Ski makers invest a lot to determine what kinds of boards skiers want, so we ask them to provide us with their key models, the ones you'll most likely find on shop racks. Then we lecture our 25 testers about leaving any preconceptions behind. We set testers loose on the test skis, about 150 models total, sorted by waist width and divided equally among the number of test days (five unisex, four women-specific). Testers ski each model and articulate its character, strengths, weaknesses, and ideal use and user. They also rate each model numerically according to nine different performance criteria. We crunch their numbers, consider those along with tester straw-poll votes gathered during end-of-day debriefing sessions, come up with the top skis, and review them here. The boot test works pretty much the same way, so we won't bore you with those particulars. It's kind of like we're shooting an arrow with our test notes attached straight to you from the mountains. Kind of.
Click here to meet the testers
2012: The Highlights
It's a big year for boots and sidecountry. Mature rocker designs dominate ski lines. As always, manufacturers have done their best to make your perfectly good gear look old and crappy.
Boots
Boots are where the action is in 2012. Nordica introduces a whole new design, the three-piece Firearrow. Alpine/AT hybrid boots are breeding like backcountry bunnies. Meanwhile, two new custom-shell technologies debut. There's Fischer's Vacuum line, which uses a plastic that softens at low heat; wearing the heat-softened boots, the skier stands in compression booties that mold the shell to his or her foot shape and stance angle. Head's approach is simpler: Turn the screw on an Adaptive Fit sole and your forefoot fit gets two millimeters narrower.
Bindings
Still think your Markers are going to come off? You could ski with a lighter touch—or just get the new Jester Pro, with its 18-DIN spring. That oughta keep you in, big boy. Also worth noting is the progress of the three-year-old KneeBinding. Will it save your knee in a rearward twisting fall? Well, the company just released this pretty compelling video: kneebinding.com/ski2. You decide. We know it skis well, so those with knee worries might want to consider it. And why, you ask, doesn't Salomon have an AT binding? Now it does. Finally. The Guardian has been sighted and will probably start ascending a mountain near you before winter is over.
Skis
After a decade of development, it feels like the industry has finally shaken out its favorite rocker designs. A combination of early rise and camber underfoot dominates most lines, though full-length rocker (or at least zero camber with tip and tail rise) continues to be offered as well. Sidecountry skis—lighter, skin-friendly, rockered collections like K2's Backside Adventure and Nordica's Sidecountry series—are also available in greater numbers. There are also some cool graphics out there, like those on Nordica's Patrón.
