With the cancellation of ISPO 2021, and half the world hiding behind Zoom calls, the usual January ski equipment hype went AWOL last season. We received the odd press release featuring a new product now and then but, to be honest, we were really missing the trade show vibes where we could get our hands on the new ski kit while hand-flexing a few pairs of skis.
With this year’s ISPO being rolled back to October, we headed to Slide (the UK’s very own ISPO) to bring you a look at the newest ski touring, freeride and all-mountain skis. So here we go, here’s the our snapshot of the most exciting products and the best skis for the 22/23 winter season, with lots of exciting developments in pretty much all categories of products.
We’re off to the SIGB ski test in Austria in the middle of March, so we’ll be sure to put our top selection of skis, boots and bindings through their paces. Then it’ll soon be time to get started on the production of the 2022 – 2023 Mpora Ski 100 – your one stop shop for all the information required to make an informed decision on your ski equipment for next year.
Ski Industry Trends 2022 – 2023
Ski touring and freeride continue to be the focussed category for many ski brands this season – a somewhat obvious revelation, given the resort closures and limited travel of last season. Although, just last year, I commented ski brands were looking to shed as much weight as possible from their touring skis, it looks as though things are going the other way. Brands now look happy to build a slightly heavier ski with a big boost in downhill performance. The K2 Dispatch and Volkl Rise Beyond are great examples of this.
Ski brands looked to be focusing their R&D time into boots and bindings, with some exciting releases coming up next season. Black Diamond have been launching some interesting accessories, such as their Impulse glove and Reacon X beacon, while Atomic has launched a pretty innovative skiing / climbing hybrid helmet.