Thread: praxis 09/10

Originally Posted by SkierHiker

Here's the pics of my H2O's before bindings up at Pro Ski in North Bend, WA. I'm going crazy though. No new snow since Thanksgiving and we've had rain and now freezing cold temps. It's a sheet of hard pack ice in our mountains right now. All you folks in CA are getting our NW snow. Not fair!

It's an El Nino year and we're coming off a three year drought when the snow has been below average. So... suck it.

Originally Posted by SCUTSKI

It's an El Nino year and we're coming off a three year drought when the snow has been below average. So... suck it.

We're expected to get up to 3 ft this week , so, u suck it !


Anyway, getting back to the topic of the TR, the Praxis BCs fuggin rock! They seriously killed it my first day on them in only 3 inches of new over solid skating rink ice (of course i was poaching deeper stashes all day). But even through icy bumps they held and edge surprisingly well, and the combination of stability and nimbless was unprecedented. I haven't skied them all, but these are by far the sickest skis i've ever been on. The set-up with freeride +'s was surprisingly light, and I didn't mind, actually i liked the taller stack height, which seemed to give me a bit more leverage to really engage the ski's flex.

edit: elaborating a little more, i took these through a wide variety of conditions... on a few steep icy bump runs; they were very snappy underfoot, and whipped out very precise turns considering the ice. On the groom, they flew and held there edge very well through some hard GS turns. Not much tip wobble at speed, you get a little but the thick sidewall and camber underfoot really feels stable.

final analysis: tip rocker + camber underfoot = dominance.

Mounting point: 104 from tip = probably right on, maybe +1-2 cm forward from dialed for the deep stuff.

Mounted my Protests at 105 and they worked out great. I am 6'3", 190. Need to ski them a bunch more for a review, but initial impressions are that they are awesome. Skied them in knee to thigh-high powder all day.

Originally Posted by Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer

Mounted my Protests at 105 and they worked out great. I am 6'3", 190. Need to ski them a bunch more for a review, but initial impressions are that they are awesome. Skied them in knee to thigh-high powder all day.

good to hear, I did a living-room-stand-on-the-ski test and 104-105 'looked' about right.

I wish we had knee to thigh-high powder arround here.

Picked mine up today mounted at 105.

I wish I had pow-boards this weekend. Anyone hear/read anything on the 185's?

Originally Posted by EVC_CO

good to hear, I did a living-room-stand-on-the-ski test and 104-105 'looked' about right.

I wish we had knee to thigh-high powder arround here.

You will be happy with anything in that range I would think. Even with my busted knee 105 felt (and looked) about right. Skied right as well.

Can't help you on the snow, but we are certaintly starting to get plenty in Tahoe.

Originally Posted by QuikR12

We're expected to get up to 3 ft this week , so, u suck it !


Anyway, getting back to the topic of the TR, the Praxis BCs fuggin rock!
final analysis: tip rocker + camber underfoot = kick ass dominance.

Mounting point: 104 from tip = probably right on, maybe +1-2 cm forward from dialed for the deep stuff.

Getting ready to mount my Back Country's and I was going to go 106 as AK Bruin mounted his at 105 and commented they felt like they had some extra tail on them and could likely go to 106. I think Keith suggests 102-106 on a 190. I weight in close to 200lbs with gear and will use for soft snow conditions, so what do you guys think? Is 106 to far back?

Edit: Slept on it and not that 1cm makes a difference, but I will mount at 105 as 6 is my lucky number. (1+5) I know, stupid.

Originally Posted by liv2ski

Getting ready to mount my Back Country's and I was going to go 106 as AK Bruin mounted his at 105 and commented they felt like they had some extra tail on them and could likely go to 106. I think Keith suggests 102-106 on a 190. I weight in close to 200lbs with gear and will use for soft snow conditions, so what do you guys think? Is 106 to far back?

Edit: Slept on it and not that 1cm makes a difference, but I will mount at 105 as 6 is my lucky number. (1+5) I know, stupid.

I'm pretty close to your stats, and would say 106 isn't too far back.... There may have been a bit extra tail (+1-2 cms) on mine, but with a little more time, different conditions, and a better de-tune on the tails will be a better tell.. I would say anything in the 104-106 is about perf.

Just picked up my Powderboards this afternoon. They look really nice and the bases from the Start Haus is money.

All there is to do know is wait for the bindings and get them mounted.

Would you Powderboard veterans recommending taking them out regardless of the conditions just to get a feel for them before the "BIG DAY"?

Hopefully Tahoe gets another dump soon!

haha - I did cause I just couldn't resist - have fun on those first few hardpack turns. They do fine in anything 3ish+" and up so you don't have to wait for a big day to get on them...

^^^ seconded. my first day on powderboards was maybe 5". had a blast. I would at least wait for new snow, but it doesn't have to be a big day.

so, kix515, what length? please say 195.

I need it deep to enjoy my powders. I have lots of skis that work well up to 12" so why bust out the powders for anything less, as they make my knees ache on hard pack/little pow.

Just got back from the first day on my H2O's at Crystal Mt. WA. Conditions were snow/rain at the base with snow on top. They had 27" last 72 hr, 19" last 48, 6" last 24, 4" last night, and 3" during the day. Needless to say it wasn't your fluffy dry pow but for WA it wasn't all that bad. The best areas, Campbell's and South Back were closed for avy work and high winds. Most runs were skied out but we did get some fresh tracks in a little stash over in ...

The H2O's were fast and fun. I have never skied anything so fast before. I don't know if it was the Start Haus tune or the skis themselves. Maybe a very low camber presents less pressure on the snow so less drag? Anyway these skis screamed. And stable too. Anything up there they ate up with the exception of crappy moguls. Now I don't profess to be a great mogul skier so this exception could very well have been me and not the skis. On hardpack they liked to slip and slide, not much edge, but enough to ski fast and in control. But in the "pow" they glided smooth as silk. No tip dive. Turning was no problem even in the chop and heavy crud. My previous skis were Salomon Guns, then Pocket Rockets. The step from the Guns to the H2O's was like the step from my straights to the Rockets. Fun, Fun, and more Fun.

Butterscotch

I'm 5'3'' and 130 pounds. You really think I got the 195's?

I got the 205's, what are you kidding me?

Originally Posted by kix515

Just picked up my Powderboards this afternoon. They look really nice and the bases from the Start Haus is money.

All there is to do know is wait for the bindings and get them mounted.

Would you Powderboard veterans recommending taking them out regardless of the conditions just to get a feel for them before the "BIG DAY"?

Hopefully Tahoe gets another dump soon!

Yes. They are just awesome on groomer and bumped up off piste runs.



All you need is 3 inches to go to Praxis Disneyland.

Originally Posted by kix515

Butterscotch

I'm 5'3'' and 130 pounds. You really think I got the 195's?

I got the 205's, what are you kidding me?

Wait, are you serious? Or is my irony-meter just broken.

^^^ broken. definitely broken.

thanks, kix.

Originally Posted by cyclerower

Wait, are you serious? Or is my irony-meter just broken.

I think your vocabulary-meter is broken too. That would be sarcasm.

on the second trial, in manky thick & sticky powder/crud, 104 might be too forward after all. go for 106. I had quite a bit of tail catching in the choppier crud, then again, I ski like a JONG... this could be why. They still rip though

Definitely sarcasm. Got the baby powder boards 175cm and I'm happy as they are longer than my 176 Katanas. Now what to mount them with...

okay thanks.
Still irony-meter sounds better than sarcasm-meter

Originally Posted by QuikR12

on the second trial, in manky thick & sticky powder/crud, 104 might be too forward after all. go for 106. I had quite a bit of tail catching in the choppier crud, then again, I ski like a JONG... this could be why. They still rip though

QR12, thanks for the heads up, as I am out of San Diego in 30 minutes, on my way to Mammoth. I will flip a coin on the 105 or 106 mount. Get a gummi stone and de-tune your tail edges.

Originally Posted by kix515

Definitely sarcasm. Got the baby powder boards 175cm and I'm happy as they are longer than my 176 Katanas. Now what to mount them with...

Did he email that your boards were ready? I almost want to drive down there ha ha.

He emailed me asking about the topsheet and then I got anxious after the pow skiing and emailed him back and they were being finished.

Got up there as soon as I can. Only bummer is the bindings are in the Tahoe City p.o. box and my roommate is the only one with a key...