Just a thought...

[JimG.]

We seem to have warmer and warmer Falls leading to later and later openings. In recent years, demo days have been pushed off until the holidays for lack of snow cover.

If this trend continues, what might become of demo days? Ski reps hate to get demo equipment back torn to shreds because some yahoo (who me?) decided to test the limits on grass and rocks. More important, if the demos are pushed back to, say, January that would certainly put a damper on the new ski sales the reps would hope to realize from the demos. Who wants to buy brand new equipment in the middle of the season (excluding the nut cases here who buy skis in the summer and what not)?

I'd love to hear opinions from the manufacturers or reps themselves.

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

We seem to have warmer and warmer Falls leading to later and later openings. In recent years, demo days have been pushed off until the holidays for lack of snow cover.

If this trend continues, what might become of demo days? Ski reps hate to get demo equipment back torn to shreds because some yahoo (who me?) decided to test the limits on grass and rocks. More important, if the demos are pushed back to, say, January that would certainly put a damper on the new ski sales the reps would hope to realize from the demos. Who wants to buy brand new equipment in the middle of the season (excluding the nut cases here who buy skis in the summer and what not)?

I'd love to hear opinions from the manufacturers or reps themselves.

I'm the pro rep for Nordica at Whiteface, and I certainly don't know the opinions of everyone in the industry, but I don't see it as a big problem. I think demo days are a lot of fun, but the effect they have on actual sales is not great.

I was going to start a poll in here on how many people actually demoed their gear before they bought it. After several failed attempts at creating a poll I gave up. :dunce:

Demo days are often a grab ass situation. You stand in line at say the Volkl tent, you finally get up there and the 6*s you wanted to try are out, so what do you do, you take whatever they have, often in the wrong size. How many times will a guy plucking down $60 for a ticket go through that? Not many cause he's there to ski.

I know a full time patroller at WF who just orderd the Matron B5. He'll be on them everyday of the season. He didn't demo, he just heard good things, new what catagory of ski he wanted and that's that.

After proof reading this I see I sound anti-demo and I'm really not. It is good to do, but so few of the skiing public do it that it's nice for the business, but not really imperative.

BTW, major props to Greg for getting Jeff Bokum to contribute in hear. Getting a Master Bootfitter to answer your questions from the confort of your own home is a great resource for us all. :beer:

 

[bvibert]

I was going to start a poll in here on how many people actually demoed their gear before they bought it. After several failed attempts at creating a poll I gave up. :dunce:

Here you go: Do you Demo?

 

[riverc0il]

i think we need to seperate demoing from demo days. the preferred method of demoing should be hit up a demo day to try a lot of skis out and then do a full day demo on something you really liked to really give it a work out. on a demo day, you only get one or two runs per ski usually (if you want to try a lot which is a good idea) and you get suspect early season conditions. best to try again on an all day rental on good conditions to really give a ski a full work out.

then again, for those skiers that know what they are looking for and know the history of certain models, you often don't need a demo. for example, i bought my volkl p50 motions solely on my experience of the p40 platinum. a great purchase that was even better than i had expected. same with buying my inspired bigs (same as legend 8800) which i bought based on my experience with the 8000 without demoing. another ripper that was a fantastic purchase without a demo.

so demoing is really important, but to a certain extent specific knowledge about a model, company, and line can also be equally beneficial.

all that said, i don't see demoing being pushed back further. demo days don't really happen until thanksgiving and that still is the week most larger ski areas shoot for as a must be open date.

 

[bvibert]

i think we need to seperate demoing from demo days. the preferred method of demoing should be hit up a demo day to try a lot of skis out and then do a full day demo on something you really liked to really give it a work out. on a demo day, you only get one or two runs per ski usually (if you want to try a lot which is a good idea) and you get suspect early season conditions. best to try again on an all day rental on good conditions to really give a ski a full work out.

Thats a good point, I never really thought about it that way. I dare say that most people aren't going to go through that much trouble.

Seems to me that the season would have to start really late to affect the demos days too much...

 

[deadheadskier]

(excluding the nut cases here who buy skis in the summer and what not)?

I pretty much always buy my gear in the middle of the summer. I'll test a few in the spring time to see what I like, then wait to find them in store in the summer time brand new and dirt cheap on close out.

I can't remember the last time I purchased 'this season's' skis. Yes technology improves, but I'd rather pay $400 for a set of brand new skis from last year than $700 for this years model.

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

i think we need to seperate demoing from demo days. the preferred method of demoing should be hit up a demo day to try a lot of skis out and then do a full day demo on something you really liked to really give it a work out. on a demo day, you only get one or two runs per ski usually (if you want to try a lot which is a good idea) and you get suspect early season conditions. best to try again on an all day rental on good conditions to really give a ski a full work out.

Thats a good point, I never really thought about it that way. I dare say that most people aren't going to go through that much trouble.

Seems to me that the season would have to start really late to affect the demos days too much...

You’re both right. Oil’s way is the way to go, but Berts right cause few people will go through all that. Plus you have to pay to demo for the day unless you buy the ski then most shops subtract that fee from the selling price.

 

[riverc0il]

i have only done that long method twice, but both times paid dividends and as i mentioned, i went on to purchase similar skis in a particular line without demoing with huge success. i agree, very few people put that much time, money, and effort into testing a skis limitations and fit for their body, skill, and technique.

 

[sledhaulingmedic]

I think there's arguments tobe made for both types of demo'ing.

I was at Stratton last year for a demo day and got to ski every ski in every size that I wanted. I really enjoyed being able to compare and contrast not only the skis, but the sizes.

I suppose, in a perfect world, you could work the buffet at the demo day to narrow it down and then get a full day in on a pair that you really like to be certain it's in fact, a marriage made in Heaven(ly).

In the past, I've bought a lot on recomendations. Now, where radical shapes have brought the lengths down, demoing is really a necessity.