Thread: Armada ANT vs. other big skis

Just wanted to say thanks for the info in this thread. Picked these up from the shop a few hours ago:



I dropped them off and went right to the gym for some squat and leg press action. Hasn't snowed here (but we did get 50cm last week), will post when I do.

so I just got kicked around on mine for the first time.

yikes.

quien es muy macho? not fucking me. I'm going to have to step it up if I want to keep these.

heres some more info..

I happen to really like mine.. fun ski.. definitely work, and not so great on steep hardpack, but they rule in soft untouched snow. I skiied the 185 B-squad recently and the 185 scratch BC. I have to say, the ANT is less work than the B-squad (less stiff)..

i've only had one day on mine at semi-soft mammoth. 6'2" 250lbs.
I dont think they have a speed limit . I liked them even on steep hardpack stuff. my only complaint is that just as they have no speedlimit, they don't scrub speed well.
Huge run outs: YES!!
Tree lines: NO!!


my 2c

-aaron

Update, since I started the thread.

My ANTs delammed after only about 10-12 days on them. Sidewall started separating from the edge near one of the tips; no rock hits or other damage in the vicinity. Returned them to backcountry.com since Armada says to do that for their warranty. The nice folks at backcountry.com gave me a full refund.

Overall impression: fun ski, very light for its size, stiff -- perhaps too stiff for me. It's a lot of work to stay on top of these skis, and they probably weren't such a good choice to bring to Gordy's camp. The bases & edges seem very durable; I hit plenty of rocks at Snowbird, only minimal scratches. Strangely, while these skis are stiff, they somehow also get deflected more than Explosivs, which feel softer to me. I think it has to do with the metal vs. non-metal construction.

The ANTs remind me most of a stiffer and wider "stiff" Bro Model, with more stiffness underfoot and in the tail than the Bro. Similar light weight feel underfoot.

I like the Explosiv a lot more.

i hand flexed a pair of the 06/07s recently and was pretty shocked at how stiff they felt even flexing off the tail. Felt stiffer than some 05/06 188 stiff bros, 183 mojo103s, and right on par with my 186LPs.

this was just a garage hand flex and I didnt have those other skis present for an immediate comparison, but they were burly for sure. ymmv though.

the more i ski these, the more i like them. going back to the seths on firm days, is really difficult.

-aaron

Originally Posted by El Chupacabra

perhaps too stiff for me. It's a lot of work to stay on top of these skis

Originally Posted by pechelman

i hand flexed a pair of the 06/07s recently and was pretty shocked at how stiff they felt even flexing off the tail. Felt stiffer than some 05/06 188 stiff bros, 183 mojo103s, and right on par with my 186LPs.

Oh man, experiencing some serious buyers apprehension. I just dropped my savings on a pair.

dug,

how big are you and what type of skier?

-aaron

Originally Posted by gonehuckin

the more i ski these, the more i like them. going back to the seths on firm days, is really difficult.

-aaron

Love mine. Adore 'em.

Starting to get more comfortable in tight/flat trees with them. Too comfortable...gonna need a full face helmet if I keep charging brush with them. Got some nasty scratches on my nose.

I named cigarette man Boris. Boris is a badass. Boris is never worried.

5'10", 165lbs. Pretty strong skier, ski fast, big turns, the occasional huck. Technical cleanliness is an issue though. Bought the ski on the recommendation of a couple mags that thought I could handle the ANT but I'm still a bit jittery, especially about how well I'm going to be able to throw them around when billygoating. Every day ski is a 186 mojo 90.

Still love mine. Ski short (ok in trees) and don't have a speed limit. 6' 185# decent shape for an old guy.

billy goating, hucking, super steep and big straight lines you should be fine. The only place i still struggle with mine are in low angle tight trees and zipper bump lines. I'm also ALOT bigger than you.

good luck.

-aaron

Originally Posted by Dug

5'10", 165lbs. Pretty strong skier, ski fast, big turns, the occasional huck. Technical cleanliness is an issue though. Bought the ski on the recommendation of a couple mags that thought I could handle the ANT but I'm still a bit jittery, especially about how well I'm going to be able to throw them around when billygoating. Every day ski is a 186 mojo 90.

as im sure has been mentioned in this thread a lot
their effective edge is pretty tiny.

really its not *that* much bigger than your standard flat tail 180cm ski if you factor out the huge tail.

my prediction, so long as you let them run and keep them in the open your first day, you will not get worked but will be tired.

Update: After 50 or so days, my ANTs were delaming at the contact point on both skis. Armada was really good about the warranty, so now I have an 06-07 pair. Rather than mounting them back like I had the previous pair, I opted to go about 3.5cm back from the true center of the ski. Keep in mind that I have ARGs for the superdeep, and the ANTs are now more of an everyday ski, but I can't say how much better they are than the others I had which were 7.5cm back from center. They initiate much more easily, and even when skiing in some deepness the tips didn't dive at all. I did notice how much more of a chore they were to push around than the ARGs. Could this be the perfect two ski quiver?

i have the same quiver (plus a few pairs) and i cant wait to actually ski the ARGs.

Time Frame: End of December-Current
Locations: Whistler, Whitewater, Panorama, Fernie
Mounting: 1cm back of Armada recomended, I think -7?
Binders: Soly z12 Ti

After about 20 days on my new 06-07 ANTs, its time to review. First of all, thank you to the mags who have reviewed this ski earlier. Without your strong reviews of it, I probably wouldn't have considered it and it is a sick ski. After I bought it, I had nightmares about how big of idiot I was for buying a ski this large, but, thankfully, my fears were unfounded.

First of all, I haven't tried a lot of different skis. The only ski that I have skied in a similar category to the ANT is the 186 LP, so can't do much comparision. I am a moderately agressive skier, focusing more on smoothness than going big or tricks. Some racing background, and spend a lot of time in the bumps. 5'10", ~170lbs.

The Good:

Powder. Smooth float, very agile in the soft, yet as stable as needed. Also, the more turned up tips and tails make the ski effectively shorter when there is no fresh, but more surface area for pow.

Fast. Like most other people here, have yet to find their speed limit. These skis have really allowed me to step my game up and so some straightlines and open it up on steeper faces than I could on my old skis (178 Line Skogan Sprangs, 86mm underfoot).

Feel. The coolest thing I found with these skis is that you can ski it two different ways, espessialy if the snow is soft. If you want, you can charge it and it skis quite similar to the LP. However, its also has a very fun surfy feel at slower speeds that the LP does not have. I am going to disagree with some of the other reviews and say this ski is actually manageable and kind of fun in the trees, espessially with 10+cm of fresh.

Switch. Getting used to this ski, I could not carve it for the first day or so foward, but but could quite easily switch. Stability is a big plus here, as are the long tails.

Weight. Lighter than my Lines (mounted with Look P12) for a much larger ski.

OK:

Groomers. Not what the ski was built for, but if you crank it, the ski carves better than you would expect.

Park. Again, not what the skis were built for. You have to crank pretty hard to spin them (191cm legnth), and are too wide for me to be able to handle well in the pipe. Seem to do well on big mountain-type airs, but haven't had the snow really to test them on.

Durability. Bomb-proof bases, good edges, but the topsheet scratches pretty easily. Cosmetic, but still want to keep that graphic looking as pimp as day 1.

Bumps. Better again than expected. If you engage "surf" mode and the snow is soft, taking the ANTs in the bumps is not a chore, and is kinda fun. Icy bumps are not much fun though.

Not so good:

Tight places. Rocky enterances to chutes involving sideslips are not friendly on these.

Need a minimum speed. Below a certain speed, the ANTs dont like to do what their told and you have to fight with them. Not much of an issue except for in tighter places.

Ejections. More of a binding issue, but the skis have a bad habit of rolling off when doing a speed-dump turn over hard, rutted snow.

since everyone is saying what they think, I will too. 5'9" 135#. Fun ski, If I was any bigger, they wouldn't be a "gun". Expected to get my ass kicked the firsts day, but didnt. I cant even begin to turn them in tight trees w/ heavy powder. Turn easy when it is dry though. Fine ski in the moguls (even icy), makes a 20 foot cliff feel like 5 feet. Like mounting bindings on the roof of a cadillac in terms of stability. Ill probably take my freerides off of them and mount them alpine, as they are easy to ski in nearly any condition, but a bitch to turn on the skin track switchbacks. They dont age well though.

I'm planing to buy a pair of those skis, but i'm wondering if they will make a great improvement from my 183 gotamas...?
Are they a lot more stable?
Floating?

From my searching before I bought my pair, yes. They should be a lot more stable. Never skiied the goats though so this is just hearsay.

As for mounting, armada has specd the line at -7 from cord center, depite the fact that the mount lines are generally a little off from ski to ski. I would mount -9 or -10 from cord if you want to use them in the chopped up/pow and dont plan on skiing groomers/flippyspinny.

Originally Posted by focus

I named cigarette man Boris. Boris is a badass. Boris is never worried.

Thats funny, because I'm pretty sure his name is ANThony.


and the the bumping poster, ants will be far more stable than goats, but IMHO don't ski pow as well as something with the same width but softer. they just don't like to decamber and surf in the.

Also, I would agree with most people here that they are a lot of ski, definitly a burly stick, but to give a little perspective, I'd say they are on the smaller/easier to ski side of the "big guns". Definitly nowhere near a 194 squad 193 m103, or 194 LP. They make a good big gun ski for someone who likes medium size/stiffness sticks, or maybe even a little ski for someone who likes things like 194 squads.

I am wondering if i should take the ANT or a 190 katana...

Originally Posted by leroy jenkins

Thats funny, because I'm pretty sure his name is ANThony.


and the the bumping poster, ants will be far more stable than goats, but IMHO don't ski pow as well as something with the same width but softer. they just don't like to decamber and surf in the.

Also, I would agree with most people here that they are a lot of ski, definitly a burly stick, but to give a little perspective, I'd say they are on the smaller/easier to ski side of the "big guns". Definitly nowhere near a 194 squad 193 m103, or 194 LP. They make a good big gun ski for someone who likes medium size/stiffness sticks, or maybe even a little ski for someone who likes things like 194 squads.

I think he got "Boris" from his last name, Boronowski, but ya, it's ANThony Boronowski...Hence the "ANT" moniker.

So i bought the ANT, great look...
I was wondering, what is the line that shows the true center??

Originally Posted by Mamar

So i bought the ANT, great look...
I was wondering, what is the line that shows the true center??

Measure, with a flat tape, from tip to tail and divide in half...That's true center. Then go between -7cm to -9cm from there. I personally go -9cm, which turns out to be just about -3cm from factory mark depending on the graphics.