Nine ski reviews in nasty snow

[Vitamin I]

Are ski reviews on terrible snow worth a damn? Well, found this on my hard drive, forgot to post it.

I demoed these back-to-back-to-back in April over 3 days, so this may add perspective to other reviews. Tough conditions at Whistler: 3" pow/chop on nasty bulletproof refrozen tracks/crud. Vibes so bad when pushing it, I wished I had my mouthguard a few times---and no big air was even involved. I mostly lapped a 2900ft run w/scraped icy entrance, then ridiculous-vibration bottom-feeding, a stash of deeper floaty pow, steep scraped bumps, smoother bottom-feeding in trees, and icy groomer finish. I’m 6’ 2”, 210 lbs, skied a lot this year on Spats, Lotus138s, 194 XXLs, 186 MadTrixMojos (same as Mojo90).

In the sequence I skied them:

09 191cm Goliath 135-108-124, 27-16, R=32
Kickass ski. Solid construction and stiff, burly feel. Impressive with very little tip/tail hangup while turning/skidding on chattery refrozen junk, and very stable to easily absorb the few hangups that did occur. Felt remarkably similar to a 194 XXL, except felt shorter, a slightly firmer tip, a touch deeper sidecut, and squaretail. If you wish the XXL came in 191 or 192cm, then just grab a 191 Goliath and go kick some ass in better snow than I had.

05 186 MadTrixMojo (same as Mojo90) 125-90-118, 35-28, R=22
Completely outgunned by the bigger skis I tested. Knocked around badly, with lots of unpredictable tip/tail hangup. They pretty much sucked in refrozen conditions.

04 186 Spatula 120-125-115
Kickass ski, even in firm stuff. Obviously less stable than burly traditional chargers when running straight, but their reverse sidecut/camber means zero tip/tail hangup, so easier to absorb and skid through teeth-chattering vibrations/snags in the turns. Spats can be skied more smoothly than Goliaths in this stuff, because all impacts are directly underfoot on Spats, so it’s rare to get tossed or twisted unpredictably. The Spats’ heft helps their stability, and they’d be even better if stiffer and longer, not necessarily fatter. To compare, 195 Praxis Powders would have absorbed the knocks OK and performed great, but their extra width would have torqued my ankles with pain in the refrozen stuff. And Lotus138s are so light, they would have been knocked around a lot on days like this.

08 191 Faction Thirteen 142-112-132, 30-20, R=28
Great ski. Solid construction, burly feel, slanted sidewalls, impressive stiffness for a twin. I was impressed. I recommend it to anyone who likes how it looks on paper (dimensions, radius, weight, construction, etc). With its twintip-shortened runninglength, the radius ends up lower at 28m. Its tip is 30mm wider than waist, which I’ve learned is more front-sidecut than I like in a fat ski this stiff, because it skied with more tip hangup than I like, was a bit less predictable when skidding, and a little worse grip on scraped icy entrances---but I admit I am biased towards higher radius and reverse radius skis. If Faction ever makes a big ski with less sidecut, I will definitely check it out. Again, if you like the Thirteen’s sidecut and width numbers, this impressive twin might be right for you.

08 179 Hellbent 150-122-141, 28-19
Super-stoke ski. I get stoked on any new feel that works well, whether or not it is “superior”. The 179 measured more like 184cm. My fore/aft rocking test on slow flats introduced me to the Hellbent “feel” (SUPERSOFT tip/tail with high rocker, duh), and I ended up rocking back-and-forth way farther than my Spats test, yet the Hellbents still returned me to center without slipping out or folding. Despite soft tip/tail, they were super-fun everywhere, very smooth predictable ride on nasty stuff whether carving or skidding. They really do harness many of the advantages of normal sidecut, but zero tip/tail hangup (due to high rocker). Good grip underfoot on scraped icy entrances, even with short effective-edge contact. Super-fun in floaty pow patches, but a hair less fun/surfy than reverse sidecut skis. More fun on groomers than reverse sidecut. K2 tent guy said the 189 had the same “groomer running length” as 179, with 189 having longer tip/tail off the surface---but I don’t believe him, especially after he said I was nuts to ski them off the groomers. No big air that day, but I got the strong feeling I could not rely on that soft-rocker-wheelie tail to recover from big backseat landings. With so much tail rocker, stiffening the tail would likely gain advantages without losing much of anything. Hellbent may not be the best at anything (well, I didn’t test switch pow/landings), but it’s fun and smooth, and I’d be STOKED to have a 189 in the quiver just to mix things up with its unique playful feel.

09 185 Nordica Jah Love 167-140-157, 27-17, R=29
One-dimensional, not impressed. Poor/sketchy grip, unpredictable hangup/skidding with bad vibrations on refrozen stuff, did not hold an edge or carve icy groomers well. Maybe a better edge tune could have improved it, but likely not enough help for a normal-sidecut ski this fat in nasty conditions. Good in floaty pow patches, but nothing special like other fatties with rocker and/or reverse sidecut. If you like the idea of Jah Love, look for a different ski to do the same job better.

07 185 Nordica Enforcer 135-98-125, 37-27, R=21
Completely outgunned by the bigger skis I tested. Knocked around badly, with lots of unpredictable tip/tail hangup. They pretty much sucked.

09 192 Watea 134-101-124, 33-23, R=25
Great all-around ski. Wow, these really surprised me. Not a high-input burly charger, not a fat floater, but very impressive performance, predictable solid ride everywhere, while being quite a manageable ski. It gripped whenever I wanted, released whenever I wanted, was stable, and smoothed out all the nasty stuff whether riding the bases, edges, carving, or skidding. Not sure why a ski with Watea’s short radius performed so well for me, and not sure why I did not experience the tip hangup I usually dislike in skis with 33mm front sidecut (tip minus waist). This pristine demo pair looked like it had never been skied before, so maybe the Fischer factory tune gave them an unfair advantage in the test. Whatever… of all skis in the test, Watea 101 was the all-around best performer and most appropriate ski in these nasty conditions.

08 193 Prior Overlord 144-118-130, 26-12, R=29
Kickass ski. So sick! Solid, bomber, stiff, big, bad, burly chargers for pushing your limits in big terrain. Carbon fiber stringer, but not a lightweight by any stretch, with a noticeable feeling of high torsional rigidity, and the kind of quality construction and a certain sound when struck that makes it seem special. The whole ski felt a bit wide for the conditions, but still quite impressive in all the nastiness, with a strong sense of untapped top end just waiting for better/safer conditions. Its 26mm front sidecut did not catch on stuff unexpectedly, perhaps due in part to its 25cm-long gradual-rise tip design. Again, these left me drooling over the top-end possibilities. Unfortunately, I don’t think these are ever available for cheap---new or used.

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[lobstahmeatwad]

This is sweet.

[squatch]

I'd say nasty snow makes for the best reviews. Most skis ski great in hero conditions; it's when shit gets a little funky that good skis really shine.

[verbier61]

cool, thanks

[chadeau]

Good to know what works best in the worst.

[lobstahmeatwad]

Most interesting to me was the notion of how the full sidecut can be derived as two separate ones that dramatically affect the skis performance in variable snow.

[locknload]

Very good reviews...thx Vitamin I. When you talk about "tip hangup" what exactly are you describing? Is it simply lacking in smooth transition through the apex of the turn or something different?

Thx

[Vitamin I]

...When you talk about "tip hangup" what exactly are you describing?...

Maybe I don’t have the right lingo.

By “tip hangup” I was referring to inconsistent snagging and releasing of the faraway tip edge on firm snow---like snagging and releasing multiple times within one turn. If a ski does that a lot, and if I feel pivoted/bucked because of it, then I call it “a lot of tip hangup”. I'm talking about the faraway tip section, not the forebody.

"Tip hangup" does not happen on a nice groomer. You know...the bending/straightening will be gradual and only one cycle per turn. “This ski hooks up nicely” usually means the tip edge catches in a smooth, consistent way when tilted, bends the ski into an arc, and initiates turns like auto-pilot.

In my tests, I began to sense a ski’s “tip hangup” with a sideslip down a steep, scraped-smooth icy entrance. If the faraway tip dug in way more than the waist or tail, the tip would “hang up”, then the tails drop lower than the tips, and now I’ve got a backwards tilted sideskid to recover from. During recovery, I'm trying to "undig" the tip edge and find a balanced distribution of edge pressure along the ski length to sideskid down the icy snow in control. In that specific terrain feature, some skis were tough to get a smooth controlled skid---for some skis I just had to manage the snag/slip/snag/slip of tips and/or tails all the way down the entrance.

Next I sensed “tip hangup” when I tried hard to carve clean trenches in refrozen chunks (hidden under shallow pow/chop), knowing full-well that my trenches just weren't going to end up very clean. Some ski tips yielded a nastier sense of snagging/releasing on chunks than other ski tips, even if those skis did fine on groomers. In one turn, not only can parts of the ski catch and knock you around with bad vibes, the ski can change its flexed arc shape wildly throughout the turn like the shock absorber of a 4x4 going over logs/holes/rocks, so forget the clean trenches.

Last I tried to amplify the negative effect by intentionally mixing more skidding into the carves on refrozen chunks---not even trying for clean trenches. You can’t really blame a ski for tip hangup in that test (edges skidding somewhat laterally over refrozen chunks), but some skis are much smoother than others. Considering the firmness, I'd guess the smoother skis were doing as much crud "absorbing" as crud "busting".

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[jm2e]

thanks for that

[locknload]

Got it...that makes sense and I understand what you're talking about. Thanks for the explanation.

[J-Rad]

Nice reviews. Thanks for the info, very helpful.

[thebigeast]

Maybe I don’t have the right lingo.

By “tip hangup” I was referring to inconsistent snagging and releasing of the faraway tip edge on firm snow---like snagging and releasing multiple times within one turn. If a ski does that a lot, and if I feel pivoted/bucked because of it, then I call it “a lot of tip hangup”. I'm talking about the faraway tip section, not the forebody.

"Tip hangup" does not happen on a nice groomer. You know...the bending/straightening will be gradual and only one cycle per turn. “This ski hooks up nicely” usually means the tip edge catches in a smooth, consistent way when tilted, bends the ski into an arc, and initiates turns like auto-pilot.

In my tests, I began to sense a ski’s “tip hangup” with a sideslip down a steep, scraped-smooth icy entrance. If the faraway tip dug in way more than the waist or tail, the tip would “hang up”, then the tails drop lower than the tips, and now I’ve got a backwards tilted sideskid to recover from. During recovery, I'm trying to "undig" the tip edge and find a balanced distribution of edge pressure along the ski length to sideskid down the icy snow in control. In that specific terrain feature, some skis were tough to get a smooth controlled skid---for some skis I just had to manage the snag/slip/snag/slip of tips and/or tails all the way down the entrance.

Next I sensed “tip hangup” when I tried hard to carve clean trenches in refrozen chunks (hidden under shallow pow/chop), knowing full-well that my trenches just weren't going to end up very clean. Some ski tips yielded a nastier sense of snagging/releasing on chunks than other ski tips, even if those skis did fine on groomers. In one turn, not only can parts of the ski catch and knock you around with bad vibes, the ski can change its flexed arc shape wildly throughout the turn like the shock absorber of a 4x4 going over logs/holes/rocks, so forget the clean trenches.

Last I tried to amplify the negative effect by intentionally mixing more skidding into the carves on refrozen chunks---not even trying for clean trenches. You can’t really blame a ski for tip hangup in that test (edges skidding somewhat laterally over refrozen chunks), but some skis are much smoother than others. Considering the firmness, I'd guess the smoother skis were doing as much crud "absorbing" as crud "busting".

.

i like to call that tip hook, or just describe the ski as hooky, and from my experiences i find that the hookiness of a ski is related to how much sidecut the ski has, more specifically, how much sidecut it has it the front of the ski.

[steved]

>Next I sensed “tip hangup” when I tried hard to carve clean trenches in refrozen chunks (hidden under shallow pow/chop), knowing full-well that my trenches just weren't going to end up very clean. Some ski tips yielded a nastier sense of snagging/releasing on chunks than other ski tips, even if those skis did fine on groomers. In one turn, not only can parts of the ski catch and knock you around with bad vibes, the ski can change its flexed arc shape wildly throughout the turn like the shock absorber of a 4x4 going over logs/holes/rocks, so forget the clean trenches.
>

Nice reviews Vit1...
...EC crud! ...a lot of fun.. I have ta' concentrate on accelleratin' thru it this season....

$.01

[vendetta]

thanks for the reviews

[gramboh]

Cool review, wish I could've seen the look on the Nodica rep's face when you took the Jah Love out in conditions like that haha.

[crab bait]

Nice review - thanks. Great description of tip hangup.

[shasti]

great review. very thorough in your analysis and helpful to know how stuff works in shit conditions

[fastgary]

Much thanks for the detailed review

[Sloafer11']

Your reviews sucked and I'm not thankful at all, you should be ashamed!!

just making sure you won't get cocky . . . .