Matt Liebsch Going Ski Picking

(Press release)

Matt Liebsch is flying to Europe THIS weekend to start hand picking Nordic (classic and skate) skis. (Click here to get on his pick list.)

Skis are all different, even within a pair there are differences since skis are made in single quantities, one at a time. The manufacturing process to produce a ski is still variable and the materials can change. The guts of most skis are still made of wood and there is variability in wood. In addition variability is introduced by pressing and molding cores into varying shapes for different conditions, weights, etc. Ski producers would like you, the consumer, to believe that every pair is good but that is simply not true. This is why Pioneer Midwest takes the time and expense to travel to ski manufacturers and warehouses around the country and world to pick the best skis for our customers and inventory. I pick skis based on 3 methods:

1) My hands and eyes. Rule of deliberate practice. I have touched tens of thousands of skis and I can quickly pick out the qualities and traits of a ski by sighting cambers and hand squeezing.

2) Flex board. This is a traditional ski picking method based on pocket and glide contact length. This is a tried and true method, although using secondary flex characteristics (pocket length) does not always give the most accurate indicator of performance.