It has come to my attention that Dynastar has now lost Tanner Rainville, Justin Dorey and Mike Riddle in the span of a year. This truly spells the end for the iconic brands team and the brand itself.
A decade ago Dynastar had the strongest team in the ski industry. Candide Thovex, Mickeal Deschenaux, Phil Larose, Dave Crichton, Phil Belanger, Andy Woods, Liam Downey to name a few have all been on the Dynastar team and managers such as Josh Novotny promoted the brand the the fullest. Today I am only aware of two, Jon Brogan (who enjoys Charlie Sheen gossip status on the board) and Duncan Adams.
Dynastar has only itself to blame. The departure from the Trouble, and Big Trouble lines has spelt disaster for the brand. The new Sixth Sense skis might integrate better edge technology but the graphics are uninspired and the skis ride poorly compared to the more responsive Trouble Makers. Second they have allowed their team to slip away, most notably Mickeal Deschenaux who was denied a pro model even though he helped design the Trouble Maker and won back to back US Open Big Air titles on the skis. Arguably this is because of the poor financial situation Rossignol (who I understand owns the brand) is under but they still have maintained a winning team and visual athletes such as Kevin Rolland and Parker White. By failing to keep the most progressive skiers under one roof, the brand has lost sway in the industry and become an after thought to todays freestyle market.
From making the most progressive skis with eye catching artistic graphics (see Larose Pro, or Candide Pro Models) Dynastar has become a losing company. Hopefully Brogan starts skiing again and Adam podiums at X Games so you fools will have something to market come 2012.
MWM
