Skis made in China?!?!?!

Sharon

New member
I just got my brand spankin new pair of Black Diamond Verdicts delivered to my office today.

Of course, I had to take them out of the packaging to oogle them, and to show all the interested parties in my office.

Sadly, there's a big sticker on the shrinkwrap...Made in China :(

This is something I did not expect.

No wonder they were so cheap.

I guess if I went with the Volkl's I'd be paying twice as much...and they still would not be made in the U.S.

I didn't shop for skis based on where they were made, I shoped for them for the price. I had an idea of what I wanted, and when they appeared on tramdock.com I snapped them up. They look pretty sweet.

Now I'm just waiting for the bindings to arrive...and praying for a good late season dump or 2, so I can test those badboys out.
 
Most skis are made in China now, with the only notable exceptions being a mere handful of Austrian, French and German models. In fact, IIRC some Volkls are made under contract in China, too. K2 is manufacturing entirely overseas now. So is G3. My Swiss Movements? China (same plant as G3).
 
Admin":1ucavb77 said:
K2 is manufacturing entirely overseas now.

K2 race stock is still made on Vashon Island. Low volumes obviously and yes K2 does have race stock even though they do not support anyone at the World Cup level. Only up through the College circuits roughly. They have no taste for the $ and resources it takes for the WC now-a-days and feel they can get decent feedback and stay current enough in design with the much smaller level of race support (decent stuff IMO which is why I have several in my 'quiver').

K2 was actually the first manufacturer in transitioning all volume ski manufacturing over to China, which nearly everyone else has quickly followed.
 
And all those models and brands - not only in China, but often in the same factory, on the same line.
 
Sharon":1wc82on9 said:
:x

oh well, what can ya do

:cry:

You can do what the TGR maggots do and buy some BROs...however the price is probably higher than those skis made in China. :wink:

You can't always have everything in this World. 8)
 
..... or Icelantics, which are manufactured in the US. You can get them for a pretty good price when they're on sale at the end of the year. I liked the Volkl Gotama's but I refuse to pay that high a price for Chinese skis. If they were sold for a big discount due to their low manufacturing costs I would be fine with it but I won't pay premium price for "low" cost goods. Just my opinion. It's the whole "Made in China" thing. While I have a choice I will exercise it, when the choice is gone, which won't be long, I will live with it.
 
skibumm100":1spnearq said:
..... or Icelantics, which are manufactured in the US. You can get them for a pretty good price when they're on sale at the end of the year.
Does the Icelantic attitude come for free or do you have to pay extra for that? :wink:
 
Marc_C":5lu480ic said:
skibumm100":5lu480ic said:
..... or Icelantics, which are manufactured in the US. You can get them for a pretty good price when they're on sale at the end of the year.
Does the Icelantic attitude come for free or do you have to pay extra for that? :wink:

Marc,

No attitude is required with these skis. They ski just as well whether you have a chip on your shoulder or not. Just good, clean fun. The Bro's on the other hand........ :-k
 
(old thread bump)
Patrick":3cmrto2s said:
You can do what the TGR maggots do and buy some BROs...however the price is probably higher than those skis made in China. :wink:

You can't always have everything in this World. 8)
BRO's tend to go for about the same as most large manufacture's similar skis. Moment's (made in Reno) or On3p's (made in Portland) are cheaper still. The difference is you never find them on clearance anywhere at the end of the season for 40% off. And they're tough to find for demos.
 
K2 race skis? funny, very funny. an entry level atomic kids ski will out perform most K2's for liveliness and give back. bros? overpriced lacquered
barrel staves for going straight and gettin all TGR-YO. icelantics? made right in colorado at the never summer snowboard factory. fun skis good for 1-100 day season or multiple shorter seasons and not too expensive. i'm selling a bunch of nomads at 499.00 per pair. 140-105-130 168-180cm. volkl? whatever. joey has a pair so i need a pair. "dude! i need a pair of mantras in 190cm with marker dukes cuz their so cool...dude". ya, whatever.

just my .02.

is it summer yet?

rog
 
Marc_C":s7vtf1s4 said:
Does the Icelantic attitude come for free or do you have to pay extra for that? :wink:
"wait, what attitude?"
icelanticskier":s7vtf1s4 said:
K2 race skis? funny, very funny. an entry level atomic kids ski will out perform most K2's for liveliness and give back. bros? overpriced lacquered
barrel staves for going straight and gettin all TGR-YO. icelantics? made right in colorado at the never summer snowboard factory. fun skis good for 1-100 day season or multiple shorter seasons and not too expensive. i'm selling a bunch of nomads at 499.00 per pair. 140-105-130 168-180cm. volkl? whatever. joey has a pair so i need a pair. "dude! i need a pair of mantras in 190cm with marker dukes cuz their so cool...dude". ya, whatever.

just my .02.

is it summer yet?

rog
"ohhhhh. that one."
 
Enjoy your BD Verdicts Sharon. I have put around 150 days on mine over the past two seasons. While I like them very much, I do find them rather "loose" on surfaces that are packed down hard. I tend to use them mostly on powder days, or off the trails proper when it hasn't snowed too recently. You will have to keep the edges pretty sharp if you use them in the east. I'm looking to add a pair of Salomon "Czars" this season. I got a chance to demo them at Alta last season and really enjoyed them. They were not only great in powder, but felt quite stable on the packed down stuff.
 
Admin":233q2lid said:
Most skis are made in China now, with the only notable exceptions being a mere handful of Austrian, French and German models. In fact, IIRC some Volkls are made under contract in China, too. K2 is manufacturing entirely overseas now. So is G3. My Swiss Movements? China (same plant as G3).

Yep, I've got a pair of the 07-08 Volkl Gotamas and was quite surprised to see they were made in China.
I can only imagine that they've increased production in China and other low-cost manufacturing locations since K2 acquired them.
 
molecan":2k502v9h said:
Admin":2k502v9h said:
Most skis are made in China now, with the only notable exceptions being a mere handful of Austrian, French and German models. In fact, IIRC some Volkls are made under contract in China, too. K2 is manufacturing entirely overseas now. So is G3. My Swiss Movements? China (same plant as G3).

Yep, I've got a pair of the 07-08 Volkl Gotamas and was quite surprised to see they were made in China.
I can only imagine that they've increased production in China and other low-cost manufacturing locations since K2 acquired them.
As Admin pointed out, a lot of different skis from different brands are manufactured in the same factory, sometimes on the same line.
 
Sharon":3on9h421 said:
:x

oh well, what can ya do

:cry:

I just wanted to thank the poster's on this line for putting up those answers, I was resigning myself to the fact that you couldn't get skis made here in the US and for the most part, having to send your money to China, but it looks like that's not the case - which makes me very happy, just having that option. Made my day brighter just knowing that (we still make stuff here!).

As best as I could tell, it seems like Fischer makes all of theirs in Europe still (seems like they have a plant in Austria & in Ukraine) if you'd rather have your money go to Europe (as opposed to China), but need to get something less expensive than the current US made boards. Just my $0.02.
 
Marc_C":zao8js44 said:
rfarren":zao8js44 said:
Icelantics are made in Colorado.
But you'd have to put up with the crappy fanboy mystical fantasy graphics.
I don't buy skis for the way they look. My cousin just bought the nomads and said they were amazing in the pow.
 
rfarren":2vzo29sq said:
I don't buy skis for the way they look. My cousin just bought the nomads and said they were amazing in the pow.
There are an astounding number of other skis that are also "amazing in the pow" that don't look like $h*t.
 
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