Each year, dozens of magazines and online outlets reveal the results of their extensive ski tests and gear reviews. This October 11, the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum will be bringing together ski testers from SKI Magazine, Backcountry Magazine, Ski Essentials—the Stowe-based e-newsletter and Exotic Skis. 

“It’s going to be a great forum to hear about what’s the best gear for 2018/19 and also to get an insight into how ski testing and gear reviews actually work,” says Lisa Lynn, the editor of VT Ski + Ride Magazine and a former editor at SKI, who will be moderating the event.

Participants will include Tyler Cohen, editor in chief of Backcountry Magazine and the person who coordinates their gear testing, Steve Sulin of Pinnacle Sports in Stowe and key figure in ski testing for Ski Essentials, Eric Edelstein of Exotic Skis, the online forum that has done exhaustive testing of numerous microbrands of skis from around the globe, and testers from SKI Magazine’s annual gear tests.

“This is a great kickoff for our winter forum speaker series, which we have renamed the Red Bench Series in honor of the Red Bench, a former fixture in Stowe’s Octagon, and now a gathering spot in the Museum’s Main Street building,” says Executive Director Deb Taylor. Future Red Bench Series topics include talks on the 10th Mountain Division, iconic snowboard photography and biathlon.