Bluehouse Maven Review

[powderwhore]

Took my Mavens out today for the maiden journey in about 1' of blower. I'm riding BD 01 tele clamps mounted @ cord center. I did tend to get alittle backseat on my first run but I'm not used to droppin knees on rockered skis. After a couple runs they felt great. These babies actually rail nicely on the groomers!

If I were to remount I might think of moving forward up to 1cm.

[oftpiste]

I pulled my Jesters off last night, and they are going back on the ski at -3...I will write another full review after and hopefully have different results.

I am confident that the ski should ride differently farther back from what some other Mags have noticed.

after all this I think I'm settling in at -4. At least visually there still appears to be plenty of tail (always a good thing) even taking the rocker into account. I'm a little lighter than you.

[Clandestino]

I finally got to ride my Mavens in some Pow today at the Bird and I was honestly pleasantly surprised. I read some of these reviews thinking that I was going to have flying over the handlebar issues. This was not the case for me at all. I have mine mounted at about the +10 mark, and I think I like where they are. Maybe I am just really used to skiing a center, or near center mounted ski, as I spend a lot of time in the park, but I really like the feel of where mine are mounted. These skis are definitely not a big mountain charger, but more of a finesse ski. They are super quick, and they ski pow switch really really well. The going over the handlebars feeling is going to come naturally to those who are not used to skiing a center mounted ski, and no, you do not need to ski these skis in the backseat if you know how to ski a forward mounted ski. No, these skis do not bust crud quite like my ARG's, but I think they definitely have a similar surfy, quick feeling. The base of the ski is tough as nails, the graphic is dope. So far I don't have too many complaints about the ski, except for that it doesn't handle hardpack as well as other rockered skis that I have skied. I actually wish these bad boys were a little more rockered. I honestly was scared that these skis would suck, but they really don't, as long as you are looking for a pow/jib ski. Besides the messed up mounting points, nice job Bluehouse!

[PowTron]

The going over the handlebars feeling is going to come naturally to those who are not used to skiing a center mounted ski, and no, you do not need to ski these skis in the backseat if you know how to ski a forward mounted ski.

ummmm, ok.........as stated, it must have been my jongness on the forward mount and not the softness of the tip.


Glad you liked them, but I have skied centered mounted skis before and never had this feeling.

I got my Mavens re-drilled last night at -3, so hopefully we get some fresh this weekend for round 2 of testing.

[2stix]

I got my Mavens re-drilled last night at -3, so hopefully we get some fresh this weekend for round 2 of testing.

Patiently waiting for the review to mount mine. Fingers crossed it is a whole different animal.

[dfinn]

Me: 5'11, 200lbs w/o gear, going into my 3rd season skiing but I think I get around OK
skis mounted at -10mm

I skied these opening day and was a little unsure if I was going to keep them or not. They felt really soft and I was having trouble getting out of the backseat. I skied them the past 2 days during this storm at Snowbird and I was much happier with them, I'm chocking it up to it being my first day of the season. Obviously they float awesome, no issues with that. They feel pretty stable to me skiing cut up snow and they held an edge really well on the steep, firm snow. Fun on groomers too. I still wish they were a little stiffer, especially in the tail but I think I'm going to hold onto them.

[PowTron]

Patiently waiting for the review to mount mine. Fingers crossed it is a whole different animal.

I was actually on a pair of EP PRO's today, but the Maven will be out of the stable this week for sure. Lots of Pow!

[2stix]

I was actually on a pair of EP PRO's today, but the Maven will be out of the stable this week for sure. Lots of Pow!

Cool, can't wait.

[BasinDaddy]

Me: 6'0, 220lbs, 25+ years skiing, mounted at -2 with Dukes.

This was my first experience with rockered/no-camber skis and skis wider than 100 in the waist. Have been skiing Seths for last 4 years so I'm used to a softer ski. I still like to charge and make minimal turns. Skied mostly on manmade snow with about 8" of blower on top. I was really amazed with how well these handled on the groomers. I felt like I could carve almost as well as I can on my Seths. I even traded a friend for his Mantras on one run and still would have rather been on the Mavens. I had to pry them off his feet to get them back and he is now considering selling his first born for a pair. The biggest difference for me was the lack of rebound (on hard stuff) due to no camber. I found once I got used to that though the transistion from turn to turn is really smooth. They skied unbelievable through the soft stuff pushed off the edges and on what few un-groomed runs were available. I didn't feel at any point like I was going over the handle bars. I didn't ski any really steep stuff or heavy crud though so the verdict is still out on that. I am very happy with my mount location. I definetely wouldn't go farther forward as I think the mount is still centered enough for riding switch (if you're into that), but back far enough that you won't be doing cart wheels in deeper snow. The tips and tails are definitely floppy, but it only got to be a distraction when I tried straigtlining the manmade ice bumps. They actually felt realitively stiff (for a super fat powder ski) under the foot and along the effective length of the ski. I plan on being up at Snowbird later in the week to ski some real snow. I figure I skied these in the worst conditions I'll ski in all year and still loved them, so hopefully it gets even better from here.

[BallsDeep]

Me: 6’ 1” and 190lbs. Everyday ski is a 189 Obsethed, which I’m very happy with

Setup: Mavens mounted at -2 from factory line with p14s

Test day: Vail with 12” fresh on top of 6-12” fresh the day before; skiing mostly Chair 11 with a few runs down the back

Pros:

The things float, obviously
Surfy…if you’re into that kinda thing…
Ridiculously nimble through the trees
Thought they did OK in the chop
Groomers were actually kinda fun
Really easy to ski switch
Lightweight

Cons:
Have to ski super, super balanced. I feel like there’s a 24” sweet spot on these, and if you get too far forward or too far back, you’re in trouble. Take this with a grain of salt, though, as this was my first day-long experience on aggressivley rockered skis. Have been on Pontoons before, but only for a short time.

Had a tough time dropping stuff on the Mavens. Again, could be a learning curve issue, but on nearly every landing I felt ‘em shooting out from under me. Got kinda frustrated with this. Perhaps I’ve previously been using my tail too much when dropping, but I could just not stick my airs cleanly...and these were fairly small drops. Looking at the ski, there is maybe 12” behind the heal piece before the rocker starts. Something to think about for those of you looking to mount more than -2 back. Maybe I will have a different opinion after I get some more time on ‘em…or maybe I’ll just get better at skiing…

And I kinda expected more pop. Of course, this could be due to the flat camber.


Powtron: I can see how these would be fairly miserable for a man of your size skiing these at the line…thinking you’ll have a more enjoyable ride at -3.

[PowTron]

Powtron: I can see how these would be fairly miserable for a man of your size skiing these at the line…thinking you’ll have a more enjoyable ride at -3.

yeah, I should find out this week...sick time willing

Seems like you still had a good time. But, imagine being almost 2cm farther forward, lol.

They are ready to go at -3

[fish85]

Just got my mavens mounted up at -4(86.5 from tail). They don't look too far back at all for a pure powder ski. At 4 back, the mount looks almost identical to that of the pontoons on the line. I decided on this mounting point based on the fact that they will be used only on big days. Coreshot's comments of "ball tingling" powder performance at -4 also played a big role. Hopefully we get some snow this weekend and I can report back to all who have yet to mount.

[fish85]

Here is my review of the Bluehouse Maven mounted at –4 (86.5 from tail NOT following the curve of the ski). I’m going to apologize in advance for rambling but I hate half ass reviews that don’t go into detail. I was fortunate enough to ski these big boys in a variety of conditions at Snowbird today.

Conditions: 6-8 inches of fresh on top of hard packed, different levels of skied up 6-8 inches, 15+ inches of fresh, 15+ skied up, very crudded up groomers, smooth parts of groomers.
Terrain: Wide open areas both sides of sides of the little cloud lift. Some tight trees towards the bottom with 8+ fresh. Then traverse to stuff that just opened up which was very deep.
Skier: 5’10, 160 lbs. I like to ski hard with as few turns as possible. Past reviews of these things not being a big mountain charging powder ski worried me.
Current Quiver: 186 lp’s, 187 xxls (yet to ski), 180 Powder Plus, Volant Spatula, Maven

These things freakin rip!! I am 100% convinced that the negative reviews came from people being to far forward. At no point during the day did I feel like I should be farther forward or back. –4 is the spot.

These things out did my expectations in every condition. On the 6-8 of fresh you could really open them up. There was no speed limit and you could either carve or slarve. It was like the spatula and powder plus in one with 10 times the float. Super stable and never once felt like I was getting tip dive. My favorite part was that you could stay in normal charging form and not feel like you needed to weight back in deep snow. I would hit a small patch of icy hard packed; the edges would bite and the mavens would keep on ripping. Now into the trees. Unbelievably quick edge to edge with a nice pivot feel. Then traverse over to untouched very deep snow. This was the reason I bought these skis. I could just stand on em. No weighting back, no tip dive, surfy, slarvy feeling yet you could point it, then make big arching turns. I got to the bottom of the lift and couldn’t imagine a better big day ski. Now it was time to see how they handle tracked up powder.

The stuff under the lift had gotten fairly tracked out. They were still patches of fresh mixed in with soft packed, and small soft piles. Once again I could open them up and not feel out of control. I couldn’t believe it. Theyre so big you go over everything. No slicing through it, just blasting over the top. Once again, I would hit small patches of hardpacked icy crap and the edge grip was amazing. Down the same tree line as before, over to the deep stuff. Plenty of fresh left but I had to see how they would do in deep tracked up stuff. Once again they rail. Just point em and stand on em. Very easy edge to edge and blasted over everything. I felt like I was invincible on these things. Never once had the feeling of tip dive or floppiness. Very solid steamroller feeling for a ski this soft.

At the end of the day skied a cruddy groomer down to the parking lot. To no surprise, very cruddy parts sucked. I found that this ski handles soft variable snow awesome. Not so much going fast over harder variable. Harder piles of snow really had their way with them. Now I realize most fat skis will struggle in these conditions but I just want to mention it. Parts where there was no crud was a blast. The edge hold still blows my mind and you can make big fast arching turns down groomers, insane. So with all that said here is my summary:

PROS: This is an unbelievable big day ski. Powder and tracked up powder is their element. Makes 6 inches of powder feel bottomless. Soft crud performance well above expected. Great charging capabilities, crazy float and no tip dive in any condition I skied them in. They can slarve but still feels like you’re on a rail. Hard to explain but it feels awesome. Never felt like I was in the back seat (wheely effect) at all. Landing airs they immediately right you if you’re too far back or forward.

Cons: The only condition they weren’t 100 % awesome was hauling ass through very skied up variable harder snow with medium-hard piles. This is the hardest to explain. They grip awesome on hard packed but harder piles are not absorbed much. On a groomer (possibly groomed a day ago) with 6 inches of fresh that had been skied for 4 hours I felt like a paint can getting mixed at Sherman Williams. Not surprising with a ski this wide with a soft tip and tail. Still never felt out of control, just annoying.

Bottom Line: Mount them at –4!! Powder performance is sick. Can’t imagine better float and haul ass capabilities with less work. I would not however use these outside of big days. Yes the groomer performance is great, but harder variable snow is not their element. For everyone who was worried these wouldn’t be a powder charging ski, mount at –4 and you’ll have a blast.

[dfinn]

How are the bases holding up for you guys? I'm averaging a core shot per day and I'm not talking about little ones. At this rate these things are going to be swiss cheese by xmas.

[BasinDaddy]

Great review! I have about 4 days on them now and these skis rip. I completely agree with the hard crud performance. You can still haul, but it rattles your brain. They're fun if you use the bumps as mini kickers and jump from one to the next. I can see myself using these for most days.

[oftpiste]

mounting mine at -3.5 as we speak. maybe enough new in the PNW to try this weekend.....

[gaijin]

I rode my Mavens for the first time today on dust-on-crust and in pocket/fields of wind-blown.

They rip at -3. (88cm straight from tail.) Falcon 10 and STH16. 5'9" 175.

I wouldn't mount them more forward because they are already insanely maneuverable.

I wouldn't mount them more back either because on harder snow they require a bit of push to initiate... telling me they're about right. My center-of-pivot is right along my shin... feels sick.

I'll write a bit more of a formal review when we get more snow.

[SkiEvil]

Question:

Here is my review of the Bluehouse Maven mounted at –4 (86.5 from tail NOT following the curve of the ski). - fish 85

They rip at -3. (88cm straight from tail.) - gaijin

Math is off here somewhere. Mine are at the shop right now. I had told him -3 (which is actually marked on the ski) but now I am thinking I should measure. I think I am going to go -4 since I am a bigger guy (5' 10" 205 lbs). So many comments on the markings and measurements that I am now thoroughly confused. Waiting for my $30 997's to arrive so I have a little time to get this straightened out.

[fish85]

The math isn't off, its the lines that are jacked up. My recommended line was 90.7 on one ski and 90.5 on the other. After reading other posts it seems like 90.5 from the tail is the average line. Therefore, my mount at 86.5 is 4 back. Gaijin's line must be closer 91.

[Core Shot]

Bluehouse claims they marked the ski centers with a jig, meaning that in theory the variation in measuring from the tail has more to do with variation in tail curve/rise (seems like a lot of variation, but I guess its possible).

If true, then this would mean you should measure from the factory line on the ski.

And yes, -3 should be a good mount, as well as -4cm
They are both valid.
I skied it at -4 and liked it, and had only minimal time on -2 which did not seem that bad (compared to the 0, which absolutely blew chunks).
-3 is a good way to split the diff.
-2 is better for someone that wants to be more pivoty, ride switch, and will not go real fast and big.

[laseranimal]

How are the bases holding up for you guys? I'm averaging a core shot per day and I'm not talking about little ones. At this rate these things are going to be swiss cheese by xmas.

I'm impressed my bases held up at Magic today, I can't even count the number of sharks I hit. I did however do an untold number of preseason waxes which theoretically would make the bases less brittle and more resistant to gouging/core shotting.

If I had to guess I'd say I did somewhere between 6-12 waxes with the first 2-3 being hot wax + scrape and then 3-4 waxes with a very warm wax to penetrate the bases, followed with 4-6 waxes with an all around/cold wax

yeah I was bored and had a lot of surplus wax lying around

edit to add

also my warm wax was soy based, I'm not sure that makes any difference at all, but I think wax thats soy is unintentionally funny, given soy's history on TGR. Plus its on closeout at EMS, $4 for 150g of wax is a pretty nice deal even if it is soy

[gaijin]

Just for clarity, I'm 88cm (straight tape) from the tail. It 'looks' like -3cm.

I'll post pics after I ski some deep and have something worthy to say.

[GlimmerIII]

I rode my Mavens for the first time today on dust-on-crust and in pocket/fields of wind-blown.

They rip at -3. (88cm straight from tail.) Falcon 10 and STH16. 5'9" 175.

I wouldn't mount them more forward because they are already insanely maneuverable.

I wouldn't mount them more back either because on harder snow they require a bit of push to initiate... telling me they're about right. My center-of-pivot is right along my shin... feels sick.

I'll write a bit more of a formal review when we get more snow.

My first day also today.

Me: 49 years old. I'm sure your better, But I get around for no longer being a Young PUNK. Damn It!
230 lbs.
6'3"
30 days a year these days. Sixty days a year before 20.
Mounted 88.5 from the tail
Everyday Ski: Last year Mantra
What I like in a ski: Speed and I can still turn them.
Bogus Basin
I was not expecting much. Boy was I wrong, They where fast and ripped up everything I could throw at them while skiing with my 6 and 9 year old. Easiest ski I have every skied in wind blown mank. Almost no effort and I did not have any handle bar issues. Very turney (sp) on wind blown Cat Track. More to come. I need to ski them faster and on some steeper sections.

[PowTron]

My first day also today.

Me: 49 years old. I'm sure your better, But I get around for no longer being a Young PUNK. Damn It!
230 lbs.
6'3"
30 days a year these days. Sixty days a year before 20.
Mounted 88.5 from the tail
Everyday Ski: Last year Mantra
What I like in a ski: Speed and I can still turn them.
Bogus Basin
I was not expecting much. Boy was I wrong, They where fast and ripped up everything I could throw at them while skiing with my 6 and 9 year old. Easiest ski I have every skied in wind blown mank. Almost no effort and I did not have any handle bar issues. Very turney (sp) on wind blown Cat Track. More to come. I need to ski them faster and on some steeper sections.

I am just curious...have you skied any other mega fats, rockered skis to compare them to?

sounds like you are on the money mounting point, though. I am finally getting back on mine tomorrow.

[gaijin]

rode Mavens again today in pow at 88cm (straight tape) from tail.

I learned:
I hate traversing. Severely.
My mountain is now 30% flatter. Yeah, everything is flat. This ski makes all my favorite terrain waaaaay too easy.
Skiing fresh pow is like ice skating on hockey skates. Smooth, maneuverable, and stopping on a dime is easy.

Ain't no changes happening to my mount any time soon... =)