Indie Test 2013 at Loveland Ski Area
Our testers give an inside look at the best indie skis not yet on the market.
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The night before the second day of the 2013 Indie Ski Test at Loveland Ski Area, Grace Skis made this custom cutting board for us out of ski-core material. Odell Brewing and Boulder Sausage kept us full of beer and bratwurst, respectively.
If you feed ski patrollers free brats, you get the inside scoop on when ropes were dropping. It paid off. Skier: Doug Evans
Mike Kilchenstein (foreground) of Ramp Sports fiddles with his seatbelt while editor Kevin Luby sets the wind weights. Behind, Mike McCabe and Ryan Prentice of Folsom Custom Skis label test skis.
Keep that inside hand up, Eben Mond.
Odell beers: in the cooler, then in hands—and then gone.
We pay our testers with swag, so a huge shout out to our sponsors:
Loveland Ski Area
Odell Brewing Company
Flylow Gear
Julbo goggles
Pret helmets
Camelbak packs
Kelty tailgate gear
Otterbox phone cases
Boulder Sausage
Sag belts
Vapur water bottles
Beyond Coastal sunscreen
X-1 headphones
Honey Stinger
Tester Eben Mond jumps into the Atlantic watershed.
Loveland’s boneyard of the dispossessed straight skis. We thought about testing them.
We told Eben Mond to test the skis’ floatation. This is what he thought we meant.
Eben Mond spends a brief moment on the snow with Doug Evans.
Brian Eggleton, Ski and Snowboard Club Vail‘s equipment manager, was our resident ski tech for the week.
More floatation testing. Skier: Eben Mond
From Left to Right, Alex Paul from RMU Skis and Chris Dean from Meier are snuggling on a Kelty loveseat.
Skier Eben Mond, of Silver Plume, Colorado, has special powers that allow him to levitate anywhere from five to 15 feet off the snow at all times.
See what we mean? Skier: Eben Mond
From left to right: tester Doug Evans, tester Eben Mond, Icelantic Skis team manager Scotty VerMerris, Astis Mittens founder Bradford Peterson, and Snow Ski and Board‘s Tim Dyer on the ridge at Loveland.
Testers love cornices like dogs love trucks. Skier: Doug Evans
From left to right, ski testers Carter Timbel, Shannon Littlefield, and Hillary Procknow take time to smile for the camera.
Whoever says ski testers only drink beer and eat brats, must have only been at the test during lunch or after last chair.
Loveland Ski Area was nice enough to put us right next to Chair 1 to help testers get through 20+ skis per day.
Powder, crud, bumps, groomers. We sought it all. Skier: Jason Roberts
Custom eye blacks make everyone look steezy!
The Loveland locals showed us some secret stashes. Skier: Jason Roberts
Boulder Sausage brats and Odell beer making working through lunch more worth it.
We’re not sure our testers left this area during four days of indie ski testing. We can see why. Skier: Jason Roberts
