Name: Julian (the Don)
Age: 36½
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 18½ stone of pure Yorkshire beef, with a little bit of gristle now (you should see how far he hits a cricket ball)
Number of years skiing: 31
Ability level: BASI 2, ex-competitor – technical, aggressive, fast, love to ski hard compact snow with sharp edges and moguls
Favourite ski(s) of the week: I had a few favourites. In the all-mountain category I thought the Nordica Hot Rods (Eliminator and Nitrous) beat the pants off the others – it suits my style of skiing to a tee. A full wood core and ABS sidewalls, it performs like a race ski at speed but still has a massive sweet if you want to take it easier and at £400 and £500 nothing else comes close to these prices. Grin factor = 10. All Mountain Carve Category favourites: For the technical skiers the RX8; superb edge hold on hard snow, fantastically smooth through the turn and a manageable radius. It feels light on your feet but holds a line even in chopped up wet snow (RX6 – similar feel – more forgiving @ moderate speeds). For those looking for a first ski as an early intermediate the Head C220i is a winner. At £260 for the ski + binding you get a highly technical construction with Intelligence damping in a ski that is sooo easy to use – but, and it’s a big but, you also get bucket loads of performance you can tap into as you get better. An example of how good this ski is – I tested it on hard snow in March, I skied it as intermediate would for one run, on the second run I decided to push it as far as it would go – I pushed and pushed and pushed, the ski would not let go, the edge grip and rebound were astounding for this level of ski – a bargain.
Overall thoughts, on the test and the range: The summer test is superb. We can assemble all the key staff from each store in one place and get to know each other inside out. Training in the evenings was well worth while (yes it is work you know, not just a holiday!!!) and I think everyone everyone learnt new things during the week. Long may it continue (maybe we should visit New Zealand next summer – are you reading this Bob?).