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Nothing new at all in predicting that skimo is poised to explode across the ski world. Here is a Backcountry article from 2001 talking about how "Euro Style Ski Racing" is taking off in the US.
But what I see around me currently is the same excitement, passion, revelation, liberation, "we are unique and different", etc. that my friends had in the late 80s/early 90s switching to tele gear they are having now when they get their first pair of "modern" lightweight AT boots (e.g., TLT 5s/6s) a lightweight tech binding and some skis geared towards ascending more than descending. I am not talking about ski racing, but more the new-found freedom my partners are experiencing on lightweight gear and boots with a huge cuff range of motion. Steep descents will always be cool, but I see a new interest in long traverses and linkups. Now that "normal weight" AT gear is finally commonplace at US ski areas, getting a skimo setup is a way to display some independence and distance oneself from the average weekend warrior. And, just like tele, you need more skill and strength to ski the lightweight skimo stuff so it will never be popular with the mainstream.
As someone who still primarily tele skis, I can't help being very envious at the acceleration of the gear improvements in the skimo - 16 lightweight tech binder models at one shop alone and the boot development is equally impressive. I still find it hard to believe that Scarpa sells more Aliens than TX Pros (having completely no idea what the actual sales figures are) but it sure seems that their RandD dollars are going exclusively to the skimo world. My assumption is there is more cachet having your athlete stand on a skimo race podium wearing Aliens compared to selling more tele boots to college dropouts working at the Peruvian Lodge.
Lastly since we have been learning on this forum recently the importance of using the correct words, I really hated the term "skimo" when I first started to hear it used a few years ago. Now that I understand the emergence of this term may be due to the classic 'merican aversion to all things French, I dislike the term a little less: skimo etymology.
But what I see around me currently is the same excitement, passion, revelation, liberation, "we are unique and different", etc. that my friends had in the late 80s/early 90s switching to tele gear they are having now when they get their first pair of "modern" lightweight AT boots (e.g., TLT 5s/6s) a lightweight tech binding and some skis geared towards ascending more than descending. I am not talking about ski racing, but more the new-found freedom my partners are experiencing on lightweight gear and boots with a huge cuff range of motion. Steep descents will always be cool, but I see a new interest in long traverses and linkups. Now that "normal weight" AT gear is finally commonplace at US ski areas, getting a skimo setup is a way to display some independence and distance oneself from the average weekend warrior. And, just like tele, you need more skill and strength to ski the lightweight skimo stuff so it will never be popular with the mainstream.
As someone who still primarily tele skis, I can't help being very envious at the acceleration of the gear improvements in the skimo - 16 lightweight tech binder models at one shop alone and the boot development is equally impressive. I still find it hard to believe that Scarpa sells more Aliens than TX Pros (having completely no idea what the actual sales figures are) but it sure seems that their RandD dollars are going exclusively to the skimo world. My assumption is there is more cachet having your athlete stand on a skimo race podium wearing Aliens compared to selling more tele boots to college dropouts working at the Peruvian Lodge.
Lastly since we have been learning on this forum recently the importance of using the correct words, I really hated the term "skimo" when I first started to hear it used a few years ago. Now that I understand the emergence of this term may be due to the classic 'merican aversion to all things French, I dislike the term a little less: skimo etymology.
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