Sterling Skis - Luxury Brand

[exoticskis]

Colorado USA becomes home to another ski builder...."Sterling Skis" in Colorado is putting out a new "luxury ski" at http://www.sterlingskis.com.

No more than 140 pairs to be built in 2007-2008 launch season. Available in 163cm, 174cm and 185cm, all with 116-76-102 geometry with the choice of 3 beautiful exotic wood topsheets. 48 HRC stainless steel edges (ever try to sharpen a stainless steel ski edge? Not easy by hand). Vist race-bred plates and bindings complete the package. All yours for a mere $3,499 usd (includes carbon fiber poles and a velvet-lined wooden cabinet box).

The company is US, but they are manufactured in Europe, specs apparently derived from European designers. "Global Ski" anyone? Nice looking...but kind of expensive.

I don't know too many people willing to plunk down $3500 usd on a pair of skis these days...but there are some...

Nice pics on the site.

We should have a demo pair after January and will post experiences here on Carving-ski.de and ExoticSkis.com from as many people as we can get. They are doing the western U.S. show and demo circuit early this season, so if anyone gets to try a pair at a demo day.. post your reviews in the gear review section. Wish 'em luck...

[Uwe]

Hi Eric,

welcome here in good old Europe
Feel free to let us know, what happens in the U.S. and Canada.

[exoticskis]

Pre-ski review...(will have on-snow report Monday Dec. 3)

Just unwrapped the Sterling Matterhorn (116 - 76 - 102 @ 174cm) from its velvet bag. John Mansell, owner of Sterling said they were "fresh" off the press...and I could tell....the varnish/laquer was still a little smelly!

First Impression (right out of the box):

Wow. It was like unwrapping a new Ebel or Breitling watch. I felt like I should have white gloves on. Very shiny surface, excellent workmanship and finish. (see pics below). Nice exotic wood inlay inside the titanal topsheet cavity. A real beauty. Everyhone who saw them said "wow...beautiful."

Second Impression (hand flex and inspection):

This is not a fluffy "doctor-lawyer ski" (no hard feelings to the doctors and lawyers out there who love skiing...it's just a phrase...lighten up) for the fuzzy-boot sundeck lizards...this ski has a very nice hand-flex and dampening, with beef underfoot and substantial tail strength. This is a "skier's ski" with carving in its nature. I really, really wanted to try it on some fresh hardpack at speed. (first impression - it's not a backcountry powder ski or some gnarly crud-buster...this is mainly targeted for on-piste terrain of all types, but compliant enough to definitely handle nicely in the powder, cut-up crud and thicker stuff. I will bet this is a superb one-ski-quiver candidate.

Camber. Repeat - Camber. This ski has perhaps the highest camber I have seen in a ski recently. Check out the pics. That means this ski could be particularly touchy at the helm...let's reserve judgement until Monday's on-snow test...!

Third Impression (reflecting on the price):

Ok. These skis cost $3,000 usd. (remain calm). $3500 if you want the carbon poles and a really, really nice velvet-lined wooden box package (see the Sterling website for pics). A little mental adjustment is needed here. I don't expect this $3,000 ski to outperform some of the fine $1,000 racing skis on bulletproof surfaces, nor do I expect it to outperform powder skis in powder, big mountain skis on hard-core terrain, or some of the fine all-mountain skis already out there. I do expect it to be really, really good and perfectly suitable for a wide variety of terrain. I expect a very high degree of performance on all these surfaces and terrain...so much so I could live with it as my only ski. Tall order? Yes.

I talk myself into it this way:

A Jaguar or Mercedes automobile will probably not out-perform some of the excellent cars by Audi, Nissan, BWM...etc. but people love Jaguars, Mercedes, Alpha Romeos for the beautiful products they are. Sure, they perform really, really well, and are works of art to some people, but the fact is, premium products are about more than performance. They involve a degree of artistry, craftsmanship and elegance beyond the statistics of performance. That's what Sterling Skis is all about. Highest degree of quality materials and craftsmanship used to produce a very high-performance product. Not for everyone, but then again, John is only manufacturing 140 pairs this year...so the market is full of enough people to sell out the production run for 2007-2008.

Anyway...some pics....

[ externes Bild ]

[ externes Bild ]


[ externes Bild ]

[ externes Bild ]
[ externes Bild ]


VIST BINDING HARDWARE

[exoticskis]

Some reviews are posting...more coming soon I think...

THEGEARGURU:
http://thegearguru.com/index.php?name=R ... tent&id=13

[exoticskis]

Two more reviews of the Sterling Matterhorns at (http://www.exoticskis.com/forum/default ... posts&t=30)....(excerpts below).

Looks like lighter-weight skiers and non-race oriented women may need to demo these before putting down the major $$$ to buy them.

"...At 174 there was a lot of ski to maneuver. It took major leg strength for me to power and flex those skis through the turns. I'm sure the J1 racers would have no trouble at all, but a lighter ski might appeal to the ladies. Truly a racer's delight. Made for those individuals in competition mode. I surely enjoyed the experience, even if they were too much ski for me...."

and...

(another male tester)...

"...The truth ,however,is in the pudding, and these skis perform! You can go back to my friends post for the dimensions, but these skis rip! Tenacious, grippy, smooth edge to edge, precise and very comfortable at speed. I could not push them hard enough. I spend most of my time on Volkl Race Carvers in a 167cm length or a Volkl AC4 in a 177. The Matterhorns just gripped and didn't budge. If you got back on them they exploded out from under your feet precisely. Never once was I in fear of ending up in the bushes from the ski unloading...."