Answers
One question a page, and the answer in the first line
49 questions, one page each, with the answer in the opening sentence rather than after four paragraphs of preamble. Where the honest answer is that the published figure was measured on a bench, or against a skier who is not you, the page names those conditions and goes no further.
Choosing
Which discipline the equipment is for rather than which brand made it, what more money actually buys on each shelf, and where the cheapest answer is the right one.
Length & flex
What a ski length is measured against, why a waist width decides the snow more than the length does, and what a flex index says about the boot and not about you.
Bindings & DIN
Why a DIN range must bracket the skier instead of ending at them, what a brake width has to clear, and why the setting itself belongs to a bench.
Boots & fit
Mondopoint against shoe size, last width against a wide foot, and what a heat-mouldable liner can and cannot undo.
Helmets & goggles
Head circumference in centimetres rather than a letter, what rotational protection addresses, and why a double lens matters more than a brand.
Avalanche gear
What a transceiver, a probe and a shovel each do, what an airbag pack weighs and assumes, and where the equipment stops and the training starts.
Touring & skins
Cutting a skin to a ski rather than to a length, mohair against nylon, and the one morning a ski crampon is the difference between going on and turning round.
Wax & edges
Temperature bands that refer to snow and not air, why an angle guide beats an expensive file, and what scraping and brushing are actually for.
Board setup
Baseplate patterns and the disc in the box, strap against rear-entry against step-on, and the boot size a binding was built around.
Cross-country
The kick zone and what goes on it, classic against skating, and why a waxless patterned base needs none of the tin of grip wax.
Skates & blades
Hollow depth and what it does to a glide, when a blade actually needs sharpening, and why a wet blade in a soaker is the one thing to avoid.
Gloves & warmth
Why a tight glove is a cold glove, one thin merino sock instead of two thick ones, and what a stated temperature claim on a glove is worth.
Transport & storage
Bag length against the longest ski in the house, padded against unpadded for a flight, and how skis should hang between two seasons.