Thread: ~100 mm ski- looking for recs

Need a ski to fit a hole in the quiver. Looking at DPS 99 (hybrid likely... pure too expensive), Blizzard bonafide, Volkl Mantra or perhaps Line prophet 98. Anyone have any experience with these in a comparative way? I'm starting to believe all the bonafide hype that's out there...

The ski has to rail on groomers, pivot well in tight trees, have some float and not get bumped around in the crud too much. East coast freshie ski... and out west everyday ski. Have Lhasa Pows and prophet 90s now.

I've found some comparisons on Epic with the bonafide vs. mantra... but I'd like to see the wailer and prophet 98s in the mix as well.

Open to other options too.

Check out Blister gear review. They reviewed the Wailer 99 and put a lot of info in there. And there is a thread on here about the Wailer 99 that would be useful to you.

Read all the reviews... just looking for people who have skied more than one of these and can give a comparison. Thanks, though.

(600th post... used for a reply... sweet)

The bonafide are a bit more challenging to pivot. Generally it's a bit harder to drive them. They are very rewarding though.

Tried a bunch of skis last spring during demo day and once I got on the bonafide, I didn't give them up until it was time to quit.
For reference, I have the prophet 90 and Rossi S6. Thinking about getting the bonafide to occupy the narrow end of my quiver (replacing the prophet 90). They work quite well as a wide carver and also ski great in chop and bumps. I instantly felt comfortable on them.
I haven't skied the mantra in awhile, or the 98 ever. I have always thought the prophet 90 was too turny/hooky. Not sure if that helps, but my 2 cents.

Is twin tip important to you? Touring or alpine bindings?

4FRNT Turbo is a beautiful ski for what you describe.

Just recently picked up a pair of 2013 Lib Tech Freerides for exactly the same spot in the quiver as you're looking for. Might be worth checking out too.

http://www.evo.com/skis/lib-tech-fre...s-recurve.aspx

Originally Posted by skimaxpower

Is twin tip important to you? Touring or alpine bindings?

No and alpine.

Sugar Daddies!

wait...

Bonafide is the most versatile in the 98 class. Mount up some Pivots on them and you are good to go.

Any of these offerings are great choices...I am a fan of the Prophet... and just to throw it out there, you might consider our Daily Bread, built for us to our specs by Praxis.

Moment PB&J should be on your list.

I have the Surface Live Life's and they're crazy cheap and I love them. Ski lake a GS ski on the groomers but have decent float and push crud out of the way. There's a pair in gear swap, new never drilled for $250, last season's model so the name changed. My are burly, and hit a ton of rocks, and it's my everyday patrol ski so it gets abused, and they've held up great.

Jay

Originally Posted by mnflyfish

I have the Surface Live Life's and they're crazy cheap and I love them. Ski lake a GS ski on the groomers but have decent float and push crud out of the way. There's a pair in gear swap, new never drilled for $250, last season's model so the name changed. My are burly, and hit a ton of rocks, and it's my everyday patrol ski so it gets abused, and they've held up great.

Jay

don't mean to hijack the thread, but that's great to hear. in the offseason this year i picked up a pair of slightly used live life's for the deep snow part of my quiver. which size do you have? the 191's are considerably wider than the 181's and i assume have better float?

edit: wait a minute, i think you are referring to the 'Watch' Life's (132/100/122), not the 'Live' Life's (156/120/135).

Originally Posted by Flexon Phil

Bonafide is the most versatile in the 98 class. Mount up some Pivots on them and you are good to go.

How would you compare to the DPS 99s (since I know you've skied both...)?

Originally Posted by Stymie

How would you compare to the DPS 99s (since I know you've skied both...)?

In fairness to DPS, I had a very early production model and I am not sure if there were any changes since. In the pair that I had, I found the 99 to be very binary, either on or off they could nor modulate a varied turn. In bumps they would lock into a turn and in powder the felt like they didn't want to "play", the only place where I had confidence in them was on groomers, not the area I where i am looking for the best out of a 99mm ski. The Bonafide has just the best balance for powder, bumps and even the groomers. In the biggest powder day I ever experienced, two years ago, when it was snowing 4-6" an hour I was out on my Bonafides and they just slayed it and they still perform well in all but the hardest conditions. Blizzard just really nailed every attribute of this ski.

They changed the names around last season. I actually have the Save Lifes which is 100 under foot. I actually raced them is a beer league last season because I forgot my race skis, and did almost as well. They are an excellent ski (surface)

Sent from my ADR6350 using TGR Forums

4FRNT Cody looks like it would fit the bill based on specs.

I fondled a pair and they look nice. 100 ish underfoot, something like a 19-20 m radius, roughly medium flex in the tips and tails, medium stiff underfoot. It's got tip and tail rocker but the rocker is subtle (not a ton of splay). Also a bit tip and tail taper. Mild camber underfoot. It looks like it would be fun in soft snow with the rocker/taper. Nimble with the shorter radius. But enough running length and enough tail that I imagine it would be pretty stable in firmer snow as well.

It's got the 'mega block' core. I own the MSP which also has this core. Sturdy and damp. The MSP is full sandwich construction and has a lot more camber. Cody is semi cap. So I imagine the Cody would give something up on groomers to the MSP, but in soft 3D snow it looks a lot more fun.

I'm looking forward to trying this ski out this winter.

Thanks all... some good recs in this thread.

In fairness to DPS, I had a very early production model and I am not sure if there were any changes since. In the pair that I had, I found the 99 to be very binary, either on or off they could nor modulate a varied turn. In bumps they would lock into a turn and in powder the felt like they didn't want to "play", the only place where I had confidence in them was on groomers, not the area I where i am looking for the best out of a 99mm ski.

Phil, where and when did you demo the 99? Also what length and construction? Just curious because I ski them on a daily basis and have skied the bonafide and mantra as well. I agree that the bonafide is probably the best choice for an EC skier that stays out of the backcountry. But I find my 184 pure 99s to be very playful and rewarding. I also feel like that I can make pretty much any turn in any situation on them. I have about half of season on them ~25 days and love them, but I spend a lot of time in the BC and its not my every day choice for skiing at the resort in most conditions.

Originally Posted by whatsupdoc

4FRNT Cody looks like it would fit the bill based on specs.

I fondled a pair and they look nice. 100 ish underfoot, something like a 19-20 m radius, roughly medium flex in the tips and tails, medium stiff underfoot. It's got tip and tail rocker but the rocker is subtle (not a ton of splay). Also a bit tip and tail taper. Mild camber underfoot. It looks like it would be fun in soft snow with the rocker/taper. Nimble with the shorter radius. But enough running length and enough tail that I imagine it would be pretty stable in firmer snow as well.

It's got the 'mega block' core. I own the MSP which also has this core. Sturdy and damp. The MSP is full sandwich construction and has a lot more camber. Cody is semi cap. So I imagine the Cody would give something up on groomers to the MSP, but in soft 3D snow it looks a lot more fun.

I'm looking forward to trying this ski out this winter.

This would be my choice. Such a fun ski. Going to be my everyday ski this year up at Bogus.

Won't be great for super deep days, but are super fun in everything else.

I've skied mantras and PB&J's quite a bit. A review and comparison can be found in:

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...182?highlight=

You might want to look at the S3 as well. Probably easier to get a demo and/or deal on than some of the other skis suggested (other than the mantra of course).

ON3P Tychoon

http://on3pskis.myshopify.com/collec...2-2013-tychoon

I had a chance to ride the Bone's, Mantra and Prophit 98 last year at demo days. The bone was great everywhere I took it; super smooth and stable, great edge grip, moderate liveliness etc. I could be happy as a clam on these. Mantra was a little different, more of a carver with a real lively, energetic tail. VERY fun ride on the harder surfaces. I would probably choose these if I was skiing places with a firm base (I've loved that stiff Volkl tail since the days of the P9). The prophit 98 was OK only, it just lacked personality and didn't excel anywhere. If you want a 98mm board the other one you MUST take a look at is the Nordica Hell and Back. It was kinda right in between the Mantra and the Bone. Outstanding carver for a 98, good energy and still pretty damp and did well in mixed conditions. It was also the lightest of the 3. FWIW I weigh 215 and tend to ski hard all over the mountain. Hope this is useful to you.

LT