Comments on: SIA 2013: Black Diamond

By: Frank

Frank — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 02:15:28 +0000

In reply to Tommy.

I hear you, Tommy- I’m not happy about any factory moving to China. That said, the skis are much improved from the early days when BD skis were made by Atomic in Austria.

To the best of my knowledge, most DPS skis have been made and will continue to be made in China as well. At prices well above BD, I might add.

The nice thing is that these days, one can buy a small, locally crafted ski, or a mass-produced ski made in China, to anything in between.

By: Tommy

Tommy — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 02:02:39 +0000

BD invests “heavily” in a new chinese factory…meanwhile, DPS invests heavily in a new Utah factory. You get what you pay for.

By: Frank

Frank — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 02:55:05 +0000

In reply to J. Good points, J.

By: J

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 18:22:59 +0000

As a splitboarder, I’m digging the shorter lengths of collapsible poles. I believe K2 has a pair out as well, although I’m not sure how they stack up to the BD, as far as, collapsed length. Attaching your poles to the outside of the pack while descending just gives you something to snag a branch with and they always tend to wiggle themselves loose a bit, unless I use extra straps to secure them. While I doubt it’d actually be much of an issue I also worry about them interfering with the deployment of my BCA Float 30.