2009 Ski Test Report

[Horton]

The tests are wrapped up and Tadd is somewhere glaring bug-eyed at his MacBook, drinking cocoanut milk and wondering how he got talked into doing this.

As always, I am sure that someone is going to ask "so Horton, what is the best ski?". I have two answers: 1) You can read the test the day it comes out. 2) I personally do not believe there is a "best" ski. There are big differences and when you read what Tadd writes you will have a guide for what to try. Please don't ask for inside info between now and when the mag comes out. You will not get it. (Any info I give to MS will be false.)

The week as a whole was very different for me from when I was in charge..... way better for me. More importantly, I honestly think Tadd did a great job. 4 years ago when Joe Darwin and I did it we totally thought we had the idea and it would be easy. I had no idea.

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The week itself was memorable for some other reasons.
Having spent a day each with Andy, Asher, Jamie , Sully, Rini, Chad Scott, and Seth with out seeing any of them ski seemed odd.
We attended the premier of PJ McMilan's new slalom film "Evolve" at a Hippie health food resterant called "Daily Dose". The food was great and the movie is very cool. I will be watching it all winter.
Tadd's evil white 437 year old dog "Bagels" attacked me every time I got ready to ski.

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Best quotes of the week:

Andy Mapple on beer "There is a meal in every bottle"
Jamie B on slalom "You have to stay between the wheels."
Rini on Jamie "I don't know what he is talking about."

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In closing, I have to say that the H2oz guys have a very cool thing going. They now have thier own site 10 minutes from Trophy Lakes as well as a full pro shop in Georgia. Around Seth and Tadd, they have built a little sub-cultural of skiers who train there. Young guys like Jason Hutchings and PJ McMillan add to the vibe. On one hand you have guys that are on the cutting edge of the sport and on the other hand you totally have a group of guys there to have fun. These guys are living the dream and these are the guys that made ski test happen this year.

[Horton]

All the majors were there. List of reps is in my post above.

[Horton]

Yea Chad was there and did a great job. No one got hurt and no one went to jail.

[DaveD]

Did you keep track of how many sets and passes you ran throughout the test?  How beat up were you by the end?  How well did your liver survive? 

[Horton]

My liver was fine.... Seems like we skied a lot but I was ready to go for one more day when we were done.