Why did most of the OG park ski brands fall off and stop making park skis?

Notaskibum

Notaskibum

Member
Rossignol had the legendary scratch and owned the pipe circuit from like 2008-2013. Now they make poorly named skis for dads and overpriced gear.

Dynastar had the troublemakers which were so hot. Now i don't even see dads riding their skis anymore.

Soloman invented the park ski game with the 1080 and had the suspect which EVERYONE was riding (even tho it had TERRIBLE durability).

Scott had t wall at his peak and still run the pole game i will admit but i have no clue what kinda skis they got going on these days.

Atomic still makes the punx but the designs don't seem like they have changed in a decade.

Why is this the case? More money in selling $1K backcountry skis that will never get used?
 
95+ waisted skis are easy to sell and most core park skiers riding 85's don't exist anymore?
 
14270317:thatsG said:
95+ waisted skis are easy to sell and most core park skiers riding 85's don't exist anymore?
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Theres some good 95mm-ish park skis available. Even reckoners seem to be good and they are fkn 102 ffs
 
topic:Notaskibum said:
Rossignol had the legendary scratch and owned the pipe circuit from like 2008-2013. Now they make poorly named skis for dads and overpriced gear.

Dynastar had the troublemakers which were so hot. Now i don't even see dads riding their skis anymore.

Soloman invented the park ski game with the 1080 and had the suspect which EVERYONE was riding (even tho it had TERRIBLE durability).

Scott had t wall at his peak and still run the pole game i will admit but i have no clue what kinda skis they got going on these days.

Atomic still makes the punx but the designs don't seem like they have changed in a decade.

Why is this the case? More money in selling $1K backcountry skis that will never get used?
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Dynastar rossi and salomon are all french so that ship is gonna sink sooner or later. No hate to the french, just the socialists who ruined french engineering.

scott i dont know much about.

atomic still makes a great park ski. Who cares if it hasnt evolved much. If a great design is achieved there is no reason to change it other than to get rich ppl to buy the new model for its gimmick features.
 
The only one I agree with is Salomon. Maybe Scott but Idk their product line at all now. I think they still have park skis.

To me, the real death of Scott park skis is when McCrae went to Völkl and was only kept on Scott as a poles sponsor.
 
One of my fav park skis of all time was the dynastar distorter.

But answer is obvious, they are large companies and that sector of the market didn't yeild, it's all about the dollars. With the come up of 'free-skiing' it does look like a lot of those companies are putting more of a freestyle shape back into their existing lines (see salomon blank). But there has also been a lot of consolidation in the industry, so Amer sports who owns Salomon and Atomic also now owns Armada, so there's so less motivation for Salomon / Atomic to make freestyle skis when that's thoroughly covered by their subsidiary Armada.
 
14270460:katrina said:
One of my fav park skis of all time was the dynastar distorter.

But answer is obvious, they are large companies and that sector of the market didn't yeild, it's all about the dollars. With the come up of 'free-skiing' it does look like a lot of those companies are putting more of a freestyle shape back into their existing lines (see salomon blank). But there has also been a lot of consolidation in the industry, so Amer sports who owns Salomon and Atomic also now owns Armada, so there's so less motivation for Salomon / Atomic to make freestyle skis when that's thoroughly covered by their subsidiary Armada.
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Based
 
14270506:sindreplassen said:
elan too
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Elan did use to make park skis, but they made a stupid TBT like entire ski base was convex, made landing any rotational tricks really hard, but I bet that ski design would sell like hot cakes right now since everyone seems to be jumping on the super swervy ski train.
 
14270465:Fancy_Latte said:
if you had an opportunity to make millions through shifting your product focus you probably would too
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These things aren't exclusive. You can sell dad skis for cash and park skis as well.
 
14270463:CatdickBojangles said:
Couple pipe guys do too. They aren’t even selling the NFX in America now.
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Stiff competition skis are dying because they’re boring and one dimensional. New skis and shapes allow for skis that are just as stable on big jumps and still more versatile.
 
14270683:DolansLebensraum said:
Those look to fat to be actual 1080s. 1080s were pretty narrow iirc
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obviously lol, these were a custom graphic on whatever ski they were testing at the time
 
14270460:katrina said:
One of my fav park skis of all time was the dynastar distorter.

But answer is obvious, they are large companies and that sector of the market didn't yeild, it's all about the dollars. With the come up of 'free-skiing' it does look like a lot of those companies are putting more of a freestyle shape back into their existing lines (see salomon blank). But there has also been a lot of consolidation in the industry, so Amer sports who owns Salomon and Atomic also now owns Armada, so there's so less motivation for Salomon / Atomic to make freestyle skis when that's thoroughly covered by their subsidiary Armada.
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I dont know why atomic would be in with sal and armada. Atomic makes world class race skis and i assume armada and salomon would be ripping off atomic innovations every chance they get.
 
14270684:Notaskibum said:
obviously lol, these were a custom graphic on whatever ski they were testing at the time
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Figured. I demoed 1080s as a wee lad and they were shit. Felt like they were made out of really hard plastic.
 
14270686:DolansLebensraum said:
Figured. I demoed 1080s as a wee lad and they were shit. Felt like they were made out of really hard plastic.
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i mean they were made in 1998, not exactly the pinnacle of ski production
 
14270460:katrina said:
One of my fav park skis of all time was the dynastar distorter.

But answer is obvious, they are large companies and that sector of the market didn't yeild, it's all about the dollars. With the come up of 'free-skiing' it does look like a lot of those companies are putting more of a freestyle shape back into their existing lines (see salomon blank). But there has also been a lot of consolidation in the industry, so Amer sports who owns Salomon and Atomic also now owns Armada, so there's so less motivation for Salomon / Atomic to make freestyle skis when that's thoroughly covered by their subsidiary Armada.
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But look at K2, they own hella companies that make good park dedicated skis and they have been able to release dope skis year after year.
 
14270776:THE-Albino* said:
But look at K2, they own hella companies that make good park dedicated skis and they have been able to release dope skis year after year.
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Yea which is awesome! It's not that none of them make park skis anymore, it just isn't the same as 2010.

Fun fact K2 and Line are owned by the same holding company that owns life alert and Mr. Coffee haha, I think it's called Jarden's or something.
 
14270792:katrina said:
Yea which is awesome! It's not that none of them make park skis anymore, it just isn't the same as 2010.

Fun fact K2 and Line are owned by the same holding company that owns life alert and Mr. Coffee haha, I think it's called Jarden's or something.
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This was true but is not true anymore. Jarden sold K2 and most the current team is not from that era.
 
14270776:THE-Albino* said:
But look at K2, they own hella companies that make good park dedicated skis and they have been able to release dope skis year after year.
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Park skiing is something that isn’t going away anytime soon for K2. Even though “freeride” is the current industry buzzword there’s plenty of us who love and grew up in the park.

The Poacher, sight and reckoner series (112 being my current park ski of choice) are staples in our line and will he for some time to come.
 
If you were riding trouble makers, salomon foils or SPKs and the like you're know probably almost 30, and I'd say a good portion of that crowd is making decent coin and spenidng it on fancy high end gear. And if it's not those people (us?) then it's the same age dude remote working for 80k/yr who's just started skiing but has 2000 bucks to sink into a touring setup they plan to only ride inbounds.
 
Hate to say it but I feel like Icelantic is falling off from the park scene, they did away with the DaNollies a few years back and now their only “dedicated” park ski is the nomad 95
 
even today w park/pipe in the olympics it’s still a pretty niche market....

A lot of those big ski companies sold out to venture capitalists and big conglomerates because they were struggling to turn a profit....

those corporate bean-counters only care about the stats and the truth is the the volume of skis sold does not even make them enough money to justify the investment in a niche aspect of the sport - at least in the eyes of a financial investor who owns 8-10 ski/outdoor companies... he’s looking at things on a different scale

they want to sell race, intermediate groomer, powder, backcountry skis, outerwear, and accessories at high volume on a global scale for maximum profit ..... they really DNGAF about abstract ideas like “sport” “culture” “progression” or “style”

that’s where passionate skiers have been successful filling that void w companies like ON3P, 4frnt, J Skis, Vishnu, Moment, Surface, making a great product and running profitable companies because they work on a smaller scale w lower costs and connect more directly w the consumer.

Line/K2 kept the Freeride dream alive despite being owned by a much bigger group, but you’d be hard pressed to find any of those other classic brands offering more than 1 or 2 true twin tips a year.... if that
 
Combo of things.

One is definitely sports marketing spending. Giving skier X $80k a year plus incentives, and a pro model that only sold 60 pairs. Seeing little to no tangible return from that investment. Hell I'd go back to focusing on running shoes instead of losing money.

Atomic is an interesting one. They might have the most expensive team out, yet they haven't really progressed park skiers much over the years. Might be a case of, "let's toss money into a team because it will elevate the brand image, but we really don't care about park/freeskiing". After doing over 175 TAFT stops I have probably seen a handful of Atomic park skis so I don't see them making a bunch of money off them.

topic:Notaskibum said:
Rossignol had the legendary scratch and owned the pipe circuit from like 2008-2013. Now they make poorly named skis for dads and overpriced gear.

Dynastar had the troublemakers which were so hot. Now i don't even see dads riding their skis anymore.

Soloman invented the park ski game with the 1080 and had the suspect which EVERYONE was riding (even tho it had TERRIBLE durability).

Scott had t wall at his peak and still run the pole game i will admit but i have no clue what kinda skis they got going on these days.

Atomic still makes the punx but the designs don't seem like they have changed in a decade.

Why is this the case? More money in selling $1K backcountry skis that will never get used?
Click to expand...
 
14271236:Wormracer said:
Combo of things.

One is definitely sports marketing spending. Giving skier X $80k a year plus incentives, and a pro model that only sold 60 pairs. Seeing little to no tangible return from that investment. Hell I'd go back to focusing on running shoes instead of losing money.

Atomic is an interesting one. They might have the most expensive team out, yet they haven't really progressed park skiers much over the years. Might be a case of, "let's toss money into a team because it will elevate the brand image, but we really don't care about park/freeskiing". After doing over 175 TAFT stops I have probably seen a handful of Atomic park skis so I don't see them making a bunch of money off them.
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Euro brands and that whole euro ski market is like a toooootally different world than north america.
 
14271236:Wormracer said:
Combo of things.

One is definitely sports marketing spending. Giving skier X $80k a year plus incentives, and a pro model that only sold 60 pairs. Seeing little to no tangible return from that investment. Hell I'd go back to focusing on running shoes instead of losing money.

Atomic is an interesting one. They might have the most expensive team out, yet they haven't really progressed park skiers much over the years. Might be a case of, "let's toss money into a team because it will elevate the brand image, but we really don't care about park/freeskiing". After doing over 175 TAFT stops I have probably seen a handful of Atomic park skis so I don't see them making a bunch of money off them.
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Pretty sure half atomics park skis go to realskifi along with their massive budget.
 
14271236:Wormracer said:
Combo of things.

One is definitely sports marketing spending. Giving skier X $80k a year plus incentives, and a pro model that only sold 60 pairs. Seeing little to no tangible return from that investment. Hell I'd go back to focusing on running shoes instead of losing money.
Click to expand...

These brands don't have to spend crazy amounts on marketing, the marginal cost of making a few skis and selling them through their key retailers and on their websites is pretty close to zero.
 
Those realskifi guys do not have a massive budget by any means. I’ve seen their van and been to the spots/places they film. I’d say they mostly get their money from tractor advertisements and Mountain Dew now lol

14271243:CatdickBojangles said:
Pretty sure half atomics park skis go to realskifi along with their massive budget.
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"Park Skiing is a niche"

Here's some quick math for you all.

Vail sells ~1M epic passes a year. Best numbers (a few years old) for altera puts them at 250k, assuming these two have roughly half of the market. Lets say there are 3M serious skiers & boarders a year.

Lets assume 66% are skiers and 10% of those are park skiers.

That gives us ~200K ppl. Now assuming half buy new skis every year and each ski sells for $400.

Thats a $40M a year market just in the US or 100k units. Its small but not tiny.

[tag=3025]@iggyskier[/tag] and/ or [tag=134699]@onenerdykid[/tag]

Maybe you all have some thoughts here?
 
14271345:Notaskibum said:
"Park Skiing is a niche"

Here's some quick math for you all.

Vail sells ~1M epic passes a year. Best numbers (a few years old) for altera puts them at 250k, assuming these two have roughly half of the market. Lets say there are 3M serious skiers & boarders a year.

Lets assume 66% are skiers and 10% of those are park skiers.

That gives us ~200K ppl. Now assuming half buy new skis every year and each ski sells for $400.

Thats a $40M a year market just in the US or 100k units. Its small but not tiny.

[tag=3025]@iggyskier[/tag] and/ or [tag=134699]@onenerdykid[/tag]

Maybe you all have some thoughts here?
Click to expand...

10% lol
 
14271034:weastcoast said:
Hate to say it but I feel like Icelantic is falling off from the park scene, they did away with the DaNollies a few years back and now their only “dedicated” park ski is the nomad 95
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AFAIK they've only ever had 1 park ski in their line at a time, they do seem to sponsor less park riders these days though.
 
14271345:Notaskibum said:
"Park Skiing is a niche"

Here's some quick math for you all.

Vail sells ~1M epic passes a year. Best numbers (a few years old) for altera puts them at 250k, assuming these two have roughly half of the market. Lets say there are 3M serious skiers & boarders a year.

Lets assume 66% are skiers and 10% of those are park skiers.

That gives us ~200K ppl. Now assuming half buy new skis every year and each ski sells for $400.

Thats a $40M a year market just in the US or 100k units. Its small but not tiny.

[tag=3025]@iggyskier[/tag] and/ or [tag=134699]@onenerdykid[/tag]

Maybe you all have some thoughts here?
Click to expand...

Park skiing ain't subsidized by Boomer parents no more. Corporate high-volume manufacturers crunched the numbers and jumped ship.
 
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