When I demoed the 180 Aero, it felt about right. I own the 183 Nexus, it also feels about right. The 183 Forma is way more ski than either - in terms of stability, confidence at speed and ease of...

x2. Battery life on the 2nd Gen SE was unacceptable for taking video in the snow, 13 Mini is actually slightly smaller but thicker, runs for 3 days on one charge, camera is great . . .

It skis long, but not that long. You should be on a 175 in the Forma, hopefully one will be made eventually but it's not in the lineup for 2023.

Don't. Forget you ever read that, and decide for yourself.

I skied the 183, I'm 5'8" 175-ish. The Justis felt tip-heavy at all but the fastest speeds (40+ mph) and there was a lag between input and turn initiation almost all the time. It had tons of edgehold...

One of the only Black Crows skis I never got along with.

I have digital spec sheets for both years at my disposal, both directly from Black Crows NA - the specs are identical except for sidecut. In order to do that, they would have to pull back one or both...

For all we know, they did nothing to the ski and just changed the printed radius on the topsheet - no one ever checks, anyway.

I don't know about paint thinner, but I'd hesitate using GooGone or CitraSolve even on the plush, as it dissolves the glue. I've used warm water and dish detergent, scrubbed with a nylon brush, and...

It was a great ski. Instead of discontinuing it, they should have added an MTN 105 (MTN Explore 95 is also a good one).

What size are you trying to fit into? 28.5 should be no problem.

The Zero G shells punch fine for length if you have the right tools and technique - the usual caveats apply, namely you can only go...

You moved to Kaprun? Awesome. Closer to Blizzard than Atomic, though.

Me too. I can't believe people are still thinking about doing this themselves to "save money" when CAST will do a superior job with real tech fittings for $220.

Salomon has gradually increased the amount of the boot that's heat moldable (in a K-Tech oven) from just the upper portion of the scaffo, to the entire lower shell, to the entire boot including cuff....

Get the S/Max or Hawx Ultra and have someone flare/lower the cuff. Methods include heating the boot and ramming a football into the cuff, using some sort of mechanical device to flare it backward,...

If the Hawx Prime fits you except for being a tad tight over the instep, a good heat mold of the shell/liner with padding over the instep will probably do the trick. This is not a complicated "fix,"...

K2 is happy if you buy Völkls, too.

Give them a break, they're sponsored. It's called product placement. Jed is the designer, though, along with Peter B., and they've done some good work on the Mindbender series, hungover or not.

Found it, the Verifyt data is organized by region and I was looking at N. America, didn't realize you were in OZ.

Nothing comes up when I search "nick.sceales" on the Verifyt database.

Sure, share your Verifyt scans with me using the QR code a few pages back, and let me know what email address you used (so I can find your scans - you can abbreviate it here as you can't message me...

You're the outlier. I skied bindings with 13 to 18 mm differential for years (Dynafit and Plum) for years and thought I was skiing fine. Then I got a pair of Atomic Backlands and discovered I skied...

PS That's not really a knock on Pomoca, all the light skins I've tried have had durability issues (BD Ultralight Mix, G3 Minimist, etc.). Better to drink one less beer a night.

Next time stick with the Climb Pro S-Glide, the Free Pro 2.0 backer is too thin . . . good luck with the fix.

I had a pair. And to think, no one's been able to come up with a colorway quite that ugly in all the ensuing years . . .

Skied the new Alp Tracks 98 in a 178 for a half day on hard snow at the ski area and was impressed with the edgehold and stability, esp. as I'd never normally use them for that . . .

I've stopped adding to my collection of scans because I've pretty much figured out how to use the data for my own purposes, and because the shop account now has about 5,000 scans to look at. I can't...

Damn, you bought these Salomon boots and 30 years later a buckle broke?

The mint green ones? That was the Montero AX.

Yeah, the Atomic Hawx Ultra last works pretty well for narrower heels because you get better retention with the narrower cuff . . .

No one really makes a dedicated touring boot for low instep/narrow heel feet, because that would make it difficult to sell to people with average insteps and heels (most prospective customers) and...

I just buy extra frames on closeout and keep different lenses in each. Current setup is Flight Deck M frames with Prizm HI Pink, Prizm Persimmon, Prizm Torch (Torch gets the most use). For super low...

The Polyamide/Grilamid XTD models don't heat mold in the oven quite as well as the PU boots, but they can be punched just as well. My foot is 117mm wide (equivalent of ~113mm if I was a 24.5) and I'm...

I only have one pair of Contour Hybrids and they came off totally clean after cutting . . .

Found it. I don't think you'll find a better hybrid solution than the Hawx Ultra XTD, simply because of your extremely narrow ankle/heel. At the moment the best way to get better heel retention in...

You mean real FIS skis, not beer-league skis? They will come with a plate, and take a specific high DIN binding, mine are DIN 20.

iriponsnow is right, anything under 180 is a U-16 ski. I'd shoot...

You would save yourself a lot of discomfort if you heat molded first, but maybe location plays a role. That's why my brother-in-law moved from St. Louis to Switzerland, come to think of it. When you...

The Stöckli built quality is incredible for sure, but I don't think Völkl's is far off. The best skis in every factory are built by certain people - they are all built by "hand" but some hands are...

She's looking for a ski she can jam into 10 inches of snow with impunity? Works just as well for me if you just leave them lying in the snow.

At any rate, Stormriders/Nelas have a 1/4" chunk of...

Heat molding the stock liner won't do much, there isn't enough moldable foam in there to compress. The floating tongue is mainly to change positions for shin comfort, but higher or lower MAY also...

The Stormrider 95 is a great ski, but I'd question whether she wants to go with a 166 - I ski the 175 at 5'8" and 175 lbs. and all my other skis are between 183 and 188. The 175 SR 95 feels like it's...

If done correctly, heat molding the shell and liner can have dramatic effect on instep height, but I can't say every bootfitter has equal experience or knowledge even if they carry the product. The...

Am I correct in assuming you have not heat molded this boot?

Your instep numbers are high, but chances are you can make more room over the instep by heat molding it as Atomic intends. Do a...

Correct, but there's no guarantee you'll be able to wear your traditional size in the Peak . . .

Same here, I've seen some Dynafits and Plums shear at the housing, but no other Kingpins. Well documented, though, and glad he wasn't hurt worse.

In that case, yes, I've re-punched for more magnitude on both Alien RS and F1 LT shells and it didn't seem to be a problem. Leave it on the press a bit longer.

Because it's in the wrong spot? I don't think the plastic will retract very well with heat, but I haven't tried.

The skis rip and they can afford them.

All the standard methods are viable - grind the bootboard, thin the footbed, trim the elastic out of the liner, put foam over your instep and heat the instep area with a heat gun, etc.

They were at the WWSRA demo at Mission Ridge this year and last. Lots of them on the hill at Sun Valley and Deer Valley this year . . .