rows of skis standing on end, inside a temporary structure with a round ceiling

Powder Week: Not Your Average Ski Trip

Reading Time: 2 minutes
Every year Powder Magazine brings the ski industry together, not for trade shows or sales meetings, but to actually ski. A few lucky industry insiders are chosen for Powder Week, Powder Magazines annual weeklong ski testing extravaganza. Our Director of Ecommerce, Christian Gennerman, was one of the lucky “Fantasy Draft and Shop Rats,” chosen to join other testers and 30 brands in Jackson Hole, Wyoming for the 13th Powder Week. This really is an honor, as only ten men and five women are chosen for the Fantasy Draft and eleven men and two women are chosen for the Shop Rats.

Christian has been working in the outdoor industry for a long time. He has a communications degree and was one of the first employees at Backcountry.com. And of course he knows his way around on skis, way back in the day he was a competitive mogul skier and he is steering his son Caden down the same path.

Christian was super psyched to go. He said “it is a chance just to ski.” Powder Week isn’t just about testing and rating skis with the graphics taped over. You go out with other people, athletes and sales managers, and go out of bounds and ski the skis you choose, not what you’re handed. Over 100 people representing 30 different brands showed up to Powder Week so Christian really had the opportunity to ski with a core group of people.

He was bunked up in Hostel X, an iconic ski lodge right at the base of the mountain. Apparently, Hostel X has been there as long as anything else in Teton Village. Hopefully a super cool lodge like that can stay for a long time.

The vibe was mellow. The skiers tested all mountain skis under 100 mm wide at the waist and all mountain skis over 100 mm at the waist. And then they got to choose their favorite powder skis. And last but not least, the Dream Trip category, where you select the perfect ski for your dream ski trip. Christian had the opportunity to test some of his favorite ski brands. What else could he ask for?

It’s the combination of friends and community that make Powder Week so great. The epic snow and giant resort also contribute, but it really comes down to the human element and everyone at Jans.com is super stoked that one of our own was chosen to partake in a great industry event.

– Paul Boyle