At the risk of repeating myself, we here at Ski & Bike Magazine take ski testing (and product testing in general) pretty seriously. While some might feel we’re a little obsessive about it, It’s something we feel is necessary in order to gain the knowledge paramount to educating staff, customers and ultimately helping folks chose the right gear. Nothing is as disappointing or as expensive as the wrong gear.
Ski testing to me also includes gathering precious information from others, valuable input from carefully selected individuals who have different points of view, different styles, different skill sets and thus different tastes, experiences and perspectives. The key thing here is getting varying points of view and noticing consensus when it rears its head.
Recently Zoe and I initiated five more folks to how we test skis (check back for how we do that, exactly)… and we’re happy to report that we hit the jackpot with André, Nicolas, Amélie, Paul and Brian. Articulate, analytical, insightful, genuine and funny, it was a pleasure to not only ski and test together but it was also lots of fun to soak-in some of their keen insight on over a dozen skis that we’ve tested to date.
Notwithstanding that we found Brian living in a van down by the river, the guy has become something of an expert after working at Mont Sutton’s ski shop with Zoé and I for the past several years. First and foremost a humorous nice guy, Brian brings a fresh perspective uncluttered with prejudices and preconceived notions. A decent skier who has an ability to know what he likes and what he doesn’t like, Brian has a no BS approach to testing skis. While some of us can spend enough time on a ski to learn to love it, Brian is pretty categorical about what he likes and doesn’t like and that’s a good thing. Oh, and he has nice hair.
The polar opposite to a fair-weather skier, our good friend André (also known as Doctor Dré) initially popped onto our radar as a funny, loyal customer when we ran Sutton’s ski shop. A highly articulate and analytical individual who skis from open to close, no matter what the conditions, no matter what the weather. We’ve always had a healthy respect for those who walk it like they talk it and André is an expert skier who’s skied through pretty much every condition, both good and bad. As a tester, André is the king of the ninety second sound bite, he can effectively and concisely sum up what he thinks of a ski using understandable terminology and we’re very fortunate that he’s taken a shining to ski testing.
One of our Ski & Bike Magazine photographers, Amélie’s addition to the test team was fortuitous as her infectious love of the sport and good humour are a boon to our group. Her voice at the table is always appreciated. An emerging advanced skier, Amélie brings a perspective that is as interesting and insightful as it is refreshing. Plus she’s a girl!
Assistant Operations Manager at Mont Sutton, Nicolas not only has a flair for ski testing, he can also make us the white stuff necessary for us to test our skis on! Highly meticulous with a patented smile, Nicolas has a passion for this business that transcends skiing (as he also snowboards). Thanks to his vantage-point and experience, Nico brings a unique outlook on gear that fills in an important niche among the gang.
Our resident ski historian, Paul brings to our test a unique viewpoint that is often missing in ski tests: Paul is a Scorpio. More to the point Paul is a heavy-duty Scorpio. A great guy with lots and lots of miles under his feet, Paul is the latest, greatest addition to our team. Hs ability to express his likes and dislikes fits in perfectly and differently with the rest of our motley crew of testers. We’re very happy to have a guy like him aboard.
All of these folks join an amalgam of opinions, experiences, skills and of ski knowledge that is nothing short of awesome. Check back soon as we share some of our impressions on the 2019/20 crop of skis through written reviews and videos on Ski & Bike Magazine.
JF® 
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