ExoticSkis.Com

One week after launching their website at StormSkis.com in October 2008, Andy David and crew introduced their lineup of skis at the London Ski Show.  One of two new (and only?) U.K. ski companies we know of, Storm Skis designs and manages their lineup of freeride and carving skis (yes - a "Freeride" company making a slalom-inspired carving ski for the frontside...now THAT's unusual) from the U.K., but has the actual construction performed in a "leading European factory" specializing in wood cores.  While Storm appears to be a totally UK based company, Andy David, director of Storm, assures us that he has much broader and bigger plans to grow the brand across Europe and into the rest of the skiing World. Storm will bring out a bunch of new skis:

- Stormforce Pro 137-110-126 32m radius @191cm
big mountain powder ski
- Devastator Pro 125-100-120 24m radius @183cm
big mountain powder ski
- Storm Strike 134-105-124 22m radius @180cm
backcountry twintip
- Storm Rage 118-84-107 19.1m radius @166cm,
21.2m radius @ 174cm
- Storm Aurora Sky 121-82-110 18m radius @173cm
- Storm Inferno Lab 114-64-99 11.3m radius @155cm,
12.6m radius @ 165cm.
- Storm Blaze (no specs other than 155cm) smaller version of Inferno for lightweight skiers.

“I want to avoid any stigma being placed on us by being British run as soon as possible. All of our team are seasoned snowsport professionals with many seasons experience gained World Wide. It is for that reason now that we are actively seeking international distributors and athletes to sponsor to broaden our global appeal”.

Ed Waite becomes one of the first Storm Skis team members:

Build quality and attention to detail is of utmost importance to Storm, and that is why they enlisted the help of a specialized European construction facility rather than trying to do it all alone.  As with so many small ski designers, trying to build and maintain a high-quality production shop is prohibitively expensive, so it makes sense to spend limited cash on designs, materials and testing.  Outsourcing construction of the materials and designs to your specifications to experienced and well-equiped facilities seems to be a winning combination for launching new ski companies.  With some shops laying partially idle after production runs for bigger ski companies, keeping the presses humming and employees busy with smaller customized production projects keeps eveyone happy and more skis coming out to hungry skiers.

Not only is Storm setting themselves apart from the typical freeride ski company by producing a narrow-waisted frontside carving ski, their entire approach and attitude is different.  While most new freeride companies jump on the bandwagon of skateboard-inspired, grunge and post grunge chic style attitude, graphics and company communication with the customers, Storm has chosen a clean and simple look and feel for the skis and the corporate image.  As Andy says:

“I am just a bit tired of seeing the same old street style graphics being reproduced by so many brands. So given our company and name and outlook, we have opted to try and portray ourselves in a different light by sticking close to our original Storm theme. This is a conscious attempt to make all our company’s products become easily identifiable. If we become a recognised brand over the years to come and build a reputation for quality goods and do it in a way where we do not have to depict street crime and or glamorise violence then that will be a mission accomplished for me. Surely the environment and places we find ourselves participating in this sport should encourage a more wholesome approach and message to be conveyed. To coin a phrase I read recently on a ski site….lets drop cliffs not bombs! This perfectly sums up our approach to the whole design process”

Storm will run an extensive try-before-you-buy program over the winter, so people will be able to get out and about on these products to offer independent reviews.  We here at ExoticSkis will try to get on some Storm Skis as soon as we can get our hands on a pair this season and report on how they perform.  Keep your eyes on their website for announcements and availability of different models.

Initial on-snow reports from people trying the Storm skis indicate these are serious, athletic skis for hard charging riders, not some fluffy poofy freeride wannabe skis. We will let you know what they feel like as soon as we can get on a few pairs.

Some pics:

We went to visit Peter Stelzner in his hidden workshop in Montreuil (Paris) France to find out what the story was about these handmade skis by Rabbit On The Roof people seem to rave about.  We also wanted to find out what was up with these rabbits.  What we found was a fanatically dedicated ski builder making some very cool skis.  We also found rabbits. Lots of rabbits.

Rather than try to format a story for the limited space on this page, we generated a 19 page PDF document (mostly photos!) you can download and read.  Click one of the links below to get your preferred version:

Download story as 1.3mb PDF (low res photos)
Download story as 9mb PDF (higher res. photos)

Here are some images of the first two pages of the story:

Download story as 1.3mb PDF (low res photos)
Download story as 9mb PDF (higher res. photos)

John Mansell of Sterling Skis has announced a slightly detuned, lighterweight (163cm length is 1460 grams; 174cm length is 1640 grams; 185cm length is 1720 grams) version of the flagship Matterhorn called the Matterhorn AT ("All Terrrain") for 2008-2009 in three different exotic wood topsheets for $2,225 (usd). 

As many people found out (including us in our tests) in 2008, the Matterhorn is a race-bred, high performance ski with remarkable athletic capabilities.  Since many people need a slightly more versatile and forgiving ski for frontside terrain, John has provided a softer-flexing Matterhorn "AT"  for skiers who do not want, nor command, a high-end, race-oriented performance capability, but crave the ability to have unlimited grip at any speed under foot. 

As we found last year, the flagship Matterhorn is a ski you could race.  Non-racers found the ski to be extremely secure in all terrain, but demanding as a thoroughbred due to its racing design. Racers and ex-racers found a ski to bring their skills to bear on any turns they could imagine. The Matterhorn "AT" is more forgiving than the Matterhorn for those lighter-weight skiers or those who do no want to make race-like turns all day.  After testing the Matterhorn last season, ExoticSkis told John that we absolutely loved the racing-inspired performance of the ski, but it tired intermediate skiers who appreciated the sophisticated turn quality and security, but simply could not maintain the level of effort the ski requested turn after turn.  Everyone loved the ski, and was surpised by the extreme performance it delivered in such an elegantly finished package, The intermediate and ligthter-weight skiers were blown away by the security and turn pressure it could deliver, but were tired after a few runs and said "boy...if it was just a little more flexible and compliant, this would be a race-ski we could ski all over the mountain."  John listened and delivered an version with just a wee-bit softer flex and pressure requirement.  We cannot wait to try this version and report our findings. 

This is not an inexpensive ski at $2,225 usd (with bindings), but it is a remarkably beautiful ski built to exacting standards with a heart of a racing machine.   As John Mansell of Sterling says:

"The AT is light, very light. I think it is the lightest woodcore ski in it size on the market. I have not been able to research all the skis' weights, but the only ski that I have found to match its weight is the Goode full carbon. The AT still has a woodcore, titanal, and still uses the 11 layer layup process. Our advanced pressing process and high quality materials and resin are state-of-the-art and allow us to achieve this lighter ski. I don't know if the AT would be considered a detuned Matterhorne. It feels completely different but still maintains many of the positive characteristics of a solid Mid-fat GS performance ski"

We expect the Matterhorn "AT" to be a real winner with the resort crowd who appreciates a beautifully crafted and finished ski with world-class performance. We hope to bring you an on-snow report early this season to compare it to the flagship Matterhorn so people can learn the difference!

WhiteDot Freeride is offering a very limited special to 12 riders on a first-come-first-served basis to get 2 pairs of WDF (White Dot Freeride) skis per season at "trade cost".  You'll get a t-shirt and a WDF beanine thrown in  too!  The offer opens on November 15, 2008 and only the first 12 will be accepted.  Requests are being accepted starting early November 15 by email at info "at" whitedotfreeride.com.

Once you are in the "Dirty Dozen", you are in for life...so you get the good deal each year as long as you want.  Another 12 lucky folks will get another chance each year...and so on...Sounds like a good way to get their skis on snow at the right price.  This deal is similar to BlueHouse's launch special last year where you could get their skis for ridiculously low prices (like $250 usd for their MR series).  We are not sure what the "trade cost" price really is...but you could probably ask them!  Click here  to details about the dirty dozen deal.