ON3P 191 Wrenegade Re(inter)view

[Guddgulf]

To change up the tired ski review format, I decided to interview my Wrenegades instead of just talking about them.

Guddgulf: Hi Wrenegades, how's life?

Wrenegades: Balls cold. I can't believe you leave us in the rocketbox overnight in subzero temps. Uncool.

Guddgulf: Right.... ok. What sort of essentials should people know about you?

Wrenegades: Oh, some specs or something? We are 191 cm long, 15cm x 1.5cm tip rocker and flat underfoot, 142-113-128, 30.5 meter turn radius and mounted -8.5 from true center with STH 16s. Two sheets of glass, bamboo core, and a 2" carbon stringer. We think you should say a bit about yourself too, so that people can compare.

G: Good idea. I’m 5’ 8”, 195 lbs, a strong skier who likes going fast and jumping off of things. I also ski 189 Hellbents and your younger brother the 179 ON3P Blue Steele. What sort of skiing experiences have you had?

W:We've done everything, and been skied about 20 days so far on icy manmade, bottomless pow, crud, chop, slush, suncups.

G:Sounds right. How did you handle those sorts of experiences?

W: To begin with, we like to go fast and relatively straight. None of this slalom turns park ski pussy nonsense. However, that doesn't mean we can't shut it down and pivot well, our tails (and full twin) release quite easily for covering your buddy with snow or slashing the occasional spine. The tip rocker helps with this, as the contact area is shorter on firm snow.

Like we said, fast and straight. We like it that way because we are super stable at speed, as we're sure you've noticed-

Guh.

W:- and there really isn't a speed limit to what we like to do. If you like straightlining mogul fields and that's your thing, look no further.

G:Could we get back to condition performance here?

W: Anyway, we're not huge fans of ice, any ski that loves ice is a bit strange, but we can still make big arcs on hardpack and destroy groomers on the way back to the lift. Our large shovel and tip rocker make crud a breeze, as everything is busted out of the way or run over. Powder is a pleasure, and the rocker and slight wedge design our sidecut helps the tail sink and tip float. The tip stiffness isn’t going to create the float of say, some Hellbents, but it certainly is made up for in crud busting and stability at speed.

G: Would you say that you have your most fun at high speed in fairly cut up snow?

W: Yep. We love crud.

G: On a slightly different note, what’s with the bamboo core?

W: Bamboo cores have a different feel from other materials. It’s hard to explain in the way that relates well to other woods like fir or ash or maple, because the way we react is quite different. For example, the Hellbent is quite soft and chatters a lot on hardpack, and thus lively feeling. By comparison, the EHP 190 is a stiff charging ski, and has a dead feel to it because it is so damp. These are two characteristics that don’t seem to work together at all, but for some reason the bamboo is quite dense and absorbs most chatter at speed and is still lively in powder.

G: That puts it well, I’ve had trouble explaining it to people, but it certainly skis better than anything else I’ve ever been on. And when I load you two up in a jump—

W: Boooiiinng! Tons of pop and liveliness.

G: --Exactly. There’s a really cool balance that allows for stability, but still a ton of bounce out of transitions and off of jumps. What would you say would be the ideal skier for you two to work with?

W: Someone who likes to go fast, and do that through anything and everything without fear that their skis won’t help them do it. We’re not interested in urban jibbing or fakie pow skiing, and spinning is a little cumbersome, but if you want a pair of skis for charging through anything a mountain can throw at you, we’re it and we'll help you do it with style. We also throw a mean backflip.

G: I’ll say. Thanks for the info, and I promise to get you out of the rocketbox tomorrow. Deal?

W: Deal.

Some photos:





In (flaily) use earlier in the week at Big Mountain, MT


At Sperry Chalet in Glacier Park last Summer:










Fresh out of the press in Tacoma:

[flyby]

BACONBASE

[Ville]

Fun review I would like to test those, looks damn fun ski. And bases are so sexy.

[geo039]

Nice steeze on the write up

[h2d]

Nice idea, must be first interview with an actually ski tgr has had.

[snowful]

Damn. I want to check out those skis. When will you be on the mountain?

[Guddgulf]

Damn. I want to check out those skis. When will you be on the mountain?

There are ON3Pers scattered around the US, personally I'm at Big Mountain out of Whitefish for the next month and a half and then back to Alpental/Crystal.

[snowful]

There are ON3Pers scattered around the US, personally I'm at Big Mountain out of Whitefish for the next month and a half and then back to Alpental/Crystal.

I'm in Whitefish.

[iggyskier]

BACONBASE

Haha if you wanted I could probably offer an actual bacon base!

[iggyskier]

David's friend edited a bit of footage of him on some wrenegades and blue steeles over his winter break so I thought I would post it up.




Here is also some footage of Will Vicik on wrens in some heavy snow at mission ridge.



Few still captures too...




Friend Adam teleing on some wrens

[wren]

David that vid is pretty sick!

[teleposeur]

David that vid is pretty sick!

Yeah, absoloutely, I love the air-to-shrub seg. Seems like those Blue Steeles are getting some pretty thorough durability R&D.

[iggyskier]

Seems like those Blue Steeles are getting some pretty thorough durability R&D.

Gonna be even better when our edge/base thickness increases 30% .

The air-thru-shrub is definitely awesome too.

[SafteySquad]

That video of David is sweet. Is Adam still at CU? I might have to go mug him and steal his skis.

Gonna be even better when our edge/base thickness increases 30% .

The air-thru-shrub is definitely awesome too.

If you don't mind me asking, where did you find thicker edges? We've been looking all over, but can't seem to find anything other than the stuff from skibuilders.

[iggyskier]

That video of David is sweet. Is Adam still at CU? I might have to go mug him and steal his skis.

No, Adam graduated. He is working for BCA now, but is getting to spend the winter in Jackson (all while keeping his job!). That is what you get when you are second in your mechanical engineering class. He could be making bank working in Texas or something, but I think he took the right path . He should be back in boulder in a few months.

If you don't mind me asking, where did you find thicker edges? We've been looking all over, but can't seem to find anything other than the stuff from skibuilders.

You have to go directly to the source - CDW. Shoot me a PM and I will see if I can get you a bit of extra material when I get ours (pending funding).

I figure I would add, for what it is worth, the skibuilders edges are decently thick. 2.2mm x 1.3mm. Definitely bigger than the edges I see on a lot of skis.

[SafteySquad]

Damn, sounds like Adam is doing well for himself.

We talked to the guys at CDW, but they told us we would need to buy 200 pieces and that they didn't have any other sizes. We are actually pretty stocked up on supplies right now, especially at the rate we are building.

You're skis look sweet though, I saw a pair up at Loveland earlier this season. Construction is top notch. Hopefully you get the funding you need...

[iggyskier]

Damn, sounds like Adam is doing well for himself.

We talked to the guys at CDW, but they told us we would need to buy 200 pieces and that they didn't have any other sizes. We are actually pretty stocked up on supplies right now, especially at the rate we are building.

Yeah, Adam is killing it. I will leave these visual clues as evidence that he has been busy.....

notice anyone?


and again...


and a bit more work while we are at it...


And yeah, CDW does have minimums. I will let you know when I am placing an order to see if you want to throw on a bit extra to my order.

[squirrelmurphy]

Sick looking skis, would love to try a pair sometime.

[Guddgulf]

That pack looks awesome. My mid-afternoon nap attacks will now be met with a pillow that is ready at a moment's notice.

[Howie]

Skiing in shorts looks cold.
Great write up. Skis sound fun.