XXL BLOWER IM88 SQUAD REVIEW

[Phill]

Soooooooo, I got to write this down before I forget it all...

Conditions: ~1-2' of cold powder, heavier in the afternoon, untracked, cut up, crud, firm eaisly edgable snow where skied out.

Me:
6'3'
175lbs
Strong
Advanced/Expert (expert by most people standards but I hate to call myself that, cause there are people whole levels above me)
Type III
Normally ski: 189 Squads

the interesting part of these reviews is my dad got to demo 2 of the skis (blower and lp) so I can compare/contrast our opinions, I will also throw up his opinions on some other skis he skied.

Him:

6'6"
210lbs
Strong
Advanced (probably expert by some standards but not as good as me)
Type II
Normally skis 18x dynastar inspired
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First Skis:
Head im88 186cm

Wow, I can see why the 'trollers 'round here like these skis. They are incredibly versitile.

Powder: The tip floated pretty well in areas with some powder, bottomless areas were a little harder cause the rest of the ski doesnt float as well.

Crud: Pretty good for crud skiing but could certainly get some tip flop at speeds.

Hard: On groomers these things made carving feel like cheating didnt really require that much skill just put them on edge and they went. I did notice that when they would lock in to an arc they still broke out fairly easily but not as easily as my squads.

Summary: I realize that the review makes them sound kind of mediocre. That is not true I just list the faults cause otherwise they are amazing. They would be a great all around ski for some one who skis a little more consevativly and in less powder. My one problem with these skis is they dont really like to go straight. They are fine for pointing through a sketchy entry but in a chute with a narrow crux Id be a little worried. Overall an Amaizing ski
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Second Skis:
LP XXL



Powder: The Tip was pretty soft compared to the rest of the ski that combined with the big foot print this ski ruled at powder. Most awsomeness indeed very very very very very good at powder. turn (or lack ther of) shape completely up to the pilot

Crud: The soft tip chattered and bounced in high speed turns in a way that was fairly annoying, ski still had enough beef in the middle to charge through most stuff.

Hard: Really liked the way these skis performed on hard pack good edge hold, real nice feel.

Summary: If I ever find the money I will pick up some of these in a second, they are schweet!!! Although I like my squads better for all around skiing and highspeed powder turns, I think these float better and start planning at a much lower speed which makes them better for PNW tree skiing. If they can figure out a way to stiffen up the tip with out taking away from the float they would be godly. Also even though they are 5cm longer than my squads I found them much easier to ski. They are also very light for thier size would make a great BC ski methinks.

My Dads Summary: Liked them and saw definite potential but was still getting used to the length/sidcut/flex of the ski. It went pretty well except for 1 point where he needed to make a quick turn through a crowd control gate at the bottom of the run. I watched him try to make the turn several times with the skis doing nothing untill he stoped right before the orange fencing. He said heading towards the fence and trying to turn with NO results was one of his scariest moments on skis. I told him to get his ass out of the backseat and he wouldnt have that problem. He replied that It was hard to lean forward when you are maching towards a fence. But overall he liked them and is considering a pair as his first powder boards I said to make sure the mount the bindings so that my feet are in range.
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Third Ski:
Nordica Blower 185cm


Powder: Ski did well in untracked powder. Its huge size made it easy to some slow powder 8 style tracks. Cut up powder revealed an exponential decrease in performance

Crud: Horrible. The traverse and ski out to the place we tested the untracked contained some super soft crud. These skis instantly felt wrong I cant even describe how these skis behaved they would push you foward and backward like they were a circus ride designed to knock you off balance. The tips got deflected easily and every inconsitancy in the snow was passed to you requiring a stance which could absorb the huge feedback as well as to power the skis through any non blower pow snow.

Hard: Carved well on groomers. Huge rooster tail was fun. Felt unstable at speeds. Definite speed limit.

Summary: I honestly hated this ski. Which is ironic because this was the ski I had my heart set on at the begining of the year. After reading tones of reviews online I walked in to the ski shop ready to order a pair of these sight unseen; I was positive it was the ski for me. After 30 min of talking to a person at sturtevents and describing where I skied, what runs I skied and what I wanted out of a ski the guy talked me out of the blowers which he described as an, unserious **** around ski, that would not be what I thought it was, and steered me towards to squads. I am so glad, this ski was really horrible, instiling fear that I would be pitched by some weird quirk of the ski.

My Dads Summary: For all our differences in skiing styles my dad hated this just like I did and could not wait to get off them. I insisted we take another run to give them a second chance as I was still in shock about almost buying them.

When were returing the ski the dynastar rep -- who had set me up, on what I later found out to be his personal skis, just a few runs earlier -- asked me what I thought of the nordicas, I responded that had discovered why they were called "blowers". I think some part of his drink came out his nose when I said that.
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Fourth Ski:
Rossignol B-Squad 194cm

Powder: Wonderfull in tracked and untracked pow. To make short radius turns it requires a lot of up and down motion. At slow speeds planing on top of powder gave some risk of tip dive due to a very stiff alibet large shovel.

Crud: Amazing, Destroyed crud, Be sure to stay on top of em

Hard: Held an amazing edge. Very fun. No speed limit. (mine are better tuned though )

Summary: A huge question that many people face (and mention here daily) is that even after deciding which ski to get, trying to decide what length. For me the 194s were never in the picture it was the 184's and 189's, I am glad that I got the ones I did because I demoed the 84s on another occasion and they are a whole different ski, much softer. But anyways, after hearing all the hype about the 189's and then being able to ski them I kind of had this lingering curiousity about what I copped by being on the 189s instead of the 94s. So when rossi was up there at the demo day I knew I had to give them a shot. The rossi rep looked at me and asked me if I was sure I wanted it, I was. He said I was the only person in the last 4 demo days who had taken it out, oh well whoop de doo, I still want to try them. I am very glad I did. These skis are very similar to mine same construction just over 2 more inches. Not even 2m sidcut radius difference. While I could throw these around and make them work I could tell that for me, that fine invisible line where a ski goes from being perfect to being too much ski for you lies somewhere in the 5 cm between the 189 and 194 B Squads. If I weighed 15-20 more lbs maybe but not now.

Sidenote: Dad skied on the atomic snoop daddys 1 run before going in and returning them, he said they did not feel stable at all and where very squirly of piste.


Philip

[dirtybryan]

Pretty good reviews, but I must say that I think it is unfair to compare a 185 blower that is a twin tip to the flat tail upper 80 above 90 length skis. The 193 blower would have been better to use for comparison since it has less side cut and is more the length of the others. I own the 193s and must say that I think they are fun on groomers like you said, but have found them to be quite stable at speed (granted their bigger size).

[Phill]

Not really comparing, Just listing what I felt when I was on the skis. I do see your point about the 193 and I wanted to demo those but they didnt have them.

[fat yeti]

I rode the 193 last year and I agree with the review. I was excited for the ski last year my buddy picked it up and I took it for a couple of runs and I hated this skis I could not wait to get back on my skis.

[altagirl]

I love my im88s as an all purpose ski. Though my definition of that is "anything other than powder days". Can't really see using a ski that skinny in real powder, so I wouldn't fault them for being shitty powder skis (not that I've tried them in powder, so I don't know). Otherwise I agree with you on everything. They don't have that flat ski stability that my Gotamas do, but they rail when you put them on edge and smear out of a carve pretty easily when you want them to. I've had them for a couple weeks and love them so far.

[frorider]

i've been low-sidecut-prejudiced for years--head im103 is still my favorite ski in the 100 mm waist category--but i've been surprised at how much i like the 186 cm head im88. i mounted mine a bit back (-1.5 cm? can't recall right now) since i use tele bindings, and the straightline performance at speed is better than any ski i've tried that has this much shape. i talked to another 88 owner who said the same thing, but i don't remember if he mounted his bindings back a bit as well.

for an 89 mm waist ski the pow performance has been good. i have a few skis in the 100+ category that would be preferable in pow, but when travelling up north a month ago i found myself on a knee-deep pow day with these skis and they did well. a very versatile ski.

[Phill]

ya I really liked the im88s nice and fun