First, I'm not sufficiently widely experienced in sampling skis, even the new funshape (copyright - lemonboy) types. Nor do I really have the time to write something really thorough.
Second, about me: 6', 180, 50++ ex-racer, freestyler weenie pow fiend from the PNW. I've preferred stiffer skis like Asteroids and Explosivs and only recently began skiing and really appreciating the GotoMommas. Touring came more easily years ago, but these days as a daddy, I max out the vert by skiing the chunderous liftserved platitudes with the multitudes. I can be frequently found weekend warrioring at Alpental, Crustal as well as occasionally bombing around LCC/BCC with a yearly interval lurking around Telluride and Silverton.
I mounted them with freerides at midpoint, but the ascension clipfixes are too short!
Anyway, here's some impressions of the flex 2 DPS Lotus 120 in a 200 cm.
Yes, a 140mm wide tip 200 cm ski is huge, a real canoe to step into. But the most amazing thing about them is how easy they are to turn. Even a crusty curmudgeon such as myself can whip them around with ease. Maybe the no camber has something to do with it. Maybe the surreal levity of a ski so big: I keep picking them up to assure myself I'm not imagining this. Even so, I've skied them in bump fields, little, jagged bump fields and they can perform. Trees and glades have been easy too, but I honestly haven't tried to ski the really weedy weirdnesses around.
As far as stability, they're awesome: a Cunard per pied, a Cadillac per foot, a huge honking spruce goose that just demolishes the terrain. But bizarrely, they can turn. There's a steep, narrow sidehill chute around here that they could just chaw down with simple smooth speed. There is a little tipflap at high speed on the groimers, but the ski still feels succulently stable.
They slarve super well of course. And on the other side of that facet, they hold an edge and carve well too. You have to stay on them and drive the turn, but they really do a swell precise slice. Now I haven't skied them on ice yet, but everything from some defreakulous light waist deep (on these!) to the thicker schmoo we in the PNW prefer to advertise, they rock. They're especially nice in chop where they just P-Funk motorbooty through.
They're lively. Something I really like about stiffer skis is how they kick you from one turn into the next. These skis flex differently, soft forebody and tail with stiffer underfoot. Overall softer than either my old Stockli Asteroids or Explosivs, yet really lively providing lift and bounce into the next turn.
Torsionally, really really stiff too, so great edge bite.
As far as durability, I've hit a few rocks. They were probably only little rocks that left a couple of edge burrs, but the bases don't show a thing.
In conclusion, I'm a happy camper. These are great skis.
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