Shreddin' in the USA: Excellent American Made Skis for Season 2020 / 2021

American craftsmanship is alive and well in the ski industry. Some of the world’s best skis are manufactured right in my hometown of Salt Lake City, UT! As a passionate skier who grew up on skis since I was 3 yrs old in the world’s greatest ski Mecca, I’ve owned or demoed skis from just about every top ski brand out there. This includes great skis from American-made Icelantic, Voile, DPS, and ON3P to foreign made Volkl, Atomic, Salomon, K2, Fischer, Rossignol, Armada, Head, Black Diamond, 4Front, and Line skis (I attend lots of ski demos). I’ve visited American ski factories and witnessed that practically every one of their employees are avid skiers who love their sport and craft. I can’t imagine that holds remotely true for Chinese factories. 

What I know from experience is that American made skis compete with or surpass any brand out there for performance and even by price. I myself ski locally made skis and recommend them to my friends and family. I want to help these fine American craftsmen out by spreading the word on how good these American made skis are. Why support corporate sellouts that exploit cheap labor in China with lower human-rights and environmental standards when better skis are made locally and ethically? The following USA made skis are the all-mountain, big mountain, powder, and backcountry skis that I’m most familiar with and can solidly recommend as some of the best skis available. 

I currently own and love my Icelantic, Voile, and ON3P skis. I’ve also demoed plenty of DPS skis. I’ve noted that the Chinese made DPS Hybrid line tends to be uncomfortably chattery and noodly at speed. DPS Pure Carbon Alchemist skis are exceptional but they are costly for the name recognition; if you have the funds though go for them. Voile skis share a similar carbon/Aspen construction and ski very similarly to DPS Pure Carbon skis (I skied them back to back) while costing nearly half the price. One more note – if you’re wondering about DPS’s waxless Phantom Glide base treatment (created at my alma mater the UofU), yes it does actually work well.