Ski Canada’s Fall Annual Buyer’s Guide begins on page 30 this issue.
Canada’s largest, most extensive guide to new gear starts off the ski season.
Last January found Ski Canada in Denver, Colorado, at the Outdoor Retailer trade show, the massive annual convention where ski, snowboard and associated outdoor brands come to launch next year’s products to North Americans. This is where one gets to touch, feel, flex and ask questions about everything that’s potentially arriving in shops the following autumn. It’s a distracting, almost hypnotizing steady stream of people all keenly interested in winter gear.
Logoed from head to toe, the brand reps are obvious. The shop buyers, weighed down with samples and catalogues, look a little haggard, sometimes overwhelmed. Journalists rush by with notebooks at the ready, in contrast to the “pros” confidently swaggering down the aisles like they own the place, stories flowing, an entourage in tow.
It isn’t that different from watching a lift line snail past or lounging in the lodge after a full day on the slopes. The ski world is just as rich in subspecies clichés.
When writing and preparing our annual Buyer’s Guide issue, we recalled that moment in Denver. The challenge Ski Canada tries to meet with our annual assembly of new gear is matching you readers with
the products that will make your day on the slopes better. With our favourite 100 or so skis, boots, bindings, jackets, goggles and helmets, finding the perfect gear to round out your kit is kind of like finding a phone dropped from a lift into a metre of fresh powder (and we even have the solution to that scenario on page 33). But there are patterns to how we ski, so that’s how we organized this year’s Buyer’s Guide.
• For those who never hit the slopes without their avalanche gear and skins at the ready, we’ve got Freeride starting on page 36.
• Versatility is the All-Mountain skier’s favourite word. The gear to match is on page 44.
• And we haven’t forgotten those crafty skiers who know a powder day also means silky groomers. Lovers of Groomers will find what they’re looking for on page 50.
And this is just your starting point. Browse around. You’ll also find the most Noteworthy products, the coolest new gear, Trends shaping the ski world and a few key pieces for après, too.
Mixed into every category are product previews and ski reviews from our on-slope test at Mount Washington, and even a couple of neck warmers that could double as face masks. Whatever this ski season brings—record snows, social-distanced chairlift rides, quiet resorts or bustling villages—the right gear will make you happier.