Author Topic: Skis and Snowboards (Read 487691 times)

PJungnitsch · « **Reply #20 on:** February 22, 2014, 07:39:37 pm »

The trouble with Ski Canada tests is that everything is great.

From yellowgentian.com:

Enduro XT800

Salomon has made a front and back rockered all-mountain ski, the Enduro XT 800. When I tested this ski in perfect conditions (5cm of fresh snow on a smooth slope, good visibility) my expectations were high. The name Enduro brought to me hopes of a tough and challenging ski. Instead I found it inert and uninspiring.
To me a good all-mountain ski has to have a bit of everything, this ski has a bit of nothing. It doesn't carve well, there's not much stability at high speeds, it has no playfulness at all. The only thing you can do with this ski is making big turns at moderate speed.

Rating: 1 stars
Relaxed or disappointing?

It is however relaxed, in fact so relaxed that you easily get bored with skiing. Maybe Salomon should rename this ski the Enduring Boredom. The looks of this ski fit perfectly, because they are evenly dull. I honestly can't think of any type of skier who would be attracted to the Salomon Enduro XT 800. The Salomon Enduro XT 850 is a little bit better.

Rossignol Pursuit 16:

The Pursuit 16 is a piste ski which is easy enough for about everyone. Especially intermediate skiers who don't want to push themselves and have an easy round on the resorts pistes will like it. Sorry to say that I think anyone else will be bored on it fairly quick. Although, as they are so easy to handle, you will be able to deal with any piste condition.

Personally I want more challenge in a ski. It may push me, it may demand effort and energy. That is not what I experienced with the Pursuit 16. It feels like you can put 'easy' in front of every aspect and you have your description of the ski. I have to admit that the Pursuit 16, like the Pursuit 14, is very maneuverable on piste. Makes your day easy. So intermediate skiers who's thing is comfort, relax and piste, it might be nice. For me too easy, that's why I only give it one star.

More and more I'm getting the idea that the new 80mm and up skis are worse hard snow skis than the old narrow carvers, but better in softer and choppier conditions and thus a better compromise for 'one ski on the bus to the mountains' kind of situation. Rocker and extra width are do not appear to be magic bullets.

I dug out my old $50 Rossi 9S Oversizes last night and they did fine on the hard snow of the local hill, so maybe there's no big rush. If I get into Masters racing next year on the local hill I might have to get a new carver with nice sharp edges, but it sounds like it's still going be be fairly narrow.

Noto · « **Reply #21 on:** February 22, 2014, 11:39:52 pm »

my sentiments exactly. I'd stick with a low-to-mid 70s width. A compromise ski is just garbage, so get the ski that will fit the conditions you most often see, and have a cheaper powder ski for those days.

While in Whistler, which had a huge dumping of snow, I still found that unless you were at the peak, there wasn't much 'powder' that the fatty skis would be at home on. It was really mostly crud, which 75mm skis could handle with ease - the problem is that most carvers are very unforgiving, and the tails very stiff - can make skiing crud a tiring experience.

The best answer is a two-ski quiver. If you can only get one set, then get a ski that will suit the conditions you most often see.

ktm525 · « **Reply #22 on:** February 22, 2014, 11:59:52 pm »

I have many pairs but 80% of my lift serviced skiing is on an older pair of Volkl Mantras (98 or 100 underfoot if I recall). These are the pre tip rocker or reverse camber craze and are in a longer length (191 cm)

If you like to ski fast and need a ski that can handle a bottomless powder day as well as lay an arc in the ice then this is the one ski quiver for you. Just don't take them in the bumps as I find them extremely stiff, The tails are also stiff much like an old GS ski so if you get back on them you are in some trouble son.

tortoise · « **Reply #23 on:** February 24, 2014, 10:40:32 am »

Quote from: PJungnitsch on February 22, 2014, 07:39:37 pm

The trouble with Ski Canada tests is that everything is great.

I think that has more to do with what's available than any soft reporting. The truth is that few manufacturers are making crappy skis at the intermediate and above level.

Quote

More and more I'm getting the idea that the new 80mm and up skis are worse hard snow skis than the old narrow carvers, but better in softer and choppier conditions and thus a better compromise for 'one ski on the bus to the mountains' kind of situation. Rocker and extra width are do not appear to be magic bullets.

I suspect that's mostly true, but there are exceptions. The new Kastle skis get rave reveiws (but are $$$$) and the Head Titan's are known for their edge group. The Fischer Motive 86 is also said to have a race ski feel. The thing is that skis with wider waists are genereally used for soft snow so that is where their bias lies. The trick is finding a wider ski that has the bias you want.

Guy · « **Reply #24 on:** February 24, 2014, 11:31:41 am »

I have the Motive 84 C-Line and they behave very much like a race ski. I use them mostly on groomed snow. When icy, I use the Progressors. They are faster edge to edge since they are narrower but the feel is very similar.

PJungnitsch · « **Reply #25 on:** February 24, 2014, 01:48:28 pm »

Any experience with Kastle's? The Mx78 or 83 would seem like a good bet for an all purpose ski, or the RX series for more focused hard snow/race.

Seem to get very good ratings. Expensive new, but used demo's are available quite reasonably.

tortoise · « **Reply #26 on:** February 24, 2014, 02:01:42 pm »

No personal experience. But both of those models are consistently rated at the top of their category.

If you were rarely skiing soft snow or bumps I'd say go with the 78. If you venture off of the groomers I'd go 83.

johngenx · « **Reply #27 on:** February 24, 2014, 03:38:55 pm »

Was in the Yoho backcountry this weekend. Alpine conditions are lousy, but treeline and below was great. Run after run (earned, of course!) of boot-top to knee deep powder through glades and then moderately tight, but fun, trees. Found slopes with good stability despite recent poor bonding of the storm cycle snow. Pays to know where the goods are!!

Anyway, my G3 Manhattans rocked it out. Having skied wider skis (they're a "mid fat" pow ski at 108 under-foot), skinner skis, lighter skis, heavier skis, flexier skis, and stiffer skis, I have found my "nirvana" ski. They're just light enough that I can gain big vert in a day without killing my legs, but heavy enough to ski with speed and confidence in all kinds of snow. They have a sheet of titanal metal over the wood core that adds "pop" to the ski, and damn, it works. I can whip them around on a dime in the tress and then open them up with big GS turns on an open slope.

Anyone that's thinking about a backcountry powder ski should put this one right at the top of their list.

Noto · « **Reply #28 on:** February 25, 2014, 01:19:29 pm »

we definitely have different skiing preferences if your G3 Manhattans are your nirvana - great for the conditions you get, but not my taste for edge hold and short-rad turns.

I LOVE the Kastle MX78s - at $1179 (not incl bindings), they're actually not all that expensive, but you can't find any "last years' models" in the $600-$700 range - they definitely sell out. I also don't like the matching bindings - not enough rise. Try to throw on a good pair of Markers.

Still, I think there are so many skis, it's like trying to find the 'right' car for you. Ha!

tortoise · « **Reply #29 on:** February 25, 2014, 01:23:31 pm »

Big fan of Look bindings over here...

Agreed. There are so many good skis, in so many different categories that the challenge is not finding a good pair, but as you say - the right pair. And the BIG problem with that is finding a store that has a pair you can demo.

johngenx · « **Reply #30 on:** February 25, 2014, 01:54:55 pm »

Anyone see the skis the ski jumpers use? I'd love to borrow a pair and then stand in the lift line. What a howl that would be !

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HeliDriver · « **Reply #31 on:** February 25, 2014, 02:16:14 pm »

Quote from: johngenx on February 25, 2014, 01:54:55 pm

Anyone see the skis the ski jumpers use? I'd love to borrow a pair and then stand in the lift line. What a howl that would be !

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I've got a few pairs of 240cm KL skis. You can borrow a pair if you want.

HeliDriver · « **Reply #32 on:** February 27, 2014, 04:15:33 pm »

Neighbour's fence.

He was making good progress on it for a while, but has slowed down this winter. I think he ran out of donated skis. Too bad I threw away or sold all my old skis over the years, it would have been neat to donate them to the cause.

PJungnitsch · « **Reply #33 on:** February 27, 2014, 07:49:32 pm »

Dig those colors! And mostly by those stern Germans and Austrians, no less.

Back to the 80's, anyone?

PJungnitsch · « **Reply #34 on:** March 13, 2014, 02:27:24 am »

Found a local shop had a pair of Kastle MX78's to demo, and tried them out against the Rossi:

Result.....wow!

The Rossignol's can still crank out a turn, but there's something magical about the Kastle's. So smooth and agile. It's apparently the Porsche of skis, and feels like it.

tortoise · « **Reply #35 on:** March 13, 2014, 09:19:32 am »

Yeah, the reviews are nothing but stellar.

But 152's? Do you weigh 100 lbs? That seems really short for a grown man.

johngenx · « **Reply #36 on:** March 13, 2014, 09:29:41 am »

That is short! Ladies ski? Maybe why they have them as a demo.

PJungnitsch · « **Reply #37 on:** March 13, 2014, 11:54:24 am »

Yeah, very short. When I lived in Banff I spent my mountain time with 205's!

That was the only size demo they had, but I WAS interested on that length based on this:

http://www.bumpsforboomers.com/choosing-ski-length-making-decision

One big reason I packed the 170 Rossi's along was to compare length.

Honestly, the Kastle's seem to grip better, be just as stable, and turn on a dime. Of course they are still full camber skis (no rocker to take out effective length) and are known to be heavily damped. They have about the same edge length as my 162 snowboard.

Never had so much fun. I'll probably get them. As a bonus they come with the fully adjustable rental bindings so I can borrow them to the g/f if she wants to try skiing.

PJungnitsch · « **Reply #38 on:** April 08, 2014, 11:39:17 am »

Finally got them to the mountains, spent a day skiing with them at Marmot yesterday. Not a lineup the whole day, just ski up to the lift and go. Pretty tired today as we drove there and back in one day, leaving at 5.00am and back late in the evening. No fresh snow but it softened up nicely by midday.

The skis were awesome. The short length made them easy to throw around, especially handy on steeps and moguls, and with a wider stance (something that really goes against my training) they seem to handle speed and crud fine. Like to be on edge though.

Noto · « **Reply #39 on:** April 08, 2014, 11:48:55 am »

Quote from: PJungnitsch on April 08, 2014, 11:39:17 am

Finally got them to the mountains, spent a day skiing with them at Marmot yesterday. Not a lineup the whole day, just ski up to the lift and go. Pretty tired today as we drove there and back in one day, leaving at 5.00am and back late in the evening. No fresh snow but it softened up nicely by midday.

The skis were awesome. The short length made them easy to throw around, especially handy on steeps and moguls, and with a wider stance (something that really goes against my training) they seem to handle speed and crud fine. Like to be on edge though.

Umm, there's no snow here in the GTA, so ski season is over

Very jealous!

I'm glad you like the Kastles! If they're a decent price, BUY BUY BUY! I would.

I also prefer shorter skis. I'm 5'7", 160lbs, and ride Blizzard G-Force Supersonic 160cm. I do love them, but they're a one-trick pony - they handle crud and bumps 'ok', but they're stiff. On a freshly groomed run though? WHOAHHH love love love!