equipment

ISPO News 2020 | Ski

The new products for the coming season at a glance

by Tobias Huber • 01/29/2020

There are a few new developments in the ski sector that should be of interest to PowderGuide readers. In addition to a few new touring models, most companies have tidied up their freeride portfolios. Roughly summarized, most of the new top models come in medium widths around 105mm, with Titanal for lift-assisted skiing, as well as without Titanal and in similar, lighter versions as touring models.

Last year, some major manufacturers stayed away from ISPO and this year the situation is similar. Among the absent Amer Sports brands (Atomic, Salomon) and a few smaller companies (e.g. Black Crows) or brands from overseas (4FRNT, Liberty, RMU) is now also Faction.

Nonetheless, there are still a few manufacturers who are presenting at the trade fair. For the most part, they all have new models and model lines on offer. Of course, the big revolution in ski design is still to come, the trend in freeride skis is still moving towards more moderate medium widths and almost all brands have a "hard charger" all-mountain ski in their range. In addition to the Blizzard Rustler models, Nordica's Enforcer models in particular are very popular in North America and other manufacturers are now also increasingly trying to cater to this trend. Basically, these are all-mountain skis with a center width of around 105mm and some Titanal, which work well both in the terrain, whether untracked or ploughed, as well as on the piste.

Another trend seems to be the "mid-season release". As soon as the skis are presented at the trade fair, they are already available to buy in stores in the second half of the season (sometimes in small quantities and only in selected lengths), or can at least be found on the manufacturer's website. The ski manufacturers remaining at ISPO presented the following innovations in the freeride and touring segment:

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Line

Line is launching the "Blade", a type of carving ski which, in addition to the dovetail models Sakana and Pescado, is designed to provide carving fun on the piste. The ski is somewhat reminiscent of the "fun carvers" from the early days of carving skis, but is slightly wider under the binding than the skis of that time. A completely new ski is the Vision 118, which replaces the widest model in the Sick Day range and is a rocker ski with camber under the binding.

K2 is relaunching its freestyle line. As with the Shreditor series, there are now three center widths for the playful "Reckoner" twintips: 102, 112 and 122mm. The skis look as if they have been designed exactly between the Shreditor and the asymmetrical Catamaran, i.e. a little more early taper than the Shreditors and again a symmetrical sidecut. The flex feels about the same as you would expect from a K2 freestyle ski.

Blizzard

While the Rustler models have only had design changes, there is now a new, symmetrical version for the widest ski model "Spur".

Scott

Scott is launching a newly developed touring-specific ski with the "Superguide Freetour". Slightly more early taper than before at approx. 1600g per ski. Information on this can already be found on the Scott website.

Völkl

Völkl presents the all-round freestyle ski Revolt 104 - co-developed by the Freestyle Team, just like the Revolt 121. The ski has camber under the binding and is part of the Revolt line designed by artist Ben Brough. There is also a new model in the "Hard Chargers" range: alongside the M5 Mantra and the Mantra 102, there is now a Katana 108 with a similar construction. The new "Blaze" series is being launched with similar center widths (106 and 94mm) but a completely different construction. Supposedly the lightest skis in their class with a construction with a continuous wood core. The skis also have damping inserts in the tip and tail as well as reinforcements in the binding mounting area. The skis are lightweight freetourers with a more traditional mounting point.

Nordica

The Enforcer and Santa Ana skis, which are particularly popular in North America, have been slightly revised for the coming season. While the shapes have remained the same, the transition areas from camber to rocker and the shape of the rocker have been adapted to the medium width and therefore to the predominant area of use. In addition, the Titanal inserts, which used to run over the entire ski, have been provided with cut-outs to improve performance and save weight (see gallery).

Dynastar

Dynastar now calls its freeride skis the M-Line and offers medium widths between 90 and 118mm. These are divided into the "hard charging" M-Pro skis (M-Pro 105, 99, 90 and 84), the M Free (the M-Free 118 replaces the Menace Proto, the M-Free 108 is more or less the "Legend Pro" with Titanal) and the lighter M-Tour models (M-Tour 99 and M-Vertical 88). There are also 3 models specifically for women (M-Pro 99W, 90W and 84W).

Rossignol

Rossignol is expanding its Blackops line: Now, in addition to the twin tips, there is also the directional "Charger" without an upturned tail: The Sender Ti with its 106mm center width. It has a slightly softer sister model, the normal Sender, which is slightly softer and lighter without the Titanal insert and will be available in other lengths. There is also the freetouring model Escaper (93mm waist width) and the lightweight Alpineer (86mm). The already well-known Blackops skis (98 and 118mm) are now called Blackops "Holyshred" and "Gamer". There are also Blackops women's models. Additional details about the Rossignol skis can be found in the gallery!

Photo gallery

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