Sturtevant’s 24th Annual Progressive sale starts Friday the 17th and runs through March 11th! Each week the prices get deeper and deeper! Skis, snowboards, clothing, helmets, gloves, goggles, almost everything in the store is on sale! Be sure to get there early before its all gone!

Shop at any of our convenient locations for huge savings!
- Sturtevant’s Bellevue location

- Sturtevant’s Ski Mart – Bellevue Location

- Sturtevant’s Ski Mart – Alderwood Location

- Sturtevant’s Ski Mart – Tacoma Location

- Sturtevant’s Online

Construction:  TwinTech Sidewall with Triaxial Braided Fir/Aspen Core
Dimensions:  147/120/141
Radius:  22m @ 179
Rocker line:  K2 Powder Rocker tip and Tail, camber underfoot
Skier Type: Intermediate to Sean Pettit

BUY THIS SKI IF: You want a powder ski that doesn’t require the deepest days to be fun. You like to play off every little piece of natural terrain.
DON’T BUY THIS SKI IF: You don’t like dark a little bit angry graphics, and don’t care to ever go backwards.

K2 changes up there standard line up this next season when it does away with the Obsethed and “replaces” it with the Pettitor. As ski legend Seth Morrison gets more and more into big mountain touring adventures it gave K2 a perfect opportunity to put their biggest new athlete Sean Pettit on a pro model of his very own. And so it is…The Pettitor is born, the Obsethed is no longer and Seth Morrison will have the all new SideSeth (more on that later).

Construction:  Sandwich construction with carbon laminates
Dimensions:  140/114/130mm
Radius:  23.0 m @ 186cm
Rocker line:  FlipCore design with rocker tip and tail and camber underfoot
Skier Type: Intermediate to expert

BUY THIS SKI: You want a light playful powder ski that loves tight trees but still feels solid and doesn’t cringe when you crank up the speed.
DON’T BUY THIS SKI: You are looking for a one ski quiver

Coming off an extremely successful first season with FlipCore technology Blizzard adds a few more skis to the lineup for 2013. Sliding in between the award winning Cochise and the big burly Bodacious is the new Blizzard Gunsmoke. The new ski is 114mm underfoot and true twin tip. While it seems like it would sit awkwardly close to Cochise territory it is a completely different beast.

Unlike the Bodacious and Cochise the Gunsmoke has carbon fiber in place of metal laminates, giving it an extremely lively feel and keeps the weight down. It has a 23 meter turn radius and similar FlipCore properties with its rocker tip and tail but a bit more camber underfoot. After having quite a few employees ride on it at Mission Ridge the past few days it appears to be a resounding thumbs up.

Surprisingly quick and great edge grip on the hard pack the ski felt really solid. Despite all the rocker, the tips do not flap around and feels pretty solid at speed, certainly more than just “getting back to the lift” capabilities. While it performed better than we expected on hard snow, you don’t get the urge to go ripping big open turns at high speed like the Bonafide and Cochise. But you don’t buy a 114mm wide ski for hard pack glory, so we took a little hike to find some soft stuff. In a few inches of fluff the Gunsmoke was really a ton of fun, the weight and shape makes it the easiest ski for tight trees in Blizzard’s Free Mountain line. Open it up in the crud and it is still nice and stable like the rest of the FlipCore skis.

Graphics look sharp, the bull looks mean but not over the top. The 112-120mm category has some fierce competition with proven performers like the S7, Armada JJ, and Atomic Bent Chetler but look for the Gunsmoke to put some pressure with its even more versatile design.

Bottom line: Skis like an STH…..and it can tour.
Buy it if: You are looking for a burly binding that you can still tour on. You don’t like how the Duke/Baron engages/disengages from its touring mode or crave your bindings close to the ski.
Don’t Buy If: You are looking for a light weight alternative to the Duke/Baron.
DIN: 7 – 16

Pay close enough attention to the ski movies this fall and you might have noticed some of the new Salomon skiers on a fancy blue binding. Athlete tested for the past few season the all new Guardian 16 binding is a joint project of Salomon and Atomic and their entrance into side/backcountry binders. Look for the Atomic Tracker 16 this fall as well. Same binding, same price, different color scheme and an Atomic logo.

After a week of Northwest storms I had a chance to take some turns on the new binding last weekend. The story with the Guardian is wider, lower and stiffer. Clearly taking aim at the Marker Duke the Guardian has an 80 mm wide mounting point and sits really low to the ski compared to other touring capable bindings. The metal rails through the middle keep it pretty solid both while skiing and hiking.

The heel is right off the STH so a proven design with no surprises there. First glance at the toe piece has you quickly thinking Duke/Baron. But as the guys at Salomon will tell you, it’s simply the only shape that will allow full 90 degree angle rotation when in touring mode. The only downside to the binding is while it does have adjustable toe height, Salomon says it is not designed to accept a full vibram touring sole. That means all alpine soles including the Salomon Quest series, Atomic Tracker, Tecnica Cochise ect. will work great but full AT boots from Garmont, Scarpa, Dynafit are a no go. At least not advised.

Salomon really focuses on the downhill ski ability so expect weights to be right in there with the Duke and Baron, its clear main competitors. The place that the Guardian really sets itself apart though is the “Hike and Ride” switch. In order to kick it over to hike mode, simply reach back with your pole and click it, and flip the heel lifter up, no need to take off your ski. To reengage the skiing mode, just flip down the lifter and step back down. Excited to finally have another option in the category and one that competition will help progress both sides in the coming years.

Going on now till the end of February!