Ski Test 2009 - Diavolezza
15 Ellis Brigham ski staff members have just returned from the beautiful Swiss resort of St Moritz after testing our soon-to-be-launched 09/10 range of skis. You may not think there’s much skiing in late May but what there is can be very good!
A 20hour road and ferry trip saw us arrive at our hotel, The LodgeInn, Celerina, at 6 o’clock Sunday evening. After spending so long cooped up in cars we were keen to get going the next morning and were loading skis into the cable car by 7.45am.
The skiing took place at Diavolezza, a freeride-orientated mountain with outstanding late season snow, and May 2009 was no exception. The glacier at the top was in excellent condition; firm and quick in the morning with smooth, soft snow by lunch. Top-to-bottom skiing was still possible, with a long, fast run from the door of the cable car, right down the car park with barely a patch of grass on the way. The skiing was good till 4 in the afternoon and the blue skies stayed with us all week. We really couldn’t ask for more.
Shops from all over the country were represented with staff demo’ing each of the skis for next season, learning first-hand exactly why the ski has been selected, what makes the model is so special, and who will benefit most from every ski. Priceless information that can only be gained personally. Fat skis were tried in soft spring snow, performance piste skis were pushed on early morning ice and all-mountain choices were tested… all over the mountain!
But we weren’t just there to ski, we also spent every evening down in the boot room working hard on improving skills such as servicing, footbeds, boot adjustments and biomechanics.
4 days of sun and snow, excellent food, and testing and training passed very quickly with the packing of the vans on Thursday afternoon and a long drive home.
www.ellis-brigham.com/skitest0910reviews.htm
