times than not a day that doesn’t look so good can turn out to be a pretty good day of skiing and riding. Good vision is essential to confidence in skiing and riding and a quality pair of goggles can make all the difference on a day when things aren’t as clear as usual. My personal recommendation for quality goggles is the Oakley Wisdom.
Archive for the ‘Gear’ Category
Sunscreen protection is a must for those spring skiing days when the sun is high and bright. After a full winter of limited exposure, the strong spring sun can really do a number on your pale skin if you don’t take some precautions. Sunscreen is the #1 preventative and a personal favorite for sunscreen protection are products from the Bullfrog brand. Read the rest of this entry »
As the season winds down, it’s time to start considering how to set yourself up for success next season. If you take the time now to store your equipment properly, you’ll able to basically pick right up from where you left off. Consider the following:
Hugh? you ask… Yes, now would be a great time to stock up on skiing and snowboarding clothes for next year. Ski shops want to get rid of their winter inventory at this time of year. Who really knows the difference between a 2006 ski sweater and a 2007 ski sweater? Go grab all of the closeout items now while the getting is still good and prices have started to drop.
You can always use more ski socks, right? Now is the time to stock up for next year! How about new equipment? Well, that can be a little trickier.
Read the rest of this entry »
My favorite piece of clothing for spring skiing in sunny weather is a fleece vest, for a bunch of reasons. It keeps your torso warm while giving your limbs freedom of movement. It’s not too warm on the chairlift ride up and keeps you warm on the way down. It gives you pockets for storing lip balm, keys, and the season pass. It has a collar to keep the sun off your neck. It’ll make you look like a skier and rider, on and off the slopes. And there’s lots of choices for how much you want to spend on one.
It’s been just over 10 years since shaped skis became a major factor in the skiing industry. The concept of a ski designed with exaggerated sidecut (relative width of the ski’s tip and tail compared to the width of its waist) has come a long way to making skiing easier and more efficient no matter what your ability. In that time, the design shaped skis have evolved past just a different sidecut to take advantage of new materials and design features as well. This evolution has changed how to select a proper length of shaped ski and resulted in today’s trend to select a shorter length than would have been chosen 10 years ago.
A great day of snowshoeing is only as great as your footwear. As snowshoeing is all about mobility, footwear is key and I’ve been having great success this season using L.L. Bean’s Cresta Hiking Boots. Read the rest of this entry »
The world of sports has many examples where the introduction of new equipment has changed the nature of the activity. Consider what hockey was like before goalie masks. Consider playing in the NBA with low-top sneakers. Consider sailing with cloth sails. The equipment innovations that replaced these conditions were far from a crutch; they allowed athletes to refine their movements and reach new levels of performance.
In the early nineties, the availability of skis with exaggerated sidecut dimensions brought renewed ease of effort and fun to skiers of all abilities. These new style of skis were so exotic in appearance that they were initially referred to by such phrases as “hourglass skis, parabolics, or goofies”. After barely a decade, this class of skis is simply referred to as “shaped” and represents the contemporary ski of choice on the slopes today.