Sneak Peek - New 2013/2014 Gear at SIA

We just finished day two of the On Snow Demos here at Winter Park Resort as part of the SIA show here in Denver Colorado. We will be posting a few dozen new gear review videos of the 2013/2014 gear on the BSC forums in the coming weeks but wanted to let you know what were our stand out picks from the On Snow portion of the SIA show. We'll keep it brief for now but rest assured more will follow on these products to watch:

(click images for a larger view)

2014 Atomic Waymaker Tour AT Boots with Tech fittings

Atomics foray into the alpine touring tech fitting world is making it's debut in 2013/2014 with the Waymaker. A relatively light AT boot with a downhill feel to drive bigger skis in and out of bounds, one we want to spend more time with and hopefully perform a full review of. 

2014 Volkl Katana Vwerks 184 Skis with full carbon top sheet 

These are the ferrari of skis, they look incredibly tech and are light yet stiff. They love to go fast (some times too fast as my yard sale wounds will attest to).

2014 POC Fornix Helmet with mips technology

It's a helmet within a helmet—kind of. The internal frame is independent of the outer shell allowing for better cranial protection form impacts, plus they are made bomber tough. See the following two photos of the POC Fornix Helmet below. 

2014 POC Lobe Goggles

A spherical goggle that has interchangeable lenses, soft frames and seamlessly compatible with POC helmets.

2014 POC Lid Goggles

A top gun, flat no nonsense goggle design with a huge field of vision. Lenses are interchangeable and the frames are soft. Integration with POC helmets is a given here as well.

2014 Blizzard Scout Skis with Flip core technology

A ski with 108mm underfoot, substantial rocker in the tip and tail, flat camber underfoot, This is basically the same ski design as the award winning Cochise but without metal for those wanting a more nimble and forgiving ski.

2014 Kastle TX107 Skis

New for 2014 the TX series is designed with backcountry in mind, this is a solid cap construction ski that carved on Winter Park Ski Resort's groomers but would easily take on some crud. One to try in powder. And, yes that is Chris Davenport setting up my bindings for the test drive.

2014 Kastle TX97 skis 

Also part of the TX series, the TX97 is lighter and narrower than the TX107. With an early rise tip and Hollow-Tech tip construction that reduces swing weight, these skis were designed for the backcountry skier who wants a light manoeuvrable ski. It also won't chatter on groomers. 

2014 Voile V8 Skis

A lighter ski made for backcountry skiing that carved surprisingly well on the frontside hard pack at Winter Park Resort giving us the impression it's a playful yet robust ski for it's weight. Classic Voile cap construction with rocker.

2014 Voile Buster Skis

Voile has a quiver of backcountry skis to choose from (check out the second photo below) but the Buster is 120mm under foot and made for the POW. Given the hard pack conditions at Winter Park Resort during our brief testing we know that this ski will shine in the softer snow as it was still a heap of fun in bounds on the groomers.

2014 Volkl Nanuq Skis

With a new top sheet for 2014, the easy going Nanuq was a stable carve on the firmer snow conditions of the day and responsive in the trees where the snow was softer, would be nice to see how these gals float in powder. 

2014 Salomon Lumen Ski for Women

Completely new for 2014, the Lumen is part of the backcountry oriented Quest series that introduces Salomon's new Utility Rocker shape. The Lumen looks like it could be a great all rounder on and off-piste, stay tuned. 

2014 SkiLogik Rock Star Skis

117cm underfoot and double rockered these skis look burly but as soon as you get them on edge they just want to turn, they are surprisingly quick edge-to-edge and a lot of fun in the trees. This ski would love powder but then who doesn't?

2013 SkiLogik Yeti Skis

SkiLogik has two skis that are backcountry skiing specific, the Piton and the Yeti. The Yeti is the wider of the two with a 105 mm waist but it only weighs in at 3300 grams for the pair. It performed well on the packed groomers but I am sure it will really shine once we mount it with Plum Tech Bindings and let it loose in the backcountry which is it's natural environment. Stay tuned for the full review on this one later this month.

Another stand out and one to watch that we didn't get in photos, was the Scarpa Freedom SL boot. New for 2014, it's a burlier touring boot designed for 70% resort 30% backcountry. These boots 'll drive a more aggessive ski and hold a ballsy line. The SL comes tech compatible with intuition liners. 

Check back soon for more photos, thoughts and videos of all the new backcountry skiing gear for the 2013/2014 season.