Every January the VBSR Vail ski staff and nationwide ski retail shops flock to the SIA Snow Show in Denver at the Colorado Conference Center. The SIA is a 5-day conference, including industry & intelligence seminars, and gargantuan expo hall featuring hard and soft good manufacturers presenting their new lines for 2016-2017. The expo is followed by two days of ski testing at Copper Mountain.
SIA SnowShow 2016: Industry & Intelligence statistics on ski customers
VBSR co-owners Dominique and Sacha walk the show to look for changes, trends and hot items which they can provide to Vail ski rental customers. The ski testing portion allows the buyers to test the skis they’ve chosen at the expo in all types of snow including powder, crud, bumps and groomers. VBSR sent eight skiers to Copper to play on the new skis, boots and accessories.
Vista Bahn Ski Rentals Staff & Ski Tester Favorites:
- Sacha: K2 Pinnacle 88. Holds a great edge and hammers crud. Great all mountain ski.
- Dominique: Salomon Lux 92. Lightweight. Carves nicely and plows through crud. Great for intermediate/advanced women
- Barclay: Nordica Enforcer 93. Super stable and carves nicely
- Matt: Salomon Qst 106. For a wider ski it was very responsive. It did well in all conditions and was one of the lighter skis I tried.
- Bill: Atomic Vantage 90. Easy turning at any speed. Very lively. Great for a wide range of abilities
- Jim: Volkl Kendo. Held great on all surfaces. Very solid ski. A little slower turning but very stable in bumps.
- Molly: K2 Alluvit 88. Very playful. Easy to maneuver around. Super fun in crud and choppy snow
- Clare: Rossignol Soul7. A fun, fast ski with great pop. Stable at high speed. A great big mountain ski for the intermediate/advanced women
VBSR Vail ski testing crew: A chilly & powdery day
New technology or changes: The VBSR team “did not see a lot of changes from last season to the 2016-2017 season, although it seems as though ski companies are trying to make there skis lighter using different materials such as carbon Kevlar and lighter woods,” Dominique Underhill, VBSR co-owner.
An example of this includes the Rossignol Soul7 . Rossignol took the 2015-2016 men’s ski core and placed it in the 2016-2017 women’s ski, and added a carbon edge resulting in a 15% lighter ski.
New hot skis: It looks like Salomon is stepping up their game with the Lux and the QST line.
Now that we’ve got you excited to get on the new skis at Vail, we’re sorry to say they won’t be in the shop until next season. Come on buy and we’ll set you up with our favorite VBSR Vail ski rentals & demos from this season!
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