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  1. #1
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    Nov 2005
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    Review: Ninthward 180 First blood

    Review: 180cm Ninthward First Blood

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Ski: 180 Ninthward First blood 123-91-116 24.5 meter
    Binding: Look P12 mounted at powder
    Boot: Lange 305 BSL Banshee 110
    Location: Grand Targhee
    Conditions: Groomed, cut up crud
    Me: 5'8" 180 pounds
    Quiver: 185 Nordica Blower, 183 Scott Santiago Mission, 181 Blizzard Titan 7, Blizzard 165 SLR and a bunch of other skis I haven't brought out this year. Previous skis: 180 Tanker, 180 Pow+, 185 Pocket Rocket, bunch more I need to remember

    O.k. first off this is a mini review - I brought out my 177 Karmas that are a bit rough in the morning as I had no idea how thin the conditions were this weekend. Overall Targhee wasn't in bad shape. The karmas are stiff and feel short and lack much edge. They will be my rock skis at the local resort this year. Most of my comparison will be to the Karma and pocket rockets I've skied in the past. First they are stiffer than PR and less stiff when compared to the Karma both in hand flex and on the snow. The start a little soft in the tip and gradually stiffen through the center into the tail. Honestly I was worried about how soft these were hand flexing them but after skiing them I'd say they are perfect for what I was looking for. They ski longer than the 180 twin would suggest especially when compared to the 177 Karma which skis like a 170. The 180 feels like a 178-180 ski and similar in length to the 185 pocket Rocket. On edge the ski was very stable and when flat was decent at absorbing crud without being deflected. Not exactly a crud buster and was better in the crud when on edge as most softer skis are in my opinion. The biggest plus I noticed with this ski was the light weight especially when compared to the Karma. It's also fairly playful, quick to edge and stable at some decent speeds which suprised me. Overall I'm impressed and these will make a nice addition to my overfull quiver. Managed to smack something solid dead under toe and I pulled over to verify the damage, and was happy to find a slight dent in the base. Base material if funky, I'd almost guess it was teflon rather than Ptex base on my experience with both. We'll see how rugged the bases are as we see some early season conditions.

    Pros - lightweight, solid on edge, decent float for a 90mm waist
    Cons - Not a crud buster, probably not that great in the park but what do I know.
    Last edited by cooltsi; 11-26-2007 at 11:33 AM.
    Driving to Targhee

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
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    Hey, thanks for the review.

    How did these compare to 180 tankers?

    I have been considering these as a powder day at the resort/ alpine touring (side-country) ski. What would you think of the first bloods for those purposes? I should note that my favourite skis ever are volkl ax4's in a 178. I also thought dynastar big troubles and head im75's were okay when I tried them. I hated the k2 ak axis (launchers) (too soft) and volkl mantras (too soft, too much sidecut, too much tip, too "planky" for me.) I haven't skied karmas or pr's. I tele on rossignol megabangs that are like a soft xxx and I like those okay- dimension wise they are similar to the first bloods but with a narrower tail.

    thanks again for taking the time to post your review.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
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    I have that same set up and mounting point and boot sole length. I got one run on my skis at alta on thursday its sad when you hike to ski man made groomers but I needed to ski. the 180 felt nice and balanced and I am now trying to decide were to mount my 187. Nice review cooltsi. Also they are longer by about 1cm than the old 182 scratch bc with the chick.
    Last edited by fat yeti; 11-26-2007 at 02:21 PM.
    If ski companies didn't make new skis every year I wouldn't have to get new skis every year.

    www.levelninesports.com
    http://skiingyeti.blogspot.com/

  4. #4
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    Nov 2005
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    SE Idaho
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    Quote Originally Posted by srsosbso View Post
    How did these compare to 180 tankers?
    I should note that my favourite skis ever are volkl ax4's in a 178. I also thought dynastar big troubles and head im75's were okay when I tried them. I hated the k2 ak axis (launchers) (too soft) and volkl mantras (too soft, too much sidecut, too much tip, too "planky" for me.) I haven't skied karmas or pr's. I tele on rossignol megabangs that are like a soft xxx and I like those okay- dimension wise they are similar to the first bloods but with a narrower tail.

    I'd give them a solid 4 on Marshall's scale. Personally the Karmas aren't giving me alot of love, probably from the lack of edge on them and that planky (read non-responsive) feel doesn't have me thrilled. I'm not a big guy and ought to be 15 pounds lighter than I am this year so take that for what it's worth. Tankers are about a 6 in my opinion and just feel different, these were playful while the tankers are chargers with a bit of sidecut. Personally the 180 Tankers I had were too short for what I liked them for (charging through crud) but they still got the nod over all my other skis the year before last. I'd say these are a step stiffer than the big troubles but not much but not as stiff as a mantra in my opinion. Like I said, it's a mini-review, I got 6-7 runs out of them and early season conditions are just funky so we'll see.
    Driving to Targhee

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
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    Great, thanks for the update/further info.

    Hey, what year are the skis you reviewed? I understand different years may have quite literally been made on different continents, though I don't know if they had the same design/specs.

    I actually found the Big Troubles to be stiffer (and, frankly, to ski better) than my mantras (which I am selling.) Marhall has a very helpful link to a pdf site which seems to confirm that impression. I wish there was more of this sort of objective data.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
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    Saturday I actually got to ride these skis I have the exact same set up and boots size as cooltsi. I was realy impressed with the conditons and the somewhat lack of crowds at snowbird that day. These skis, skied great and were very easy to ski, they floated well in the powder we found (this is the narowest ski I have been on through powder in 4 years) and handled crud ok as well. Its not the most stable ski or best crud buster but it was fun. The bases seem to be some diffrent material but the handled the abuse well, no core shots. Over all I relay liked these ski its nice to have somehting these easy and fun to ski this time of year. This is definatly a long 180 it was almost as long as my frineds 185 pocket rockets. I am deffinatly looking forward to mounting up Tha 187 I have to see how they ski.
    If ski companies didn't make new skis every year I wouldn't have to get new skis every year.

    www.levelninesports.com
    http://skiingyeti.blogspot.com/

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    SE Idaho
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    I wasn't digging the THA 187 yesterday and I was leaving the kids behind at Snowbasin so I switched to the First blood. I just gotta say I'm really digging the ski. Conditions were perfect for this ski. It's super agile in crud and powder and in bottomless prefered to plane about 12" deep providing face shots that I haven't seen in awhile. On previous days on hard pack they are not very agile with a 24 metre turn radius but this changes dramaticly in the crud and lighter snow. I managed to test the base durability on jump that the ski patrol had flagged with bamboo but I ignored. Dead underfoot on a 3-4 foot drop. Drug bottom on the landing on what felt like permanently attached rather large rock cleft. Base has a nice scratch that I might ignore filling and I'm rather picky about bases. I've never taken one like that that did not result in a full core shot at least 4" long even on the pow plus. Edges took a few smaller rocks but very little damage. Edges are nice and thick and can take lots of tuning. Like I mentioned my stoke meter went up on these yesterday.
    Driving to Targhee

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