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Gear Guides

riverc0il

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you'll have to wait a little longer for some of the gear guides this year...Ski isn't running the gear guide until their October issue....so september release and Skiing is also going to Oct. Skiing has changed their whole format, only 2 print issues, Gear in Oct and Resort in Dec, and the rest will be 6 online editions.
Puck it, its not really a "pay to play" thing...the equipment editors and editorial staff keep their distance from the publishers and ad sales folks. Ski, Skiing, Freeskier...all are "free" for the ski manufacturers to enter and attend...it just costs a pile of money in test skis and lodging, airfare, and expenses for one to two guys to maintain a feet of skis and ship them around to different venues in the winter. Powder switched their format a bit and there was a cost to attend, but that cost included lodging, lift tickets, meals and apres for up to two company guys for 4 days in Jackson Hole and a one or two page "advetorial" in the buyers guide...all for less than their normal full page rate. The reviews in Powder will still be done by their testers and based on feedback from their testers, not ski company marketing guys. The tests are about as unbiased as they can make without requiring their testers to ski blindfolded.
I actually believe the unbiased nature of ski reviews in magazines. That is because reviews are extremely generic and full of hyperbole and fully turn of word phrasing, generally focusing more on what the ski is intended to do that what it does well. I also think the mags recognize a complete review detailing how a ski performs for each individual type of skier is impossible in three sentences or less.

What I don't buy is this whole "it is free to have skis there" or "it only costs less than a full page magazine ad in associated resort fees" stuff. If that was the case, there would be a lot more ski reviews in magazines. Maybe things have changed, but last time I picked up a ski or skiing mag, I didn't see Black Diamond, G3, Dynafit, Tab, etc (AT/Tele market) nor the boutique companies like Icelantic, PM Gear, Bluehouse, Praxis, etc. The mags have limited space and can not list every ski. So it makes sense that they take care of their advertisers first and foremost. I find it hard to believe that the smaller brands would not ship a few demos out to a testing if it was free or even relatively low cost.
 

riverc0il

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Print is dead. We will also will not be seeing SkiPress here in the US this year, shame they were probably the best (print) reviews of late.
+1 and Bummer. Hopefully they will have their online version. That was definitely the best gear related rag but even they have gone downhill into two line generic "reviews".
 

Mildcat

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and...
- it has zero start-up time

I will dispute this point. The reason I rarely buy Zines anymore is because it pisses me off that I'm paying for a mag and still have to flip though 10+ pages of ads just to get to the "Table of Contents". You could consider flipping through the ads as start up time. :smash:
 
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I actually believe the unbiased nature of ski reviews in magazines. That is because reviews are extremely generic and full of hyperbole and fully turn of word phrasing, generally focusing more on what the ski is intended to do that what it does well. I also think the mags recognize a complete review detailing how a ski performs for each individual type of skier is impossible in three sentences or less.

What I don't buy is this whole "it is free to have skis there" or "it only costs less than a full page magazine ad in associated resort fees" stuff. If that was the case, there would be a lot more ski reviews in magazines. Maybe things have changed, but last time I picked up a ski or skiing mag, I didn't see Black Diamond, G3, Dynafit, Tab, etc (AT/Tele market) nor the boutique companies like Icelantic, PM Gear, Bluehouse, Praxis, etc. The mags have limited space and can not list every ski. So it makes sense that they take care of their advertisers first and foremost. I find it hard to believe that the smaller brands would not ship a few demos out to a testing if it was free or even relatively low cost.

There is NO fee or cost to enter skis in the mag tests for Ski and Skiing Magazines other than lodging, transportation, and expenses for the manufacturers reps who are there to take care of the skis. Sure, you don't see any G3 or Black Diamond ads in Ski and Skiing...but its not their demographic...so why spend 10K+ for a page in a magazine that doesn't reach your core market? I know for a fact that Black Diamond has been at the Skiing test for the last 3years...I've skied with their company guy during the test...and had breakfast with him, beers, and gone backcountry skiing with him the day after the tests...same with guys from 4Frnt, Scott, and Kastle. They can't just ship a few pair out though, the mags require someone from the brand be in attendance...check out the Skiing Gear Guide 2010, you'll find skis from Movement, Moment, 4frnt, Black Diamond, Fatypus, Scott, DPS, and Liberty all reviewed in the mag right alongside the K2s and Volkls. The number of pages of reviews are limited by the mags due to $$$$, not due to a lack of attendance from a multitude of brands. Last year the only 2 ski brands to advertise in Ski Magazine were K2 and Volkl...but they weren't the only 2 brands to get reviewed in the buyer's guide.
 

riverc0il

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Good to hear the boutique brands are in the mags now. To be honest, I haven't picked up a gear guide in the past three years, so I was unaware of that change. Thanks for the correction!
 
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