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US ski market: reverse-camber skis now 33% of sales, touring equipment up 21%

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
The American ski trade has hit hard times, with 150 shops closed in a year and continuing decline forecast. But two trends stand out: the growing popularity of reverse-camber (rocker) skis and a surge in production of back-country equipment.

This report on the eve of the SIA ski trade fair (the first, before the European shows kick off) from DenverPost.com

Video report from SIA SnowShow, Denver: http://videocenter.denverpost.com/services/player/bcpid934052406?bctid=63741658001

Quote:
The sellers are ready. Exhibition space is sold out. The latest performance-enhancing gear — skis and snowboards with reverse camber, helmet-goggle combos, sustainable fabrics, a questionable return to 1980s bold and bright colors — is on display.
Even though several big- brand manufacturers have reduced their footprint on the floor, more than 130 new companies are making their debuts.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Great news for the Touring market.
Rockered skis???? Rubbish.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
I'm often inclined to think that what people are buyng is not necessarily an acccurate reflection of what they're actually doing.
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Lizzard, For sure who knows why people are buying rockered skis, most skis are coming with some kind of rocker so they have little choice. I remember the days when tip shudder was the demon of all ski selection, now it seems to be the preferred choice, wake up and smell the coffee people.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

http://youtube.com/v/aGDr69VOv6g

Rockered Skis, Injection liners instead of correct boot selection............. Laughing
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What do you want to see when the circus comes to Europe, SZK?
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Simplicity, quality and a spot of honesty.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
SMALLZOOKEEPER, losing touch with the freeride market eh? Wink
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DaveC, I dunno, just cant see the fabric or threads, the skiers are in the all together, all together, the all together. Plus I reckon there are only a couple of girls using these skis on the FWT, perhaps they are out of touch too......... Laughing
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Ski the Net with snowHeads
SMALLZOOKEEPER, fwt does not normally take place on super deep pow days idiot.
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Liveezy, And when it does, they don't run bent skis.
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Liveezy, Idiot??? Cheers.
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So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
They're not really aimed at FWT style lines. More for mellow & deep powder, trees, minigolf lines etc, and really great for when pow is fresh, but tracked. I've had a pair for 4 years now, and love them, but they're definitely a quiver ski, not used everyday.

There are a few more rockered park skis too, which I can see the point of.

But I would agree, I'm sure alot of people are buying rockered skis because they've seen them in magazines and are advertised as the newest development, and not because they'd be the best ski for their style of skiing.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Here's another explanation..................

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tv_and_radio/ski_sunday/8477330.stm
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
The US ski market and the euro one is pretty different I think, last week in Les Arcs I routinely had the fattest skis at every lift when I was on my fatter skis and they are only 88mm wide - in the US people use 90mm+ as everyday skis often even on the east coast.

For what most people do, width and rocker are just a fashion thing though more and more people are leaving the pistes.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Having a thin winter here in the PNW seeing so many skiers using rockered skis on groomers is entertaining while riding the lifts.
Seems like riding skate skis. Laughing
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I used to write about ski hardware (mainly from 1984 for about ten years) and the number of trends that came and went was interesting. The US market has always been very supportive (gullible?) of new ski design, some of which later proves to be a bit of a hoot. Europeans are slightly more sceptical, perhaps.

US ski magazines, and their technical reviews, tend to gush about the 'latest things'. Maybe the reason that US consumers have such vast garages is not to store huge automobiles ... but to build private ski museums of products that, err, didn't quite work.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
More about the state of the US ski market and its trends from Business Week:

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9DH07E00.htm

Quote:
New ski and snowboard shapes can help too. Witness the "rocker" or "reverse camber" trend, where equipment tends to arch in a 'U' shape rather than arching up in the center. Manufacturers are offering new models that tweak those shapes.

This season, four of the five top-selling adult snowboard models are rocker.

"Innovation can sell, even in a down market," Davis* said.


* SnowSports Industries America research director Kelly Davis
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SMALLZOOKEEPER, how many of the mass market skis do you see used in the FWT? Tons of people compete on Dynastar LP type planks that charge - doesn't make it a particularly fun ski for the market?
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So to all those people who are putting down rocker/early rise/revers camber/whatever, did you have the same reaction when deep sidecut/carving technology came in? The way I see it, rocker is the shaped sidecut of the offpiste world, and I can't see how it can have a negative effect offpiste.
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clarky999, reduces running length, and quite often stiffness torsionally and longitudally - not good on the charger comp skis. Still, agree with your post - the big similarity is just like racers aren't jumping on Head im82s or whatever, freeride tour skiers probably aren't going to care much for Hellbents...
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Yeah but that's the same with any ski competition - racers won't touch your standard 'good performance only psite ski' ala Head Magnum or something.

I don't think there are many freeride comps in deep snow though - it mainly seems to be about charging big faces at high speed with big cliffs, not soft snow. Gnarly as though, and big respect to those guys!
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Strange - when we were in Jackson Hole last year and the front had been blasted by the wind so there was nowhere after the first day you could make fresh tracks we took the first gate by the tram and skied into the Backcountry - there were no other tracks. By the end of the week there were some other tracks into Granite from the other gates, but spending a day using skins beyond Granite canyon we didn't see a single other track all day after we left the gate (not even in the far distance - and some of the views were huge).
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