Ski's testers have an average age of 42. That seems pretty old to be testing high performance products. Yes, they are all quite accomplished as are the Puggers, but some top level (recently retired) freeride skiers and racers would add more credibility to the results particularly at the top of the market.
The SKI mag skiers in fact do have ex-USST skiers in their ranks. One of them is my boss. Mike Rogan and Robin Barnes, PSIA demo team captain and member respectively are involved, probably both over 42, and can ski the legs off of most mere mortals... I mean Mike can just haul the mail in pretty much any terrain. In general, the biggest gripe consumers have with testers is that they are generally much better skiers than the general public. "What good does it do if
'they' like them? They're pros, I'm not." Our boss is also buying a large quantity of skis/boots/bindings and is adept at stepping into other's shoes, which makes her a great resource for all in her orbit, including manufactures' development testing sessions, etc... Lesson one of retail is, if testers/buyers only ordered their personal favorites to sell, the shop would have a very short shelf life. There's just a butt ton of great skis on the wall. There aren't bad ones, but there ARE wrong ones.
IMHO, Phil and the Pug crew have more 'choice' skis because there's no numerical scoring involved which IMHO is NOT the way to go... there's really no reason to rank skis, only to point out ones that everyone seems to agree that they like. And the whole numerical scoring is sort of like evaluating a great artist or writer with a multiple choice test. Don't even get me started on the silliness that ranks boots. Yes, I read the hell out of them because I know we'll have to talk people out of the wrong boot that SKI MAG said was 'the best'. The individual comments that Phil and Trish put together for each ski is the money shot and is something that SKI would do well to emulate, but don't much anymore. The problem with SKI mag isn't the testers, it's the way the editorial staff paints the conclusions.