The grill has gone cold, the last burger has been flipped, all the test forms have been submitted… The Freeskier Big Mountain Ski Test is finally over. We’ve spent a week at Solitude with an army of testers ranging from seasoned professionals, powderhounds, Freeskier editors and gear-junkies getting on hundreds of pairs of skis to bring you the information you need when picking sticks next season.

When it comes to ski testing, we’re not talking about rocket science. Show up, grab a pair of skis and spin some laps. No terrain is off limits. Testers are encouraged to drive these babies through steeps, trees, powder, groomers… In other words, everything that the ski would be exposed to during a trip to the local hill, or mountain in this case. After you’re done running the ski through the gauntlet of terrain you’ve selected, head down to testing HQ, fill out a form with your honest opinion on what the ski does well, what it could work on and give it a number ranging from 1 > 10. 10 being the highest, naturally. Over the course of the week, the average tester will experience over 100 skis.

You can imagine the delight on the Freeskier interns as we arrived in Boulder this Monday morning with a mountain of test forms. We’ve locked them away in the bowels of the office with the mission of compiling the data into spreadsheets, flowcharts, venn diagrams and dioramas so we can bring you the most comprehensive buyers guide on the planet, the 2008-2009 Freeskier Magazine Buyer’s Guide (dropping in August).

And now, for your optical delight… Some eye candy from the Big Mountain Ski Test!

I think they’re from Fischer…

Pip Hunt, on the attack in the Honeycomb Canyon.
(Photo: Shay Williams)

Ski Tester #13447-9: Grete Eliasson
(Photo: Shay Williams)

Tyson Bolduc giving some Head skis a go.
(Photo: Shay Williams)

Greg Corniea gives the Dynastar Huge Trouble the cliff drop test.
(Photo: Dave Amirault)

Mike Thomas puts the camera away to enjoy a lap on a set of Volkl Chopsticks. Nice “O” face, Mike.
(Photo: Dave Amirault)

Dave is short, so that makes waist deep powder easy to get. Nice grin.
(Photo: Harvey)

Corniea and The Fay, post shred session at The Thirsty Squirrel, it’s where the nuts hang out.
(Photo: Amirault)

Tom Winter: Thirsty. Too bad you need to drink around 10 of these 3.2 brews to get a buzz.
(Photo: Amirault)