Every year the Snowsports Industries of America works with NPD to determine the bestselling ski equipment for the past year. So, if you are in the market for skis, boots or bindings this list is a good place to start - after all, millions of people can’t be wrong - can they?
Here is the list:
Marker Griffon ID Binding
Salomon XPRO, 100, Men’s Boot
Blizzard Black Pearl 88 Skis, Women
Marker Squire 11 ID Binding
Nordica Enforcer 100
Salomon XPRO, 120, Men’s Boot (Powder Magazine 2019 Boot of the Year)
Marker Griffon Binding
Nordica Speedmachine 110 Boot
Nordica Enforcer 93 (Powder Magazine 2019 Ski of the Year)
Volkl Mantra M5 Ski (Freeskier Magazine 2019 2nd place ski of the Year)
Here are my impressions of the list.
Bindings
The Marker ID bindings can accommodate alpine and touring boots which may be a reason why it landed on the top of the list.
I find it Interesting the only binding company represented as Marker, especially since there are two Salomon boots on the list
Strange that bindings are top of the list, folks must be putting bindings on previously drilled skis.
Look bindings are highly reviewed by all the magazines, popular with the park crowd and sold with many of the indie skis, but didn’t make the list.
Skis
Shocking that he Blizzard Black Pearl was third overall on the list
Surprising that the Blizzard Black Pearl was the best selling women’s ski., I would have guessed the Nordica Santa Ana, considering that the Enforcer landed on the list twice.
Surprised there are no Head skis on the list since they are a favorite among the World Cup racers and the Head Kore 99 is highly rated.
No skis fatter than 100 cm, even though the magazines lead you to believe everyone is skiing on skis fat skis.
No specialized skis (e.g., powder, race or touring) are on the list
No indie skis cracked the top 10 (e.g., Shaggy’s, JSKI, etc.), which is not a surprise
All Mountain skis rule the list with rocker/camber/rocker profiles - which leads me to believe most people are a one ski quiver skier.
Boots
Best selling boot has a flex of only 100 and there were no boots on the list with a flex of 130
My final comment, is it doesn’t appear all the buyer guides from Powder, Freeskier and SKI magazines have much influence on what people buy since seven of the ten items on the list did not were not on their “best of” lists.