Ah yes, tis the season of all the skiing magazines “Buyers Guides”. Glossy pictures of skis, boots, bindings, helmets, and all the goods that help us enjoy our skiing experience. What is the newest, latest, and greatest gear for the season? Every Buyers Guide will happily share their answers with you. But there is a problem with Buyer’s Guides. They don’t always make sense. One year a ski will be the best of the best, and the next year it is the worst of the worst yet the only difference is that the manufacturer changed the cosmetics. It’s always been speculated that good reviews are directly proportional to the advertising dollars spent in the magazine by a particular manufacturer. Our advice when reading these magazines is to take what you read with a grain of salt!
One thing that a local ski shop (like Greenwood’s Ski Haus) that has been around for 57 years can give you is the knowledge of which skis work best around our area. Heck, we may have spent time on the slopes with you and are familiar with how and where you like to ski. When we test skis prior to selecting the models we order for the following season, we actually test the skis we carry and even those we don’t. It is normal for both the men and ladies at Greenwood’s to ski both men’s and ladies skis, from the beginner skis to race skis. Rockered, reverse sidecut, and the fattest skis made! We ski them all. That way when you come to talk skis with us, we don’t just hand you a consumer catalog and guess at what would work for you. We can give you hands on (or boots on!) experience.
When we reviewed one of the boot test sections in the Buyer’s Guides a few years ago, we just shook our heads. The magazine recommended that you go to several shops and try on as many boots as possible, until you don’t have the patience to continue. Here at Greenwood’s we take a completely different approach to finding the right boot for you. We believe in providing a range of boot shell shapes and flexes and matching the best shell shape to your foot shape. We have experienced boot fitters that know the boot shapes and can narrow the choices for you saving time and frustration. By combining our boot selection process with our tools and boot fitting knowledge, we can get you the best fit possible. If you haven’t seen our boot stretching tools, just ask and we will show you the process. As we all know, if your feet aren’t happy, you’re not happy.
So…let those magazines get you all excited for the snow to start flying. Look at all the amazing pictures and let yourself get sucked into the pages. When you are ready to look at new equipment, come down to Greenwood’s, enjoy the essence of hot wax drifting from the shop, and get some first hand knowledge.