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Sponsored 11 Most Influential Skis of All Time

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SkiEssentials

Slashing Turns and Prices
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Hey PugSkiers!

This was a fun article to put together as our staff went back and forth for almost a month. It's tough to put together a list of the 11 most influential skis of all time because there are so many that could be included, but this is what we ended with. We're sure there are going to be a lot of differing opinions and we're excited to see what you think we missed!

Click the image above for the full list.
 

Posaune

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It surprises me that there was no Pocket Rocket. They might not have been the best ski on the market, but there were so many of them out there that the racks at W/B looked blue during their heyday. Many other skis were designed later to compete with them. I can't think of a ski that had more influence around these parts, except maybe the Head Standard and the Elan SCX, both of which completely redefined skis when they were introduced.
 

Philpug

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Excuse me while I find my soapbox and red marker so I can change everything. Just kidding, pretty damn good list. Skis that are missing...

Salomon S9000, like the Head Standard, changed the way skis were built
Volant Chubb, as, if not more important than the Spatula
Kastle MX88, the first premium ski that was sold to the masses.

These replace the Nobis, the 5star and the Seth.

I am sure I will come up with some more.
 

Uncle-A

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The staff must be very young. They do list the Head Standard as the first ski of metal construction but what about the first fiberglass ski ether wrap or layer construction? They could also add the first Honeycomb core construction to the list.
 

Bad Bob

I golf worse than I ski.
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The staff must be very young. They do list the Head Standard as the first ski of metal construction but what about the first fiberglass ski ether wrap or layer construction? They could also add the first Honeycomb core construction to the list.

What Uncle-A said. There are so many skis that could have made this list for different reasons, and more from the 60's (VR-17, Rossie Stratos) 70's (K-2's, Olin MK-IV, Head XR-1). Lots of choices but they really didn't look very far back for much. It is a good list, just a bit lacking with regards to the depth of time.
 

Bill Talbot

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I think you really would have to go at least 20 skis or possibly 25 now that these last few years have started to roll back from some designs that went 'a bridge to far'.
So I agree that Howard Head's Standard set a new bar at the time. But then the 360 came out and brought performance and forgiving nature to the improving skiers in a big way. It's not always just the flagship skis that deserve praise. And I'm not sure just ski construction is enough, it has to ski better/differently in a useful way too. Variable cracked edges are only a marketing tool if in fact they do not allow the ski to flex in a better, natural way. Sometimes the magic of a ski is not easily explained in a cut-away view as was the standard for many years of ski brochures.

And yes I agree that the team may not have had many well seasoned veterans of the sport throwing out candidates. This doesn't make it a bad list, just perhaps not as inclusive as needed.

HEAD  01.jpg
 

crgildart

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hart freestyle, any Olin. 70 years of skiers and skis getting better and better yet only 2 straight skis on the list and everything else post Y2K? Umm OK..
 

Philpug

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Do we have a thread with our pick for the Most Influential Skis of All Time? Not only the historic skis but the recent ski as well.
I thought we did.
 

Danny

aka Cometjo
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Rossignol S7 and/or S3 - the skis that established the fat moustache rocker ski as a daily driver. The S7 did that on the west coast, the the S3 invented the 99mm east coast ski that everybody then copied.
 
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Living Proof

We All Have The Truth
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missing the Roc 550/ST650 (or perhaps the Strato 102) ... ogsmile

Totally agree

ROC 550 and Strato 102 were both skis I owned. For me, the Strato 102, which predated the ROC series, needs a place in the most influential of the Rossignol brand. No Strato 102, no very fine Rossi 4s which made the list. If memory serves me right, the 102 and 4s were Sl skis, the ROC 550 a GS
 

Mendieta

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Excellent write up, @SkiEssentials . Shouldn't we add a poll to the OP for folks to vote the most influential? Of course, it may not be in the list, in their opinion.

I know nothing about skiing and equipment, but having seen "old style" skiing and "new style" skiing, how different, and frankly, how much more efficient skiing with the "new" shaped skis is, I wonder if it would be fair to pick the Elan SCX as the most influential?
 
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SkiEssentials

SkiEssentials

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All such great responses! As I mentioned, putting this list together was tough. There were multiple morning meetings filled with passionate discussion (arguing) over what skis should make the list.

@Posaune the Pocket Rocker bounced on and off the list throughout our discussion. It's definitely up there.

@Uncle-A I would say our younger staff members (late 20s, early 30s) were usually over-ruled by our older staff members and owner (early 40s to mid-60s). There were some skis our younger staff members brought up (like the Pocket Rocket) that were left out.

@crgildart Olin came up in conversation a lot. We kept circling back to the word "influential."

Essentially every ski that has been brought up in this thread came up in our conversations. Every single one of our staff members would probably put a different list together if they did this on their own, this list was formed out of the opinions of a lot of people. We knew there would be varying opinions and people that just straight up disagree with this list, as some of our own staff members already feel that way. :roflmao:
 

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