The best years? Fuck. 1992 to 1998 was all about bumps and aerals. Think olympics. Knees flying from side to side and doing 360s while sporting fluorescent gear! Flips and spins on massive 90 degrees kickers was beyond belief. But in 98, something happed; it was all about the jump and fuck the bumps! From then, everything changed. However, gear was not available. Some made their own skis, but it was always small production. It also involved using a blow torch to heat the tails and bend them into twin tips.
in 99-2000, solomon patented the first twin tip skis, designed by Mike D, JP auclair, JF Cusson and Shane Szocks. They tried so hard with every company, but took years to convince solomon to try the idea.
Now everyone could jump on higher quality, more robust skis. Taking off and landing backwards became a thing. People were trying new things and those that could afford camera gear, got their stuff out.
The golden age happened because of a demand push in technology. Then, for 10 years, we all begin to try to figure out the sport. I guess that was the magic; endless potentional and everything was new.
Think prospectors discovering gold in California, skiers found their golden discovery and now it feels tapped out.
Like many revived gold towns, many found other material to make money; park skiing has branched off into comp, park, pipe, big mountain freeride… each a golden discovery waiting to happen.
its why I keep in touch with all aspects of skiing. Im looking into how I can branch off into another discovery!