Palmer P02 Carving Skis Review

[ExoticSkis]

Finally got on the Palmer P02 skis before the snow dies out for the year.

Has anyone else skied this ski on a firm surface?
Strange tip and tail profile, semi-radical sidecut...pretty nice ski for Palmer's first try.

163cm = 120-68-107



Brief excerpt from full review (with a couple of pics) at:
http://www.exoticskis.com/ExoticSkis...x?g=posts&t=12


The Palmer P02 is remarkably effortless. It didn't sink in until after I finished up the testing session. Because of its low weight, corresponding low swing-weight (a sadly retired term), and perhaps its geometry and flex pattern, the P02 can allow the skier to arc serious cuts into the surface of dozens of different runs all day without encountering the fatigue often associated with other frontside carving skis. That's significant. Overall, I really like what this ski has to offer.

[squirrelmurphy]

so they're really soft but torsionally stiff enough that they don't fall apart when you lay them over? sound about like the 72 waisted k2 axis i skied this winter for a couple runs.

i just wonder, if it doesn't take any muscle to arc a turn, what happens when you muscle them anyway?

[ExoticSkis]

If you push 'em too hard, they'll dig their little waist into the snow, put all the pressure right underfoot and change direction in a rough "chop" instead of "arc". You loose the nice enter & exit feel of the ski in its sweet pressure range. If you beat the stuffing out of them by hammering down, you get too much bend and bite....it feels like you've lost the tip and tail...sort of..

I don't know how durable they will be under a heavyweight skier or hammerhead skier...but that's not who they're for...the guys at Palmer said the typical customer for the P02 is the technical skier, rather than a troll looking to bully his skis.....They're definitely worth getting a demo of !

[ExoticSkis]

Got back on the Palmer carving skis for the almost-last-day-of-lift-service in New England for some corn plowing...

Summary:

"Captain, you'd better come to the bridge. There's something on screen you should see."

While not "revolutionary", I think Palmer has naturally evolved the frontside carving ski into a new species. Not a racer, not a hypercarver, but a technician's tool for groomers with excellent performance for very, very little input effort. A track-layer you can ski all day. A ski that puts the "fun" back in carving instead of "work". I think this one will make some waves next year. Watch for it. I feel a cult-following coming on...Let's see how sturdy it is and how it holds up under a season's wear and tear.

[full review thread...]

Oops...almost forgot the tip pic:

[C_Free]

Call me old fashioned, but I am apprehensive about a ski made by a snowboarding company. I just feel I would rather put my trust into a company that has knowledge about skis spanning over years. But hey, what do I know, maybe those guys over at Palmer have a few tricks up their sleeve.

The one positive note I can see is that if snowboarding companies begin making skis, they might think of new and innovative ideas that ski manufacturers have missed

[SiSt]

I remember being extremely sceptical when ski companies started making snowboards. But overall they have worked out really well. Salomon has made some really good boards, and I´m thinking that the basics of making snowsliding equipment are more or less the same, regardless of one or two planks.

On that note: Has anyone tried the NAS from libtech? Some weird stuff about the steel edges I think?

[iriponsnow]

got to ski them the other day w/ the exotic ski crew; my reveiw is posted on their site!

[focus]

This is the only review you've posted where the link to your "full review" actually works.

This site gets shit-tons of traffic. If you're really trying to promote your site, think about offering up a full review here -- and I'm not talking about copy/pasting what you wrote on your own little forum. Take a look at some of the better review threads and copy that format.

What gets people, at least around here, excited about the "exotic skis" is the unusual shapes and sizes sometimes offered for off-piste applications. Consider your audience, and consider the niche "exotic skis" really fill.