Anyone who’s been around skiing long enough has heard about race-stock equipment- gear you can’t get in the shop (until now). So what make it different?

Race stock skis are typically wood and metal laminates- a traditional construction that still rules the roost in speed events because it glides fast. There’s nothing exotic about laminates, but the skis are hand-made to a higher standard; they need to withstand being slammed down rutted-out ice by large angry Austrians. These days, the FIS (the international governing body of competitive skiing) mandates limits on sidecut, length, and binding rise, so there’s nothing special there.

There is however, some real technology in the built-in plates used on all World Cup skis. These plates absorb vibration and allow the ski to free-flex; Rossi’s race plate actually allows you to change the flex of the ski. In the end these skis, while handmade and sweet, are heavy, stiff, and worthless for anything but skiing fast on hard snow. In fact, retail skis (which don’t have to conform to the FIS specs) can have more sidecut and lift, and be skied shorter- in many ways making them ‘higher-performance’ than race-sock skis.

Like skis, race stock bindings feature less technology and more metal. “Green Springs� (their extra-stiff springs are painted green or red to prevent mix ups) are the Neanderthal version of a retail binding: heavier, stronger and dumber. Their mission is to keep you attached to the ski, regardless of little things like knee ligaments. Retail bindings can only be adjusted to 14 or 15 on the DIN scale (measuring the tension that keeps you in the binding). This is plenty. Green spring bindings have tension ranges from 8-18 or (for the truly disturbed) 12-24. While no one outside the World Cup needs a 20 DIN, many hardcore freeskiers hoard green-springs like gold for their durability and superior retention.

Race-stock boots are narrower and stiffer than their retail cousins, typically featuring far better liners and more internal lift. For strong, experienced skiers, they will offer the ultimate in precision, responsiveness and power. These boots are built simple so they can be easily modified- which they will probably demand. The trade-offs for the ultimate in boot performance are the sheer amount of boot work that may be required, and the fact that unless you’re actually skiing hard and flexing the boots, they’re going to be just about the tightest, stiffest thing you’ll ever clamp on (“…somewhat claustrophobic� in the words of the immortal Kevin Hepburn). You’ve probably noticed how the first thing ski racers do after the finish is unbuckle their boots…

For most of us, this gear is irrelevant, but for elite-level racers (and some freeskiers), it’s the price of admission.