ONE-SKI QUIVER: Reviewers’ Choices – Part 3
One ski, for every day on the mountain, any and all conditions….
That’s the topic at hand, and this is Part 3 of our One-Ski-Quiver series.
To recap, we’ve asked our reviewers the following four questions, and these questions make up our selection criteria:
1) You have to choose one ski to use every day at the following BLISTER test sites: Taos, Alta, Jackson Hole, Las Leñas, and Niseko. What ski would you choose for each of those places? (You’re allowed up to two picks for each place, a first choice and a runner-up.)
2) What skis were the most difficult to leave off your list?
3) What skis do you imagine have the greatest likelihood of making your list, if and when you get to ski them (or get to ski them more)?
And finally, the Ultimate, End-All-Be-All, No Caveats, Bottom Line, One-Ski Quiver Question:
4) If over the next three seasons you had to ski one ski, every day, regardless of location, what would you choose?
TWO RULES, ONE REQUEST:
1) We’ve only considered what we’ve actually skied.
This should, of course, be obvious, but the ski review industry is a funny place. Some review sites give awards to stuff that they’ve hardly tested. We don’t. If you want to brush up on how we do things around here, check out the BLISTER Manifesto.
2) No company has paid us to get their ski on this list.
BLISTER is different. We don’t accept any money from any of the manufacturers we review. We don’t allow them to buy advertising on our website, and we don’t charge them a fee to review their skis. (Maybe that’s why our reviews don’t read like everybody else’s….)
3) If you’re ticked that your favorite ski didn’t make our list, tell us.
We’ll look to test the ski this coming season, and we’ll see whether we agree with you.
Each week, BLISTER reviewers will present their One-Ski Quiver choices.
The first One-Ski Quiver: Reviewers’ Choices were from BLISTER Editor-in-Chief, Jonathan Ellsworth, and BLISTER reviewer Julia Van Raalte.
Last week, reviewers Will Brown and Lexi Dowdall weighed in.
Today, it’s Jason Hutchins and Kate Hourihan’s turn.
Comments:
Questions? Comments? Tell us what you think.
Related Posts:
ONE-SKI QUIVER: Reviewers’ Choices
One ski, for every day on the mountain, any and all conditions. This is the Holy Grail of the ski industry, and we're going to let you know which skis in our view come closest to the ideal of the one-ski quiver.
ONE-SKI QUIVER: Reviewers’ Choices – Part 2
One Ski, Part Two. Find out which skis approach the ideal of the One-Ski Quiver for BLISTER reviewers Will Brown and Lexi Dowdall.
2012-2013 Line Sir Francis Bacon
The Line Sir Francis Bacon is a really good ski for just about everything, from groomers to hand drags. And you know what's really fun? Being on a ski that's good at just about everything.
June 23, 2012 at 6:20 pm
First off, thanks to all of you guys for the great reviews. Please keep up the good work. Question for Jason or any of the male reviewers: did you ski the Katana in a 184 cm this year? With the 186 cm Sickle and the 185 cm Cochise ending up on a lot of reviewers OSQ lists, I’m surprised the 184 cm Katana didn’t make an appearance. On paper, these three skis look pretty similar: same length, almost identical widths and sidecut profiles, and very subtle elliptical rocker from tip to tail. So is it the flex that turned people off of the Katana 184 cm as a daily driver? Or did you guys just not test it in that length?
June 30, 2012 at 9:18 pm
Hi, Dan – we only skied the Katana in the 191, and Will Brown and I both love that ski. The 184 is a softer flex, however, than the 191…and we don’t know how much softer. But you’ve piqued my curiosity—I would be very interested to do a head to head comparison of the 185 Cochise and the 184 Katana. Hopefully we can arrange that this season. The Sickle is a less directional ski than either the Katana or Cochise, so seems like a less direct comparison.
Anyway, thanks for the comment. Cochise / Katana has been added to our To Review list for this season.
October 23, 2012 at 1:03 pm
I think you guys nailed it for people looking for the one ski quiver! However I am going for the full quiver and am having trouble with deciding on a ski around 98mm for your crap conditions. I skied the bonafide and was blown away by the control and carving nature but am afraid it may not be playful enough. I hated the experience 98, because it seemed to only want to carve ( could have been a bad tune ) and seemed hooky if straight-lining. Ultimately I am looking for a ski like the bonafide, that is a bit more playful, but without being too soft either. The skis that have caught my attention are : scimitar, s3, bonafide, pb&j, ritual. The mountain I ski at is not very steep, has lots’ of natural wind lips, trees, jumps. I like to attack the mountain, carve trenches, and slash and slarve everything. I’m sure each ski would be great, but maybe you would rule out some from my description. Thanks for your time.