pm gear in ski tests

[mordy07]

From reading roughly any ski recommendation thread on this site, it is very obvious that the Bro model skis are beloved by a pretty healthy amount of skiers. Yet I have never seen PM gear in any magazines, specifically in any ski tests. I would think Freeskier would be the most likely to include them, and seeing as they even included companies like Hart and Palmer in their tests for '08, I can't see why the Bros weren't participating. Are they just too new? Will they be in the '09 test? I would bet a nice Editors Choice from Freeskier could potentially boost sales and awareness of what seems to be a great brand.

[njfreeskier]

pm gear is what would be considered an "indy" ski company, and because of this you do not see them in any tests. just like praxis, kingswood, etc. also, they do not have the mainstream reputation, that a hart or palmer does, because they are a more recently established company. hart has a long tradition in the industry, and palmer, well, he's very well known and has a lot of cred. think of pm gear as line or 4frnt 3 years ago. making killer skis, used by a core group of skiers, slowly expanding, gaining fame and a following and slowly breaking into the mainstream. just my $.02. also they fill a very specific market in the ski industry.

[Hugh Conway]

they were going to be included in the Ski Magazine test until PMGear stole the testers girls, drank their beer, smoked their hash and stole their powder lines.

[mordy07]

agreed Hart and Palmer may be bad examples... brands like Fat-ypus, DPS, or Icelantic may be more comparable niche brands that are still making it into ski tests

[jonski]

try reading Powder again. Whilst not a 'true' test, they were in the the test for the last 2-3 years.

Yes it would be great - but only if customers follow it up. Most punters read the review, then go buy the salomon/rossi/etc that their preferred mainstream shop has. Your Bro purchaser will generally know what they want and why, unlike your punter who '...wants a carving ski that I can be good in bumps with. And ski powder easily too...'

It takes more than a few years to get distribution dialled and more than an award in freeskier to get branding/marketing which is instantly recognisble to your Joe Bloggs skier.

Edit: Helps that all of the above happen to be based in CO, as does Freeskier.

[jepilot]

...and stole their powder lines.

both kinds

[SuperChief]

they were going to be included in the Ski Magazine test until PMGear stole the testers girls, drank their beer, smoked their hash and stole their powder lines.

Fawk Yeah! those guys are my heroes. Anyone who can stick it to the Ski Mag is numero uno in my book.

[Twoplanker]

Our skis have been reviewed (or sometimes just mentioned) in the mags several times. Here's a few:

http://pmgear.com/news.php?Nid=62

http://pmgear.com/news.php?Nid=63

http://pmgear.com/news.php?Nid=65

[dookeyXXX]

I have always been under the impression that a company has to send their skis into the ski mags to be considered for testing.

As such it should come as no surprise that the major ski companies always seem to get the most test space (i.e. they have the budget and overstock to send the ski mags a boat load of planks for "testing").

Of course I could totally be wrong.

Additionally, it wasn't until the last 2 seasons that some of the ski mags even started paying attention to companies like PMGear, Fatypus, Liberty, etc.

It seems that the current influx of small companies crafting what in many cases are superior product is just now catching on with the mags.

Heck I remember finally seeing the AK King Salmon getting a Freeskier award and I believe it was like 2 or 3 seasons after the ski had come out and right around the time that the ski was being discontinued! How's that for being up on shit?

The mags, especially those that are nationally distributed and more mainstream in approach are always slow to latch on to movements like PM Gear.

For some reason I don't get the feeling that Splat and company care about that as much as they care about making a superior product that fills a definite niche. Then again I could be wrong. Maybe they're hoping that Rossignol snaps them up and starts cranking Bros out in Greenland.

[mordy07]

Our skis have been reviewed (or sometimes just mentioned) in the mags several times. Here's a few:

http://pmgear.com/news.php?Nid=62

http://pmgear.com/news.php?Nid=63

http://pmgear.com/news.php?Nid=65

Thanks, thats near the type of article I was looking for. However, most of those seem to be more "gear round-up" than actual tests (getting more and more popular in mags these days...). Most info about the ski looks like it was provided by PM gear. I would love to see the Bros in a full test to see rider comments and comparisons to other skis.

[72Twenty]

I don't know if it is true or not, but do the bigger companies get treatment/good reviews that are infleuenced by the amount of advertising money they spend with the publication? I can't imagine they would say something bad about a ski that is on a full page ad in the same mag. Rather than bad stuff, they probably just say good stuff in other ways, I would bet. Like rather than "frankly it sucks in powder" they say "it is a great all mountain ski when the storms haven't hit in a while".

[Harv]

personally I would value the 4000 Bro Model reviews on this site more that what a mag had to say about them. Shit, you can PM the owner or one of the employees right now if you had a question. Other than good photos and stats ski reviews in magazine are totally fucking worthless.

[mordy07]

I would definitely agree that:

a) money/advertising probably persuade ski mag reviews a bit

b) personal reviews on forums like this can be infinitely more helpful than those in a ski mag (and yes the accessibility of the PM employees is pretty much unmatched)

I just think a test in a large publication would give PM gear some much-deserved recognition. Yet it is kinda cool to keep the small and personal company image as well. Tough balance.

[snoboy]

Up until now PMGear has had no need of getting more of a market for their skis. It's not like you're going to find the BRO on SAC because Pat made too many of them!