POWDER Asks: Which Discontinued Skis Do You Wish Were Still Made?
Skiing, for the past two decades or so, has been constantly pushing forward, ever in search of novel ski designs that improve the on-snow experience, expanding the repertoire of what is and isn't possible on a pair of boards.
For us ski consumers, this is great -- the skis available today are inarguably more diverse and user-friendly than ever before.
Yet, in this rush towards the next big thing, some classics have been left behind. That's why we decided to pose the following question to our audience on Facebook.
Here are a few skier-generated answers that garnered the most attention:
"Salomón Pocket Rockets. Loved them and wore them out!"
"DynaStar Course GS."
"K2 hellbent." (Speaking of the oft-mourned Hellbent, Heritage Lab -- a small-batch, specialty ski manufacturer -- is producing a ski that's awfully similar to the Hellbent dubbed the HB122. Cy Whitling, our resident gear expert, wrote about the HB122 here.)
"Seth Pistols!!"
I had to think pretty hard about my own answer, and this is what I think I'm going with: Blizzard Gunsmokes (I was tempted to say the K2 Juvy, but that ski, against all odds, is still in production. Although the top sheets now have 100% fewer crosshairs).
In a not-so-distant past, Blizzard didn't just make directional, big-mountain freight train skis -- they also had a true twin tip: the Gunsmokes.
Back in the day, I had a pair of the 2013 Gunsmokes, the ones with the blue top sheets and the enormous Blizzard bull branding. I loved them.
Later, in college, I spent several years on the Blizzard Rustler, the brand's flagship model which was emblematic of its shift away from freestyle-oriented skis. While landing switch on them was a bit spooky, they were fantastic skis, striking the perfect balance between slightly playful and hard-charging sensibilities -- Blizzard knows how to make a relatively approachable ski with a high-speed limit. Still, I wished I could've gone switch on the Rustler without risking hooking up the mostly flat, directional tail.
That's ultimately why I'd like to see something like the Gunsmoke come back. They married Blizzard's ability to create skis that charge with a little freestyle DNA -- a match, it turns out, was made in heaven.
Blizzard, if you're reading this, throw a true twin on one of your new models. Brands that aren't known for their freestyle offerings making freestyle skis are all the rage these days. Heck, even Elan is making twin tips now. And Fischer's making a revamped park ski?
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