230 handshakes, 30 coffees and 50 “Oh, that’s a nice bit of kit, that” remarks later and we’ve now completed ISPO 2020. We fought through the hoards at this international trade show within the midst of the Coronavirus epidemic to bring you this glance at the newest ski touring, freeride and resort skiing products in the industry.

So here we go, here’s the Mpora snapshot of the most exciting products for the 20/21 winter season, with lots of exciting developments in pretty much all categories of products.

We’re off to the SIGB ski test in Pila at the start of March, so we’ll be sure to put our top selection of skis through their paces ready for the 2020 – 2021 Mpora Backcountry Ski Guide, giving you all the information required to make an informed decision on your ski equipment for the 20/21 winter season.

Ski Industry Trends 2020 – 2021

Contrary to the freeride touring market, we’re seeing more and more weight being stripped from skis, bindings, boots and accessories. You name it, if there’s weight to be taken from a product, a brand will have taken a scalpel to it in the name of gram counting – buckles, snow-skirts and top-sheets have all been discarded – chopping the end of your toothbrush is no longer the only acceptable method of saving the grams.

Ski Touring Skis 2020 – 2021

One of the most noteworthy categories seeing the nip and tuck treatment is in ski construction and from this, the increased development of more and more ski mountaineering skis, with many of the big brands showing off their offerings. These skis typically sit sub 85 mm and weight in less than 1 kg per ski – most exciting versions of these skis were from Zag with their Adret range and Black Diamond with the Cirque 78 and 84, where a full sidewall, pre-preg carbon fibre and a shrewd use of titanium has been used to uphold downhill performance.