OK I have finally had a chance to ski them in pretty much all conditions from hard pack to 40+cm of Powder, so here is my review, and comparison of the 196 vs 186 Lhasa.
First the background
Me.
Weight: 175 lbs
Height: 6 ft
Age: 49
Ability: 35+ years of sking. Aggressive, fast, slightly stupid
Skiis
186 Carbon mounted with Barons Effective edge 1520mm Turn Radius 35M
196 Glass mounted with Dukes Effective edge 1610mm Turn Radius 39M
(edit to add spec's for people who want to know)
First let me say that either of these skiis could be your only ski for pretty much any condition except pure boiler plate. They both carve hard pack, blast thru chopped snow and float in the powder.
The difference is that the 186 is definitely a snappier ski to turn, as well as being lighter than the 196, it feels quite a lot shorter than the 10cm difference would indicate. On my first run on the 196 after having skiied the 186 for a couple of days I casually tried to make a turn while cruising down a groomer, well that didn't work, they just kept on going straight, a little more effort and they arced into big wide radius turns. By the end of the day I could turn them just as quickly as the shorter skiis, but it was definetly more effort. I also noticed that they felt a LOT heavier than the 186's, although I assume that along with the additional weight, the length is adding to the apparent weight by increasing the swing weight. While the 186's feel stable at speed, the 196's don't seem to even notice how fast you are going, they just plow through everything and make the slope feel smooth and groomed. The 186's can be thrown around a little by hard bumps that the 196 don't seem to notice, most likely the combination of more length to bridge the bumps, and the heavier weight is the reason.
If you ski in tight trees a lot, are lighter weight, or just like a faster turning ski I would say the 186 is for you. My wife tried them out for a couple of days ( 135 lbs, 5' 6") and she won't give them back now, she was skiing on a pair of 174 Stiffs and she found the 186's just as easy to ski in regular conditions, as far more fun in chopped and deep powder.
The 196 is the perfect ski for people who like to go fast pretty much all the time, don't mind working the ski to get the turn shape they want, or are heavier.
I have gone thru pretty much every iteration of ski that PM Gear has put out, ( 188 Stiff, 179 Stiff, 179 Fat and now Lhasas) and these are the best ski I have ever experienced. I will be skiing my 196's pretty much every time I head out the door, can't see why I would want anything else except for BC where they are to heavy for serious touring.
Congratulations (again) to PMGear for making a ski that may make the whole quiver thing obsolete.
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