Just a heads up this tread just got a bump on early ups....
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Agh got to ride on my Protests again today in heavy low angle Pow. It was great because we had the whole lift too our selves with 75-100cm of heavy snow. Which was great because in Europe there was no snow at all. Didn't hit a thing. One thing I can say is that I was stoked on the 130mm/196cm underfoot because my cous (195 Powboard) and I were the only ones having any fun. Every one else (2 people) was just stuck!!
Haha... This ski needs to happen even in low angle 15-20° Pow these things are just straight up fun!!!!!
There were a bunch of skinny Euro tourers also around and being the geek that I am I went up and measured their skin track...
I followed it for about 10m and just did a straight line pull.
Narrowest point: 250mm
Widest point: 275mm
You can get this ski from any manufacturer. My 196cm Protest carves just fine as long as its not bullet proof; it will even do little 180 butters to 360 out. I do not need this thing to rail on groomers. A JJ/Bentchetler will do that for you. Plus what do you want a 30m possibly 30m+ radius as a do everything ski. This ski would see no pist time for me.
I feel like a broken record here.
Why skin on a minimum length 190cm ski. Longer is heavier and is a bitch on any boot pack while its strapped to your back.
Protest like dimensions just skinnier. Must fit in 90% of skin tracks. Have minimal (3-4mm) side cut for side-hilling be a boot pack friendly length. Come in around 8 pounds.
AGH this is not a do eveything ski!!! Am I just not getting the point of this ski!! For me this was gonna be my go to BC ski for long big ass tours... We have the normal Protest for resorts/cat/heli, the rp112 as your every day driver.I really dont give a shit what dimensions it has at this point as long as it fits in a skin track and has a ski feeling that relates to the original Protest. For those of you who have never been on a Protest it might be hard for you to grasp the idea of this ski because its a ski that is good at anything in 3D.
This theoretical ski would be a BC touring machine. Why schlepp 9,5 pounds uphill if you could get the same essential feeling on something that is 1.5 pounds lighter. Easier to skin on because not only is side-hilling easier but you are dragging less skin as well. We know the Protest works and like its larger radius all that really needs to happen is for someone to see of this skinnier version with similar dimension proportions also works.
Skis will always go to extremes to test new technology. From uber fat and uber rockered to skis with insane side cut and super short radius's.
After learning from what works and what does not the best of both worlds can be used to develop skis that fullfill specific needs. If you are riding a lift this is not the ski for you, Praxis and DP already make those skis. I see this as a BC ski niche that has not been addressed or when some one has tried they have always gotten tied back into the idea that every Pow ski needs to be able to rock groomers. Large side cut and Pow skis do not belong in the same sentence together!!
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