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Vegas ski show revue XC Skiing with Mitch Mode Las Vegas. Skis. You're right, they don't go together. Not even close. But that's where we go, each and every year. It's a big show, too, with 18,000 making the trip, according to official fig'res. But to help put things in perspective, consider that the World of Concrete convention is held across town at the same time. That show draws between 80,000 and 100,000. The World of Concrete. Sounds like some of the trail conditions we've had in the Midwest this winter. The Outdoor Retailer convention is held a few days later in Salt Lake City – a more appropriate venue for the ski industry, you would think. Except this year, a lingering inversion left smog so thick, the air quality rivaled a third world country, and outside exercise was not recommended. At least the air in Vegas was breathable. What follows are some first impressions after three days of walking the aisles listening to sale pitches. This is not a complete review of every single new product. And to that which I will discuss, I must add this disclaimer: What looked good on the convention floor may not perform well where it counts – on cold Midwestern snow. With that, let's begin. Racing skis Rossignol revamps their X-ium, making a significant change internally (moving away from the Dualtec construction) and tops it off with their new RSolarS top sheet – a bright orange cosmetic that really stands out. Madshus introduces an all-new ski, the Nanosonic, using nano technology in the construction to come up with an extremely light race ski. And Salomon steps up in the battle for the lightweight crown with the Equipe 10 Skate and the Equipe 10 Classic. These skis are very light and up the ante in production skis as they follow the lightweight trail broken by Fischer's Carbonlite (introduced a year ago and unchanged for fall T07). The Equipe 10 Classic features a significant departure in camber design with the new Heel Toe Classic Camber, promising, no surprise, improved glide and easier kick. Fischer intros the RCR Vasa (skate and classic models available) and pairs it with the women's Vision Pro skis (same design, different cosmetics) for citizen racers and high school skiers. Fischer revamps the RCS Crown nowax race ski by upgrading to an RCS construction. Earlier RCS Crown skis used the RCS nameplate with a less expensive core. Fischer also touts their new Computer Flex Control to better match ski pairs. Boots & bindings Most of the action in boots and bindings comes at the recreational level. The racing models are relatively unchanged. The standout new race boot is the Atomic Race Carbon Skate. This new model is lightweight, good looking and decked out with the SNS Pilot sole. Salomon's popular S-Lab boots are back unchanged. And Rossignol goes forward bravely with their Solar Orange cosmetic for their otherwise unchanged X-ium WC models. Fisher is showing a nice looking lineup of NNN system boots, having jettisoned SNS after last year. Fischer's top of the line Centrix boot is out of production this year but will probably break out again next year. Alpina's Titanium Carbon Skate and the Madshus Hyper are back. Salomon moves their Pilot system down into recreational ranks with their new Pilot Sport Binding. The binding is similar in appearance to the original Pilot in that it uses a bar rather than the belt-type on the new-this-past-season Pilot Classic. At a retail price of $65, the new binding may appeal only to upper-end recreational skiers. You'll find the new system under both Salomon and Atomic names. Look also for some nicely revamped recreational boots with the Pilot recreational sole from both companies. Poles Exel was for years the undisputed leader in XC poles. They were there at the beginning with the original Black Feather and revolutionized the way we looked at poles. And their efforts spared forests of bamboo trees from the pole factory. But Exel has floundered some in the past few years. That changes this year as the big E once again flexes its still considerable muscle. Nanotechnology makes an appearance in the Ntech pole construction. Their best pole is lighter by 6 percent, stiffer by 30 percent and stronger by 20 percent. How's that for a list of features? Their Black Feather, World Cup Racing and Formula models, all use Ntech. Exel also brings back the QLS strap system. And how's this for a worldwide marketing story: Exel can produce the shaft for some of their poles in Finland, send it to China for finish work, handles and grips, and ship it back to Finland for distribution. And they do all that more economically than by doing it all in Finland. Swix pretty much stays the course as does relative newcomer OneWay, distributed by Alpina. Both look very good. But I really liked the feel of the new Madshus poles, especially the Carbon Race HM and Carbon Race 40, and the new Rossignol World Cup pole looked very good. These all have the requisite lightweight and easy swing topped off with very nice grips and straps. Straps & grips Improvements in strap and grip design represent some significant changes this year. A comfortable strap is far less tiring to use and far more efficient in energy transfer. I was impressed with what I saw from OneWay, Madshus, Leki and Exel. Women's gear Women's ski gear is hot. Virtually every company showed off women's skis and women's boots, and many offer poles with a coordinated cosmetic theme. So the question must be asked, what makes a woman's ski specific to a woman? The answer in some cases is not a lot. A lot of women's skis are simply cosmetic top sheets on an existing ski. But not all. Fischer Vision skis use a lower, longer camber pocket and Rossignol typically softens the camber on women's Attraxion recreational skis and offers up their X-ium race ski in a woman's cosmetic and shorter size. Alpina goes with a longer nowax pattern. Atomic states that a female recreational skier has a different position on the ski than a male, thus their Balanze series accommodates that physiological difference. (Atomic posits that a competitive skier, coached and with her technique different than a recreational skier, can use essentially the same type of ski as a man would.) Whatever the theory behind it all, the differences cosmetic or substantive, look for a whole lot of women's skis next season. While there may be some debate on whether women need significant design changes in skis, there is no question they require different boots. Most women find boots made for their gender more comfortable than unisex-sized boots. Recognizing this, Rossignol comes with a women's race boot (essentially the same they've made as a low-volume boot the past couple years), and Madshus continues with their women's models. Alpina offers good-looking, lower-volume women's boots as Salomon, Atomic and Fischer. Most of all, the new women's boots look good, but none look revolutionary. Alpine skis Backcountry skiing is often overlooked in the Midwest. But Alpina, with their redesigned Cross Terrain (a wonderful off-trail ski in Wisconsin) and their Life Terrain, offer up two very good skis for the deep snow crowd. Fischer unveils a new Mountain Edge Technology that uses a ceramic edge that permits the nowax pattern to be cut into the actual edge of the ski. That should improve the grip on their off-trail ski, the Outbound Crown. No-wax skis Atomic and Salomon share a new no-wax base, the G2, for both grip and glide. ItUs an entirely new cut-base design that is the first real advance in no-wax design, at least for a wide market, in years. The G2 promises, to nobody's amazement, superior grip and better glide. Atomic and Salomon both make extensive use of the new base on a number of their skis, both recreational and performance. Madshus also adds a no-wax option to their Birkebeiner; the waxable version has been around for a few years and has played to rave reviews. Ski company mergers The ski business is changing and not simply in the products being offered. Cross-country ski companies are now often making strange bedfellows. Over a year ago a company named Amer Sport purchased Salomon. Amer also owned Atomic. The fruits of that merger are now being seen in skis produced in the same facility but using different designs. Salomon skis are not simply Atomic skis with a Salomon top sheet. Ditto for the new working agreement where Rossignol and Fischer, long rivals but now working together, now with some Rossignol skis being made by Fischer and, no surprise, some Fischer boots being produced by Rossignol. Again, each company can work with their own designs built to those specifications by a factory that they do not own. Karhu is now owned by sports giant K2 who also owns Madshus. And in another twist, another K2 company (K2 owns a lot of outdoor sports companies), Shakespeare, makes fishing rods and, now, shafts for some of the new Madshus ski poles. The old saw, 'The more things change, the more they stay the same' does not seem to apply to the ski business these days. The more things change in cross-country I the more they do change. Mitch Mode started cross-country skiing some 35 years ago. He has skied every Birkie since 1978 but no longer races. He is the co-owner of Mel's Trading Post, a sporting goods store in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, named after his late father who started the business in 1946.
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