Fischer Watea and Atua review
I had a chance to demo the Watea and Atua over the weekend and all I can say is Fischer has hit the nail on the head. The conditions were moderate bumps, ice, slush, some dust on crust, and cut-up snow at Crystal Mt.
Watea 192cm 134-101-124
I love this ski. On paper I had totally dismissed it but on snow it’s awesome. Sort-of twin tip, wood core, relatively light, carves, pops, does it all. I could not believe this was a 101mm waist ski, it’s the most playful 99+ ski I’ve ever been on (Sugar, Gotama, m103). It has a moderate and even flex that absorbs chunks needed but also springs energy back. The whole ski felt like a sweet spot. In the bumps I was popping off every third mogul and on the groomers laying down smooth, clean carves. I thought the sidecut would be too much but along with the flex it works for you, it grips hard snow but doesn’t seem to over-hook, I could slide the tails on steeper stuff if I needed to. Looking back this ski has the same dimensions as the Seth Pistol +6mm, which is odd because I hated the first generation Pistol. I also noticed the Watea is 1mm bigger throughout versus the Rossi Squad 91. I’m going to pick-up a pair of these for my everyday boards next year.
Atea 186cm 129-96-119
The Atea is basically of smaller version of the Watea, twin, wood core, medium flex. Same combination of playful pop and stability. I didn’t spend as much time on this ski (I took the Watea out twice) but it held a solid carve on the hard snow did whatever I needed it do. They also felt smaller than their listed dimensions. This would be a great ski for somebody that wants a beefier Pocket Rocket. Think PR but better in every way.
Oh yeah, me= 5’9 170 lbs.
