Skialper Magazine 2020 Buyer Guide — Reader Survey

This post sponsored by our publishing partner Backcountry del Fiume Disabile

The UPS guy dropped a a large box on our porch a few days ago. From Skialper magazine. Hefting the brown cardboard monolith, I thought, “Must be at least a dozen copies of the mag in here.” Wrong. There were two. At 448 pages each! Move over all other “Buyers Guides,” this is the end-all for the backcountry skier.

Only, shoot, it’s all in Italian with no English translation. More, if you don’t live in Europe and want a copy, you’ll need to order from Europe, and pay around $25.00 for your pleasure. Worth it? If you can read Italian I’d venture a “yes,” as you’ll get hours of reading enjoyment out of your money (not to mention help with major shopping decisions). If you don’t read Italian, hmmmm, as translating the pages using Google isn’t that tough, but it’s time consuming as there’s no PDF “digital” version to work from this time around (I used Google Docs to do OCR on camera images of the pages, then translated with the Docs “Translate” function).

I could go on for pages about the splendors of the 2020 Buyer’s Guide (review coming). At this first look, two things jumped out: An interesting survey they did of 2,550 readers, and an extensive lab test of boot flex. I got their permission to publish a few translations. For starters, please enjoy the survey below. It’s fun to spy on the Italian ski touring fanatics. See any correlation to North America? Let us know your thoughts in the comments — perhaps answer your own mini-survey. And please support Skialper by purchasing their magazine if at all possible!

Please note some of the questions had multiple answers, hence the percentages will add up to more than 100 for the choices, an example being preferred ski brands. Apologies in advance for my lack of clarity on this, some was lost in translation. The lack of a gender question is a disappointment. I’ve always observed a similar number of women ski tour in Europe as compared to men, contrasted by a clear preponderance of men in North America. Would have been fun to see the numbers from the gender enlightened Europeans. Singles ski touring in Europe? It’s a thing.

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The following content, to end of post is translated from Skialper Buyer’s Guide 2020, published by permission.

WORD TO OUR SKIALPER READERS
From September 8 to 10 of 2019, 2,550 Skialper readers answered 60 questions about the equipment and the shopping experiences. Here are some of the most interesting data that emerged from the surveys.

Age group?
— 18/24 years 14.9%
— 25/34 years 31.7%
— 34/44 years 26.8%
— 45/54 years 17.9%
— 55/64 years 7.6%
— over 65 years 1.1%

How far do you live from the snow and where you practice skiing?
— Less than 10 km 27.8%
— At least 50 km 35.4%
— At least 100 km 28.0%
— 200 km and more 8.8%

How do you define yourself as a winter sports practitioner?
— Skier 9.9%
— Ski mountaineer 56.1%
— Freerider 11.6%
— Racer 2.9%
— I don’t like categories 19.6 %

Snow conditions permitting, how often do you choose to ski off-piste compared to the groomed slope?
— Always 54.4%
— Often 36.4%
— Sometimes 7.6%
— Almost never 1.6%

How many outings with skins do you do in a year?
— Less than 5 8.7%
— At least 10 28.7%
— At least 20 28.5%
— 30 and more 34.1%

How would you define your technical level in the mountains?
— Occasional 1.2%
— Beginner 8.9%
— Average experience 52.8%
— Expert 34.4%
— Professional 2.7%

In which of the product categories do you use on our Buyer’s Guide do you recognize yourself?
— Skialp race 9.0%
— Light Touring 12.6%
— Ski Touring 35.7%
— Freetouring 30.1%
— Freeride 7.9%
— Pro model 1.1%
— Splitboard 3.7%

In which of these phrases do you recognize yourself when choosing a ski touring or freeride binding?
— It must never come off, in the mountains it is better never to lose the ski 18.0%
— It must guarantee safety of front and side release in the event of a fall 72.0%
— It must be very light 10.0%

How many pairs of (usable) skis do you have?
— 1 10.5%
— 2 32.4%
— 3 28.4% 4 4.4%
— more than 4 14.2%

How interested are you in the fact that the safety of the attachment complies with DIN regulations?
— A lot, I only choose bindings that comply with DIN, 46.0%
— It is not a decisive thing, 43.0%
— I do not care, 7.0%
— Other, 4.0%

How many pairs of (usable) boots do you have?
— 1 23.7%
— 2 51.5%
— 3 19.0%
— 4 3.9%
— more than 4, 1.9%

Does loyalty to a brand influence your purchasing choices?
— Yes 53.5%
— No 46.5%

What is the most important factor you consider when buying a pair of skis?
— Weight 20.4%
— Rocker / Camber 6.6%
— Width at the center 28.3%
— Turning radius 7.5%
— Construction 23.3%
— Media appeal 1.2%
— Other 12.7%

What is the most important factor you consider when buying a pair of boots?
— Weight 30.1%
— Flex 33.6%
— Number of buckles 8.9%
— Canting 0.9%
— Non-slip sole 0.7%
—Standard binding compatibility 43%
— Crampon compatibility 3.2%
— Ramp angle 3.2%
— Other 18.3%

Which of these types of bindings have you mounted on skis that you use regularly?
— Full pin 68.1%
— Hybrid (TR2, Kingpin, Tecton) 14.0%
— Atomic or Salomon Shift 10.3%
— Chassis 6.7%
— 100% step-in (freeride-resort-heliski) 8.4%
— Other 7, 7%

Which of these companies are you considering buying a ski in the near future? (First fifteen companies selected out of thirty proposals.)
— Armada 11.9%
— Atomic 27.8%
— Black Crows 49.9%
— Black Diamond 10.6%
— Blizzard 12.6%
— Dynafit 17.1%
— Dynastar 15.9%
— Elan 8.7%
— K2 23.0%
— La Sportiva 8.2%
— Movement 16.8%
— Salomon 24.2%
— Scott 9.4%
— Ski Trab 29.0%
— Voelkl 10.2%

What is your preferred ski width?
— 65 to 70 mm 8.5%
— 70 to 80 mm 12.8%
— 80 to 90 mm 34.2%
— 90 to 100 mm 29.9%
— 100 to 110 mm 11.8%
— Over 110 mm 2.8%

Which of these companies do you consider buying a pair of boots in the near future? (first fifteen selected companies out of thirty proposals)
— Atomic 26.8%
— Dalbello 19.6% Dynafit 45.5%
— Fischer 6.1%
— La Sportiva 42.1%
— Rossignol 1.8%
— Salomon 27.2%
— Scarpa 62.6%
— Scott 7.0%
— Tecnica 16.5%

Which of these characters inspires you most?
— Kilian Jornet 19.8%
— Bruno Compagnet 22.5%
— Jeremie Heitz 4%
— Markus Eder 8.6%
— Eric Hjorleifson 5.1%
— Robert Antonioli 16.5%
— Other 20.2%

Which of these companies are you considering buying bindings from soon? (Answers had three preferences.)
— ATK Bindings 76.6%
— Atomic 16.9%
— Dynafit 58.7%
— Fritschi 2.7%
— G3 5.2%
— Kreuzspitze 9.9%
— Marker 26.6%
— Plum 10.0%
— Salomon 23.7%
— Ski Trab 31.0%

Where do you usually buy your equipment? (This question could be answered with 3 preferences.)
— In a specialized shop 83.7%
— In a shop belonging to a chain 6.2%
— Online store 17.8%
— Amazon 0.4%
— Websites of specialized shops also present online 19.2%

How do you rate the shopping experience?
— Excellent 56.7%
— Good 38.5%
— Fair 3.4%
— Poor 0.7%
— Other 0.6%

Can you indicate the name of the shop?
— Sport Conrad 7.8%
— Sportler * 5.7%
— Specialist Sport 3.8%
— Massi Sport 3.6%
— Fat Sport 3.5% XL Mountain 2.7%
— Alpstation * 2.5%
— Amplatz Sport 2.4%
— Jolly Sport 2.4%
— Vertical line 2.3%
— Ski Trab 2.3%
— Sports heart 2.2% Vertical Sport 2.2%
— Sport Hub 1.5%
— Sporting San Lorenzo 1.5%
— Valleys Sport 1.5%
— Crazy Idea * 1.3%
— Horse Sport 1.2%
— Gal Sport 1.2%
— Giuggia Sport 1.2%
— Catti Sport 1.1%
— Gialdini 1.1%
— Faletti Multistore 1.0%
— Backcountry del Fiume Disabile (smile) 150%
(other 198 shops mentioned with a percentage less than 1% of the total ) 43.1%
(* Sportler figure refers to the sum of all the stores in the Sportler chain mentioned)

Did you follow our advice from the Buyer’s Guide when buying your skis?
— Yes, completely 59.6%
— No 15.3%
— Partly 25.1%

What affects your assessment of the store?
— Price 48.9%
— Advice / explanations from the shop staff 54.7%
— Ski preparation and set-up 27.5%
— Other 5.5%

How much do you agree with Skialper evaluation after using your skis (from 1 to 10) for the whole season?
— 10/10 11.1%
— 9/10 25.6%
— 8/10 40.3%
— 7/10 15.5%
— 6/10 4.3%
— From 5/10 1/10 3.3%