CONTACT US 020 3129 3301
Our experts are here for you
Our passionate staff is with you through every step of your purchase and helps you choose the right gear that best suits your needs.
With our Help Center
CONTACTCONTACT US 020 3129 3301
Our experts are here for you
Our passionate staff is with you through every step of your purchase and helps you choose the right gear that best suits your needs.
With our Help Center
CONTACT
If you are looking for a new pair of skis, new ski boots or for a new ski package with bindings included, we have everything you need in our online store. You will also find accessories to complete your ski set like ski helmets, ski goggles, ski gloves and a ton of accessories related to wintersports. Glisshop is the winter expert on Internet with unbeatable prices, one of the largest range of ski gear, a high-quality customer service and custom recommendations. But let’s get back to the point, alpine skiing.
If you read these lines it probably means that you are a skier or about to become one. Great, you are in the right place. Glisshop.co.uk is an online retailer dedicated to selling the best wintersports equipment since 1999. Passionate about ski, snowboard, ski touring and everything that is related to snow, our qualified staff will help you select your alpine ski gear and will answer every of your ski questions, from the most basic to the most technical ones. You want to know what’s a ski made of? What is a woodcore, a carbon reinforcement or a rocker? What is the difference between a piste ski or a freeride ski? Visit us and skiing will have no more secret to you.
We are not going to take you through the entire history of skiing nor we are going to detail you old ski constructions which were pretty basic as it was just a straight wood planks. From Emile Allais to Candide Thovex or Marcel Hirscher, skiing has progressed a lot. Here are a few essentials you need to know. Skiing is a sport that changed a lot in the 20th century, especially in the 90’s with the rise of new sports like freestyle and freeride. Technologies have helped this change, manufacturers improved their constructions. If you remember old straight skis, you probably remember the arrival of modern skis with sidecuts called parabolic skis. They feature different widths at the tip, tail and waist helping skis turn naturally. Then came twin-tipped skis, new shapes, new materials, rockers, things changed and skiers too.
Let's talk here about the rise of freestyle skiing, terrain parks popped in resorts like mushrooms, specific competitions appeared like X-Games or Superpipe and Big Air events at the Olympics. Freestyle skiing has been represented by iconic skiers like Candide Thovex who created the Candide Invitational event or Henrik Harlaut and Phil Casabon with the B&E invitational. Since the single kicker jump, freestyle skiing has assaulted rails, walls, boxes and even streets at night to become more than just a sport, a lifestyle.
New ski shapes have also helped freeriders to explore the backcountry. Thanks to wider profiles incorporating rockers and specific cambers, freeride skis became powder weapons offering the ultimate floatability and manoeuvrability on the steeps. Just have a look at a few events of the Freeride World Tour (FWT), that will give you an idea of the current level of the riders.
More recently, skiing looks back to its roots and gets closer to nature with the rise of ski touring. Touring skis allow you to reach the highest peaks in the resort without queueing for the lifts. Light and nimble, these skis, when combined with Low-Tech bindings and climbing skins, help skiers with ambitions to climb the mountain with no restrictions.
Be careful though, from the moment you step aside the groomed resort, you must be equipped with safety equipment. An avalanche beacon, a shovel and a snow probe are the least you need to carry but if you can, we strongly recommend wearing an avalanche airbag as well. And as would say Captain Obvious, if you want to stay safe, do not take risks.
This was a brief overview of the world of skiing today. If you want to know more about ski categories, cambers, bindings or ski boots, you will find everything on glisshop.co.uk !
