191 Lib Tech POW NAS Review
Thought I would throw my first review up. Been wanting to try this ski for a long time.
Me: 6'0", 165. Generally aggressive, but check speed before cliffs, chutes, bumps and trees. Not hucking 50 feet, but I will do 10-15. GS turns whenever possible. Not much switch riding, unless I'm bored by the conditions. Skiing conservatively (read: a little like a bitch) coming off a nagging ankle injury.
Skis I like: S7, Praxis mtn jib, all versions of the obsethed.
Skis I like less: Rossignol S5, volkl mantra.
Ski: 191 Rasta Lib tech pow NAS with demo jesters mounted on the line. 153-117-143, 19m radius.
Boot: Dynafit ZZeus TF-x with alpine blocks
Place: Crystal Mountain, WA
Initial impressions: heavy ass weights for skis. Bomber construction, but boot packing was work with these over the shoulder.
Conditions: 12" of new snow the previous week, nothing new overnight. Pow via bootpack, trees, chutes, steeps, hardpack, some ice, smaller bumps, lots of variable mank and crud, tracked out conditions.
General: This ski wants to charge. Checking speed on an icy traverse was super hard work. It wants to hate-fuck the mountain and come back for more. The more aggressive I was, the more rewarding they were. Subtle moustache rocker profile. It's not like looking at an obsethed or the new ghost chant. Early rise tip and tail are modest, not exaggerated. They are not nimble. For making lots of tight turns in tight spaces, this is not the ski I would choose.
Pow: absolutely sweet ride. No tip dive despite my aggressive forward stance in 12-14" untracked. Rips GS turns down any face. Schmear turns are work, and I took to traversing farther to check speed rather than try to stomp a smear on my gimpy ankle. It wants to be on edge, wants to be engaged. Felt like it would be stable for someone twice my size.
Hardpack: rips like a mantra. Set it on edge, it engages. I was able to engage the edge with only minimally more effort than I put into my 98mm waisted 2007 seths. I was very impressed with magne-traction. 40mph is too slow. Tip flap is a fictitious myth.
Ice: still skidded out from under me on a couple of ice patches, but I tend to think that ice is more of an issue of the skier than the ski. If i were healthy and on a mountain I know better, I would approach the ice with confidence on them.
Crud/Variable: The 153mm shovel helps. Made crud and variable snow feel like corduroy. Lively and stable. They will stay the course once they are on edge and bust right through whatever is in front of them.
Cornice/10' drop: stable landing pad, really tough to stay in the backseat given their width/stiffness. They want to straightline out of the landing and get back to GS turns.
Bumps: I'm not the best bump skier, but...yeah. Not the ski I want for bumps. They are do-able. More fun with some fresh filling the trenches, but require a lot of effort to turn quickly on the tops. Lines were hittable, but I would not seek out bumps on this ski.
Park: wasn't going to happen this day. I suspect the magne traction and bomber construction will give you the freedom to hit every rail and rock you want without wearing the edges out at all. But I suck at rails and they didn't have any ramps built.
Overall: Shit, man, this thing is pretty versatile. I am skeptical that you'll find something that can match this combination of float and stability on the hardpack. I was expecting the rocker profile to ski short like an S7 or praxis mtn jib, but it really doesn't. It feels like a 191cm ski.
My 2007 seths are getting pretty long in the tooth. I am considering the 181 for a replacement daily driver. I think that for the east coast, it might be a bit much in tighter conditions, but not enough to keep me from getting it and skiing it there. In the highly variable PNW snow, it was a great choice. I'm actively watching REI/backcountry for a steeper discount.