Why we test what we test

We are a curious bunch. When new skis are revealed, we want to try them out. Unlike some big magazines and ski federation ski tests, we won’t review the same skis in consecutive seasons unless they’ve actually been changed. Not just a graphics update, but an actual change in construction or shape, and therefore possibly in performance as well.

Our reviews in context
We publish ski reviews for a few reasons. Firstly because we hate writing the same stuff over and over again. Gigiski started as a ski advice website only. Being able to refer to written ski reviews is much better than trying to describe the skis that we recommend each time.

Secondly, publishing content regularly helps build a position and online presence. Although I think our Gigipedia and some of the articles we have written serve our purpose of ‘helping the consumer be better informed and less dependent on marketing nonsense’ better, regular posts are an added bonus. For the ski reviews at least; the articles are more important, content-wise.

Only skis
A lot of winter sports products – helmets, goggles, clothing, ski boots – don’t get reviewed by us. Our reason for that is simple: how these products perform is too much depending on how they fit, and we think there are no general assessments or conclusions to be given on them, other than they fit me well. A ski you can still ski and describe, even if it wouldn’t be my personal favorite. Most of the ski boots, for example, I couldn’t even ski properly because they don’t fit me well enough. I could of course tell you how many buckles they have and how heavy they are – but that’s not a review. That’s a product description you can find online everywhere.

We also don’t review every ski there is. We tend to stick to mainstream brands mostly. There are two main reasons for that. The first one is easy: we don’t have access to everything. Even though we have a great network and connections in the industry, skiing everything is just not feasible for us. The second reason is something I already mentioned: the ski reviews serve the advice we give. I would hate to recommend skis that people simply cannot buy or try easily. That’s why only a few smaller and boutique brands have ski reviews on our website. We do ski them if we can – Yoeri is a big fan of this category – but they’ll never be the highest on our priority list.

No comparative ski test
We don’t do comparative ski tests as many magazines do. Therefore, you can’t really compare the individual skis we review. Not in a ranking sort of way, at least. We try to review every product individually. Based on our description and characterization, we hope you can decide whether it would be something for you.

So don’t expect awards, or ‘best in test’ labels. Sometimes we do little lists – consumer GS or SL skis for example. That is only possible because they essentially have the same design brief. For any other kind of ski, the design brief is a one-off per definition. We would rather group skis around a specific use case – or user in our case – YOU. Your stats and preferences make up the criteria we use to recommend some skis for you. And then, you can choose the one that speaks the most to you.